Top 10 tips for Reducing Your Heating Costs by Installing a Wood Burning Stove

On freezing winter days like the ones we have managed to almost dodge completely this winter, could there anything nicer than coming in from the cold and curling up in front of a wood-burning stove? Aside from the romantic vision of cups of hot chocolate in front of a glowing stove, did you know that installing a wood-burning stove could potentially reduce your energy bills?

Even with the recent gas and electricity price cuts that have been announced by some of the biggest energy suppliers this week (following their steep price rises last year), it is definitely worth considering alternative forms of home heating to reduce your energy costs and over-reliance on gas and electricity.

So, to give us the low-down on wood-burning stoves and how to maximise our heating whilst minimising our energy bills, the chaps at gr8fires have shared their top 10 tips, plus we have an exclusive offer for all Queen of Easy Green™ readers, see below.

Top 10 tips for Reducing Your Heating Costs by Installing a Wood Burning Stove

1.     Install a wood-burning stove
That’s the inevitable starting point for saving money with a wood-burning stove. This will reduce your heating costs by cutting your reliance on central heating. You can turn off the radiators in rooms that you don’t need to keep warm and use the stove as your main source of heat.
2.     Choose the right stove
Picking the best stove for your needs is essential in helping you to save money. If you don’t fit a stove with a heat output suited to the room, it will reduce your chances of cutting your heating costs. Opting for a more expensive model with a greater output to heat a larger room will pay for the price difference in no time at all.
3.     Consider a wood-burning boiler stove
Installing a boiler stove is one way of further cutting your heating bills. You can use the heat generated by your stove to also heat the water in your home. The dual use of your stove means you can cut your central heating costs even further.
4.     Use properly seasoned wood
The type of wood you use has a huge impact on the efficiency of your stove. Using seasoned wood -which has been cut, split and left to air for at least a year – is the best way to minimise your heating costs. Seasoned wood contains far less moisture, burns more efficiently and heats your home more quickly than freshly cut wood. Use a log store to allow your wood to season and to help you build up a supply that should last you all winter.

5.     Control your stove’s air supply properly
Both the bottom (primary) and top (secondary) air vents should be open when you light your stove. Once the fire is burning well, you should be able to close the primary vent and control the fire using only the secondary vent for a more efficient burn.
6.     Get your chimney swept regularly
As a minimum you should get your chimney swept annually before you start using the stove regularly. Ideally, it should be swept every three to four month when the stove is in regular use.
7.     Use dry kindling to start the fire
Using small pieces of wood to get the fire going will heat your stove more quickly and, as a result, your room will start heat more efficiently once you add logs. The sooner your stove is up to temperature, the sooner the convection process can have an impact on the rest of the room.
8.     Use free wood
One of the best aspects of installing a stove is that you can easily find a supply of free fuel. From saving friends and family from a trip to the tip to salvaging fallen trees from your nearest forest (with the landowner’s permission), there are plenty of opportunities to heat your home for free.
9.     Don’t be tempted to throw another log into the stove. Once you have loaded the stove with logs, don’t continually top up your stove as they burn. Wait until all the logs have been burnt to glowing embers before reloading the stove. Continually adding more wood is considerably less efficient.
10.  Keep the door closed
It is a simple tip, but one that causes unnecessary confusion for many stove users. Once the stove is lit, the door should be closed. This increases the efficiency of the burn by up to 60 per cent.

Kevin McCloud On Owning A Woodburner

In this month's issue of Grand Designs Kevin McCloud sheds a little light on one of his essential stove accessories.
"Those of us in possession of a Woodburner have been stoking them into life since autumn, and as long as the wintry nights continue and the mercury tumbles, we won't be stopping anytime soon.
Most woodburners sit in a chimney or alcove, quickly heating the pocket of air around the it to a roasting 60'C - you have to wait an hour or so for the metal to get truly hot...
Hence the need for a stove fan, a simply brilliant idea, it sits on the Woodburner and blows the warm air from around the stove into the room and it is powered entirely by the heat generated below it.
Benjamin Franklin may have been clever enough to invent the Woodburner, but his brain wasn't quite able to get round thermoelectrics!"

A simple flow of heat from hot metal to cold metal through a special layer that generates electricity and turns the fan blades and gently pushes warm air into the room! The blades of the stove fan spin silently and efficiently, circulating the warm air around the room, the blades spinning faster as the stove heats up and then slowing and finally coming to a stop as the stove cools.This can circulate up to 25% more heat into the room, reducing the amount of wood you need to burn and saving money!

Opening Up Your Fireplace

So you've just moving into a new house or flat and notice there is a chimney breast in your living room but no fireplace! No living room can be complete without a fireplace, both as a focal point and as a compliment to other heating the room, allowing you to turn down the central heating and just enjoy the warmth that a gas, solid fuel or electric fire offers.
Where Do I Start?
To start you'll need to find out if your chimney breast has a fireplace opening. Tap where you thing the fireplace is, or if there is an air-brick, remove it. This will help determine what has been used to block up the opening, whether plasterboard, MDF, timber or block-work.
If you're a competent handy-person you may be able to try and remove the material blocking the opening, but if you find a broken lintel, or no lintel at all, STOP IMMEDIATELY and call in a building professional.
Now I've Made My Opening, Is My Chimney Usable?
Whether the chimney is usable rests entirely on your chimney or flue has a pull, or up- draught, without this there would be no way of drawing the harmful exhaust gases out of the room. (To get an  idea of what flue you have click here)

Most gas fitters, or solid fuel engineers will test the pull of a chimney by using a smoke pellet or match, but you can test this yourself. Try lighting a match, blowing it out near the entrance to the flue, see if the smoke trail is sucked up the chimney.
Ideally you should see the smoke trail be sucked up the chimney, indicating a good pull by the flue. If not, this may be because the flue has been partially or completely blocked, or even removed! Check rooms above or in the loft, the chimney breast should go through those rooms too, a missing chimney breast would need to be rebuilt to re-instate the flue before you could use a conventionally flued appliance.
Although it does not stop you using a catalytic flueless gas fire or a bio-ethanol fire. Another issue may be that the chimney has been capped, head outside (weather permitting) and look up at the chimney, binoculars may be helpful, to see if there is a metal cap on the chimney pots. This cap would need to be removed and providing that the rest of flue is intact then removal of the cap will re-instate the pull of the flue, allowing the freedom to have fires such as the stunning Drugasar Eclipse suite (shown right).
I've done all of the above, but my chimney still has no pull, I think it's blocked.
The best thing to do would be to consult a chimney sweep and see if they can sweep the chimney and clear any blockage. If you're looking to install a wood or solid fuel appliance then most manufacturers recommend having the chimney swept every 6 months, with many stove manufacturers advising that a flue liner be fitted to ensure the flue has a uniform pull.
I've Decided What Fire I Want, Can I Fit It Myself?
No, Simple As That. Gas fires must be fitted by an installer registered with Gas Safe, likewise any solid fuel appliance must be fitted by a HETAS registered engineer. Both of these are legal requirements and doing it yourself may make it very difficult to sell the property, or worse, could seriously endanger your life.

Reasons to buy a range cooker

Big, beautiful and bursting with functions, a range cooker has the capacity to steal the show - making sure the kitchen is the true heart of any home.
But what are the options when it comes to ranges, and why choose a hearty range cooker over a built-in oven for your kitchen?
One of the greatest benefits of a range cooker is its heavy-duty durability and solid construction - they are literally built to last a lifetime.
Not only does this mean your initial investment has long-term benefits, but a range cooker is also kinder on the environment as it puts landfill sites under less pressure, and with a solid fuel range, can offer Carbon Neutral heating and cooking.
Range cookers exude a feeling of permanence and solidity and, once you use them in the right way, quickly become a focal point in the kitchen and a home essential that you can't live without!

Range cookers have a distinct style, which stand out in the kitchen. Ranginge from a traditional, yet colourful finish of the Broseley Rosetta to the industrious Broseley Thermo Sovrana to the ultra-contemporary Firebelly Razen Cookstove. They add a homeliness, and even a feeling that whoever owns one is a competent and capable cook!
These factors mean that, unlike built-in ovens, range cookers can quickly become a focal point in the kitchen - making this area a place to which people naturally gravitate in the home, particularly if the smell of freshly baked bread or a simmering stew fills the air,  a freestanding range cooker has a much stronger presence than built-in appliances.
 While most "normal" cookers just come in the standard white or stainless steel, range cookers are available in a large number of extra colours, such as cream enamel, red enamel or even soapstone panels on some of the stoves! These extra colours allow the stove to complement or contrast existing decor to truly create that focal point.
While the common perception is that range cookers are old fashioned so don't have the same features as a "normal" cooker, but this can actually be the opposite. With additional features such as a warming drawer, ideal to warm plates before a large meal or to place bread to rise. With the larger stoves you can also connect them up to your central heating to get the most out of that lovely wood-fire and heat not only your kitchen, but the rest of the house and you hot water as well.

Does Your Stove Work For You?

 When many people think of a wood burning stove they imagine it heating only one area of the house. However with a little planning and initial disruption, your wood burning stove could heat the entire home, whilst saving a fortune on electric and gas.
Some stoves can be fitted with a back burner that means as you light your stove the hot water tank heats up, from the energy created and fills your radiators with eco fuel that keeps every room in the house toasty warm.
Although initially fitting a wood burning stove with a back boiler can be more disruptive than simply attaching a stove to a chimney, this is an ideal way to heat the home for less, and ensures you get the full benefit of all that heat without opening doors in the home to let the heat travel through.
Even the incredibly contemporary wood-burning stoves such as Firebelly (We found the best prices here) can be ordered and built with an optional back-boiler, and in the 18 different colours you're sure to be able to find a colour you love.
Before back boilers wood burning stoves were huge heavy things, that would be used for cooking, drying clothes, heating water and the home, however just because times have changed and we now rely on oil and gas, it doesn’t mean we can’t learn a thing or two from our ancestors.
Range Cookers, more commonly called Aga's after the brand that made them so successful, are strongly back in fashion, and whilst at the beginning of the twentieth century these were thrown out with the rubbish, now they cost a pretty penny and are a must have for any designer kitchen. Manufacturer's such as Broseley have created some stunning Range Cookers, that allow you to enjoy the warm glow as well as being able to do almost anything. Unlike the Aga's that have hidden everything behind heavy metal doors.
Your wood burning stove can perform the same jobs as an Aga, as there are now so many on the market with extras, that the past is coming into the future.
If you can’t find what you’re looking for, scour antique shops and reclamation yards, they will have the old type of wood burning stove that can easily be transformed with an expert hand. These older stoves will have special compartments at the side- a single cast iron cupboard, where you can place slippers to warm or even leave bread to rise. This creates not only warmth in the home, but a delicious smell too, and makes sure that in these winter months there really is no place like our own abode.
If planning a home renovation and the kitchen or study adjoins the lounge, another idea for an open plan feel is to remove the wall where the wood burning stove will go. Some stoves will have glass on both sides, so each room can feel the benefit of the flames as they lick you into a state of relaxed happiness.
With all these features, there’s only one worry left when buying your wood burning stove, how to keep a stockpile of wood big enough! Try growing your own fast growing trees, some only take a year to grow, and as one is chopped down replace with another secure in the knowledge that you really are going green with your energy!

Stoves Are For Life, Not Just For Sherry & Mince Pies

Carefully placed mistletoe and oversized stockings surrounding a fireplace is a quintessential Christmas image. However, it is a shame that fireplaces are not used more often, instead of being reserved for sherry and mince pies on Christmas Eve.

Given that open fires are notoriously poor heat emitters (typically producing efficiencies of just 10-15%) it is understandable that homeowners prefer to reach for the central heating controls rather than chopping another pile of logs. However, for those who still yearn for a roaring fire but don’t want all the heat to disappear up the chimney, there is an alternative – the wood burning stove. They might be a logistical problem for Santa, but wood burning stoves supply efficient and sustainable heat to a home and can happily justify the title of being carbon neutral.

Aga, probably most famous for their range cookers rather than their wood or multifuel stoves have put together this handy guide to explain why a wood burning stove is not just for the festive season – it can last a lifetime.

The Aga Minsterley Can Also Heat Water & Radiators

SO WHY SHOULD I CHOOSE A WOOD BURNING STOVE?

Some independence from the utility companies and the option of using a carbon neutral fuel are
just two of the reasons people choose a wood burning stove. With ever-increasing prices in gas and
electricity, the way we heat our home is more important than ever.

By depending less on the grid we can make our winter
fuel bills more predictable. Plus, stoves still give your
room an important focal point as well as delivering
up to three times more heat into the room than an
open fire.
The Little Wenlock Classic, for example, has
efficiencies of up to 81%, meaning that only a fraction
of the heat generated goes up the chimney. So, it
need no longer be a special treat to light the fire – its
additional warmth can be enjoyed on a daily basis.

ISN’T WOOD JUST AS EXPENSIVE AS GAS OR ELECTRICITY?

Not necessarily - especially if you source your wood locally. It can be a very cost effective way to
heat your home.
Of course the quality of wood can vary and it is important that you use well seasoned, dry wood as
too much moisture in the logs reduces the efficiency of the stove.
To find your nearest firewood supplier try
www.yell.com or alternatively check the Forestry
Commission’s website for a wood scavenging license
in your area.

DO STOVES NEED A LOT OF MAINTENANCE?
Not really. There are some checks that you should carry out on a regular basis to make sure you keep your stove in tip top condition. These include inspecting the ash tray and glass door for any cracks, the finish for any rust and checking the seals are tight.
All of these are important but take a matter of minutes and can prolong the life of the stove. Finally, once a year the chimney should be swept to remove any build-up of deposits – ideally by a sweep who is a member of the National Association of Chimney Sweeps. For more information visit
www.nacs.org.uk

ARE THERE ANY DIFFERENCES BETWEEN THE STOVES AVAILABLE?
Yes – it’s definitely a case of getting what you pay for. If you choose a stove from the lower end of the market which may have been imported, it might be poorly constructed with little or no testing and could be potentially dangerous.
Here at AGA Stoves, testing is rigorous to ensure all imperfections are rectified before the product is sold. And to reassure homeowners, we’re one of the few manufacturers to display all the approvals on a data plate. It means that all the salient information is in one, clearly visible place.

WHAT IS THE LIFESPAN OF A STOVE?
The lifespan of a stove very much depends on the quality of its construction and the levels of maintenance undertaken throughout its life.
A cast iron stove can function for decades although you may need to replace some firebricks or a grate, but these are usually available from the more reputable manufacturers and spare-parts retailers, So if you choose to have a wood burning stove, the investment really can last a lifetime.

For The Complete Guide as well as for more information on any of the Aga Stove range visit http://agaliving.com/media/stoves/aga_stoves_christmas_21.10.11.pdf

Which Is Better? Cast Iron Or Steel

Today we address the age old question when buying a stove, do I want a steel or cast iron stove?

If you're talking about a good quality steel bodied stove versus a good quality cast iron stove then, providing the stove is used according to the manufacturer's instructions, it really doesn't matter. Poor quality cast iron stoves have a reputation for cracking and poor quality steel bodied stoves have a reputation for warping. The practical difference between the two types are that steel stoves heat up quicker and deliver heat to the room much faster whereas cast iron, which is the traditional material for stove building, because it is much heavier and provides a greater mass of metal, tends to take longer to build up heat and distribute it to the room. However cast iron stoves, which are generally heavier than steel bodied stoves, have the advantage that the mass of metal in the stove body will act like a storage radiator dispensing heat to the room a good few hours after the fire has gone out inside it. A steel bodied stove will still do this but it won't retain its heat for quite as long. So, essentially it's a lifestyle choice – if you need fast heat then choose steel and if you want longer lasting heat, say overnight, then choose cast iron. In terms of appearance cast iron stoves tend to have a more traditional finish, featuring textured cast sides and other detailing such as the Aga Little Wenlock, similarly the Broseley Serrano range feature the Broseley Logo cast into the side of the stove!
Converseley steel stoves tend to feature clean lines and can offer a more contemporary solution, such as the Trianco range, Firebelly stoves are also becoming increasinlgy popular due to their clean lines and incredible build quailty.
Some manufacturers have also decided tom combine the best of both worlds. The Portway Range feature the clean lines typical of a steel stove combined with a cast iron door, allowing the option of an enamelled door finish and allowing more heat to be radiated into the room after the fire has gone out.

Choosing A Stove - The Guide

As this is a fairly expensive exercise it really does makes sense to get it right first time. Think long term!

Common sense, planning, using quality products and seeking professional advice are paramount to your success when buying and installing a stove. Using solid fuel requires a little effort but the joy of owning a stove during those cold winter months is unbeatable.

A little reading is required, a little legwork, some research and some comparisons will help you make a few key decisions. These actions will help ensure a successful and safe installation and you will have many years of enjoyment and pleasure from your stove.

Stove guide - Building Regulations

Stove installation is covered by building regulations “Document J” Hetas – Heating Equipment Testing and Approval Service. Hetas registered installers are trained to adhere to these building regulations. 

Safety First! - Hetas Certified Engineers

We strongly recommend that you employ the services of a qualified / certified Hetas engineer. Please do not compromise your safety, the safety of your property or your loved ones and neighbours by performing an installation yourself. 

A badly installed stove can lead to an explosion, a fire or a build up of poisonous gasses and any of these events can lead to a loss of life or critical injury.

Stove guide - Important First Things To Consider

Purchasing stoves over the internet can be fraught with danger if you do not do your research before pressing the buy button.
Remember all stove installations are subject to building regulations and come under the control of your local authority. When you buy from a reputable stove retailer you will get the complete package: advice, guarantee and the right stove, if you've done your research! 
Before purchasing a stove, check with your local authority if you are in a smoke control area.  

You should not burn wood or bituminous coal in a smoke control zone unless the stove has been granted Exemption from the Clean Air act by DEFRA, find some DEFRA approved stoves here. You should be familiar too with the Clean Air Act .

Always follow the advice of your stove manufacturer regarding fuels suitable for your appliance. A good stove retailer will be able to advise on how to get the best results when burning these fuels. Remember you will invalidate your appliance guarantee if you burn a fuel that is not recommended by the stove manufacturer.

Stove guide - Chimney Flue – (the engine behind your stove)

All wood burning or multi fuel stoves require a class 1 chimney flue.  As the majority of stoves are more than 78% efficient it is imperative that the chimney flue is better than adequate. 

The chimney flue is what drives the appliance and the more efficient the stove is, the more efficient the flue system has to be in order to exhaust the combustion gasses quickly into atmosphere. 

Wherever possible the stove should be flued from the top of the appliance into the chimney and not from the back. Flue gasses naturally want to rise in a vertical fashion and encountering bends of more than 30 degrees to the vertical will slow and cool the evacuation of these gasses down,  resulting in possible condensation / deposit problems in the chimney flue. If bends are needed then they must be rounded and not sharp.

Flue Liners

It is common for most stove installations to be recommended a double skin, flexible, stainless steel flue liner. 

These come in 2 grades:
316 - with a guarantee of 10 years.
904 - with a guarantee of 20/25 years.

When either system is installed, I would strongly advise that they be insulated with either Vermiculite, Pearlite, Leca or a non combustible wrap in order to maintain the flue gas temperature. It is imperative that a flue liner is fitted to be both water-tight and insulated correctly.

As the guarantee implies, these lining systems are not permanent. If the stove is oversize or not operated efficiently or the liner is not installed correctly, then the life of these liners can be much less than the period of the guarantee. This can often lead to tension between the installer and you the householder as to what is the cause of the failure. 

A more permanent cure for an oversize or inefficient chimney flue is a “cast in situ” system provided by “Shellcast” or “Cico”. Although this may cost a couple of hundred pounds more to install, you will get a more permanent and durable system that will give many years of service.

Be aware that before any lining system is installed you must ensure that the existing chimney flue should be swept clean and pressure tested for air tightness.

Top Tip - For maximum safety chimney flues should be swept twice a year by a competent person registered to the National Association of Chimney Sweeps – NACS - or the Guild of Master Sweeps or be Hetas approved.

   

Home Is Where The Hearth Is

3. Your Hetas engineer will advise on hearth construction and ventilation requirements as again both are covered by building regulations. As all combustion processes require a supply of oxygen then there is an ongoing need to replenish any oxygen that is used in the process. Stoves with an output of more than 5kw require an additional supply of air from an external source.

The Silent Killer

Carbon monoxide is a product of incomplete combustion and is formed when there is a lack of adequate ventilation or if there is a blockage or restriction in the chimney flue. Carbon monoxide is a gas that kills, so for safety reasons, prior to using the appliance a battery operated carbon monoxide detector should be installed in the room.

Kilowatt Capacity

4. The kilowatt output of the stove should be very closely matched to the kilowatt requirement of the space you are wanting to heat.  For example a standard room of 15ft length by 14 ft wide by 7ft high only needs a stove with an output of 3 kilowatts.  

Installing an oversize stove will result in possible low firebox temperatures which in turn will lead to condensates and deposits forming in the flue system. These, are highly corrosive and can lead to failure of stainless steel flue systems. 




Burning Real WoodThere is a basic difference between a wood burning and a multi fuel stove, and it's all to give the favoured fuel optimum burning conditions. Wood burns best on a bed of ash, whereas solid fuel needs a grate capable of supplying primary / combustion air. If you want to burn a combination of both wood and solid fuel then this can only be done on a multi-fuel stove.

Before burning any wood, it must be either seasoned for a minimum period of 18 months or have been kiln dried down to an ideal of less than 20% moisture – the drier the better! 

Burning non seasoned logs (Green Wood) leads to creosote type condensates in the flue system. These will not only block the chimney flue but are also highly flammable and will lead to destructive chimney fires. We strongly recommend that you do not burn non seasoned wood in your stove.

Do not allow the stove to “tick over” for long periods especially if you have installed any type of flexible stainless steel flue liner. 

Before and after any slumbering or overnight burn you should “open up” the stove for an hour to increase the fire box temperature. This will help to create the correct conditions in the chimney flue to allow the combustion gasses to escape into atmosphere and not to condense on the inner surface of the flue. 

The purchase of a magnetic temperature gauge, to fit on the off-take pipe (the pipe that connects the stove to the chimney flue), will alleviate any low temperature problems. This device shows the best operating temperature at a glance.

Smokeless Fuels

All smokeless fuels used should be Hetas approved for use in a closed appliance and most importantly do not burn “neat” or “raw” petroleum coke as this can cause severe damage to the firebox. This fuel has very little ash content and consequently burns at very high temperatures. The ash content of the fuel is there to protect the fire bars, the grate and the firebox of the stove from the very high temperatures generated during the combustion process.

Ventilation

Natural ventilation is a good thing. Avoid using extract fans in the locality of the stove as this leads to a lowering of pressure in the building which can cause the combustion gasses to be drawn “back down” the chimney flu and into the room.

Stove Buying Golden Rules

Maintain sufficient temperature in the firebox to ensure the combustion gasses can escape into the atmosphere.

• Follow the stove manufacturer’s guidelines and Stove Retailers advice.
• Purchase a carbon monoxide detector.
• Building regulations are there to ensure maximum safety – abide by them
• Use a certified Hetas Engineer
• Talk to your local authority before spending your hard earned cash

How To Cut Your Energy Bills...

Almost nine in 10 households (89%) will be rationing their energy use this winter to save on bills, meaning a potential 23 million households will be switching off or turning down their heating, according to uSwitch. It says an average £224 increase in energy prices within the last 12 months has left 87% of consumers worried about the cost of this year's winter fuel bill.
In October The Guardian asked readers for their tips on cutting energy bills.
They were contacted by a retired 66-year-old retired academic who worked at a London university. She spent half her working life caring for her children and doing voluntary work, which reduced her pension, so she now makes an effort to keep her heating bills down. She has taken rationing her energy use to a new level, and she wanted to share her methods.

"People talk as if very high energy bills are inevitable, whereas often these could be cut a little or a lot, and in ways that can improve our quality of life. I've just had my quarterly bills: electricity £7.44 (+ VAT + standing charge = £12.89) and gas £7.88 (+ VAT but minus dual fuel discount = £4.75).

"If you asked me to score my quality of life from one to 10, I would definitely say 12 plus.

"I am a pensioner, at home and with the computer on most of the time, who pays well under £100 for my annual, total, combined gas and electricity bills. I have worked out gradually how to do this, and now find it so easy it is automatic.

"Although I am very lucky in my housing and neighbourhood, at least some of my savings could be made by anyone. A few ideas are fairly costly to set up, but they could be paid for many times over in savings on later annual bills – especially given that carbon fuel prices are only going to keep rising.

"Three years ago I moved house, and chose an end-of-terrace home with a south- and west-facing living room, and no nearby tall trees or buildings. The living room has patio doors and even in deepest winter, on sunny days, it heats up to more than 20C. If you have any blank walls that face east or west, but preferably south, could you possibly put in a double-glazed window? The larger the better. Patio doors heat up rooms much more than ordinary windows do.

"Insulated cavity walls and roof increase the winter warmth. I have carpets here – much cosier than the laminate floors in my last home – and cream 'blackout' curtains which give excellent insulation.

"I do not use central heating. Instead, I use the warm living room almost all the time in winter. Okay, the other rooms are chilly. But does that matter as long as you only need to use them briefly during the day, and you have one really warm room, or two for larger families?

"My main heating is a wood-burner, and for that you have to have a chimney or some kind of wall outlet. My burner, with installation by a plumber, cost about £500. Even a large room is fine with a small burner, and they last forever.

"The other expenses are logs – about £200 a year. So that does bring my fuel bills up to nearly £300, and you do need somewhere to store the logs without having to carry them far. There is very little ash, which only needs clearing out into a small bag about once a month. The annual chimney sweep costs about half the price of checking the gas boiler.

"You can get burners with in-built boilers, which heat radiators and water tanks. Instead, I always keep a filled kettle on my burner, and add that hot water to pans or to an electric kettle whenever I need boiling water. I slow-cook stews on the burner, after heating them on a hob, and you can hang clothes around for very quick drying.

"My glass-fronted burner is a beautiful companion. Throughout the year, I collect twigs and lumps of fallen wood in nearby parks to use for kindling and to start a quick blaze in the morning.

"For unheated bedrooms you can use one or two – or three – hot water bottles (from the burner kettle) and lots of warm covers. It can be more pleasant to sleep in a warm bed in a cold winter room than in a hot summer bedroom where you cannot control the temperature.

"Maybe you are thinking about the misery of cold kitchens and bathrooms. During winter I prepare food, and the hot water for cooking and washing up, in the living room – so need to spend little time in the kitchen. Jackets and jerseys are handy for longer spells in the kitchen. Living in inner London I have shops near by. I use them as my main larder, so I can do without a freezer, and I turn on my fridge only briefly to cool white wine, or occasionally for the grandchildren's ice-cream. Food keeps well in cool kitchens.

"I buy milk every other day, and keep the carton in a jug of cold water. Shopping every day or two ensures that food is fresh and varied. Another advantage is not having a fridge full of stuff near its end-of-shelf life, which helps to reduce overeating and throwing away stale food.

"The bathroom is the other great energy consumer. Older people will remember how in the 1940s-1950s we tended to have a bath once or twice a week. Advertisers have lately persuaded us that it is unhealthy and disgusting to shower less than at least once a day. Yet a quick wash, with water from a kettle, is fine for most days – or a leisurely wash in front of the burner. Baby wipes are a great invention, and I can guarantee no one will guess if you haven't had a shower for five days.

"Maybe you are thinking that a good quality of life demands several warm though hardly used rooms, plenty of hot water on tap, and lots of electric equipment on standby. But think about all the things you could buy instead of burning money on fuel bills."

That's how our academic cuts her costs. Saving that much money clearly takes a lot of effort, so would you be willing to go that far in the name of smaller utility bills?

While her ideas seem to do a great deal to reduce fuel bills overall and the idea of using a woodburning stove to provide the main heat for a room is a great idea. Especially when using a Stove fan to help circulate the warm air around the room.

However it seems to me that her determination to cut energy bills is driving the cost of general living up, for example I think it would be cheaper to pay for the cost of heating water for a shower every day or every other day rather than a constant supply of baby wipes!
Also the cost of running a modern, energy efficient Fridge Freezer also would be less than the cost of buying food on a daily basis from a local shop, which can often be more expensive than a weekly or half-weekly shop from a supermarket.

Do I Need A Flue Liner?

If you have a standard masonry chimney and wish to install a woodburning or multifuel stove, it is highly advisable to fit a stainless steel flexible flue liner with the stove.

Corinium Flue Systems recommends fitting a flue liner for the following reasons;

• Masonry chimneys, particularly in older properties, are likely to have cracks. Without a liner, any fumes from the stove and creosote formed will leak through cracks in the masonry, possibly exiting in other rooms in your house or in your neighbours'.

• Creosote is a tar like substance that is formed when fumes emitted from the stove cool down as they rise. When these gaseous fumes cool down, any substances contained within the fumes condense and are deposited on the inside of the flue or chimney. A flue liner has a smooth inner skin with less surface area for creosote to be deposited onto, whereas in a masonry chimney it is likely to build up in cracks or crevices. Creosote is highly flammable and is often the cause of chimney fires.

• A flue liner is much narrower than a chimney and is the same diameter from top to bottom. This continuous, consistent pathway will allow the flue gases to exit the chimney much quicker, with less chance of deposits. A flue liner's narrow, consistent diameter also means that it will warm up much quicker than a chimney. This results in an improved draw, making it easier to get a fire burning without lots of smoke back into the stove. A flue liner will retain the heat longer than a chimney after the fire has died out, which means it will be easier to start a new fire the morning after the night before.

• A flue liner is generally more straightforward to sweep. Creosote deposits formed will be harder to remove from a large chimney, especially build ups in cracks or crevices.

A question frequently asked is whether the flue should be insulated - this is done by backfilling the chimney around the flue liner. This is not necessary, but can be beneficial if you have a particularly cold chimney i.e. external, very exposed and very large. Normally the warming of the air in the chimney surrounding the liner during burning is sufficient for insulation.

They are also frequently asked whether a flue liner is necessary to comply with building regulations. It does not state in the building regulations that a flue liner has to be fitted with a stove. However, you must be sure that the chimney is in good working condition and has been sufficiently maintained. The majority of installers and retailers will recommend fitting a flue liner; particularly in older properties, as it is safer and more efficient.

We do not advise asking your installer not to fit a flue liner purely on the basis of cost. Once you have made the one off investment, your stove and flue liner, if properly maintained, will last for years. Most stove and flue manufacturers offer a warranty on their products - for example, Corinium offer a ten year warranty on our flue liner, subject to conditions of use.

Aga Little Wenlock Classic in Ideal Home

The Aga Little Wenlock Classic stove makes a welcome appearance in the November issue of Ideal Home, taking pride of place in Matthew and Rebecca Stenson’s living room (p.30). The Stensons’ home is a new build cottage, located in a Cambridgeshire village close to Huntingdon. Although the cottage is only three years old, it has been faithfully built in the rustic style using a traditional oak frame with modern structural insulation panels.
The Stensons have created a home rich with old world charm, but have incorporated the convenience of modern technology wherever possible. With underfloor heating and an air-source heat pump to keep their fuel costs down to around £80 per month, a wood burning stove is more a feature than a necessity. The Aga Little Wenlock Classic woodburner they have installed in their living room is a perfect fit for the character of the cottage with its timeless combination of traditional and modern aesthetics. However, the suitability of this stove for their home goes much deeper than looks alone.

The Aga Little Wenlock Classic stove achieves fuel efficiency of up to 81.2%, making it a good fit for the eco-friendly ethos of fuel economy seen in the rest of the Stensons’ heating system. The Little Wenlock Classic stove has a heat output of 4.7kW. This gives it the power to keep a small living room toasty warm in the worst of weather, but also makes it ideal for supplementing central heating in a medium living room such as the Stensons’.
The Stensons have gone for high quality materials wherever possible both in building and decorating their home. It is no surprise therefore that a solid cast iron woodburner would appeal to them. Aga are renowned for their quality control, being unwilling to release stoves with even the smallest superficial defect. While there are cheaper stoves on the market with similar designs, a close-up comparison will always show the Aga stove to have a flawless finish where a budget stove may well have the odd rough edge.

Ideal Home Magazine is one of best selling homes magazines, and it’s easy to see why. Every issue is crammed full of inspirational ideas, creative decorative techniques and the latest interior design style trends....




Do you have a question that needs answering? Or you want your heat appliance reviewed by the Fires Fireplaces Stoves Team? Why not contact us on firesfiresplacesstoves@gmail.com

Keeping The Glass On Your Stove Clean

Keeping stove windows clean is a complex subject and varies for each appliance, type of fuel and other operational differences such as overnight burning. All of which can then be affected by chimney performance.
Most modern stoves have an "air-wash" built in. This is basically a curtain of air that is desigend to flow across the surface of the window and stop any carbon being deposited onto the glass.

Air-wash works best when the appliance is fully up to temperature, with the heat from the fire being the main driving force of the air across the glass. However when the stove is first lit or when all the air controls are shut for overnight burning the airwash is significantly reduced. It is at these times when the deposits of combustion materials, condensation or sooting most often occur on the glass.

On start-up, the window is cold. Water vapour escaping from the burning fuel (even the most seasoned wood will still probably contain 15-25% water) reaches the cold surface of the glass and condenses, this vapour normally carries with it a waxy like substance which once deposited on the glass acts like a magnet and deposits more and more onto the glass.
However once the stove has heated up these deposits burn away relatively quickly, with more stubborn carbon deposits normally burnt off at a higher temperature.

But inorganic oxides produced are often left behind and then burnt onto the glass, the process repeats itself with more area for further deposits and this can quickly escalate once the process has begun.

Prevention Not Cure
On shut-down, or for overnight burning the air-wash control is normally fully closed. The fuel burn rate drops and inefficient and incomplete combustion can occur. The speed of the air in the air-wash is now too low to carry away any of the heavy combustion products which will lead to them being deposited on the glass.

Unfortunately it's not a case of stopping it, as once the process has started it becomes a landing spot for more and more deposits to land on the glass, its more a case of preventing it. .
To put it simply, the cleaner the glass is kept and the more air-wash present during operation, the cleaner the glass will remain.
Other helpful precautions include:
Not burning wet or unseasoned wood.
Ensuring the air-wash is open at all times
Not overfilling the grate
Allowing the last refuelling of the day to burn on high for half an hour or so before turning the air wash down.
In short, it's the common-sense factors that can ofter prolong the clear view.

If the surface does become slightly marked most glass manufacturers recommend tepid water and a lint free cloth, with gentle pressure and irregular motion the marks should come off, but remember to allow the glass to dry before firing up the stove.
Should the window become more heavily marked then a specialist ceramic glass cleaner is available from most local hardware or DIY shops. Followed by a water wash and thorough drying.

It is best to avoid traditional acid based window cleaners or abrasive oven cleaners, as well as the traditional meothod of newspaper dipped in spent ash, as fine abrasive ash can damage the surface of the window. Actually making it easier for deposits to build up in future.

Wood Burners Could Be The Answer To Heating Your Home This Winter

The ever-rising cost of gas, oil and electricity has fired the imagination of householders trying to save on their heating bills. It’s not only good news for environment, it’s also providing a growing business for people involved in forestry and those selling wood and log-burning stoves.

The experience of George Newburn, who runs Lytham Logs on the Fylde, is typical. He supplies high quality natural hardwood and softwood from sustainable plantations in Cumbria.

‘It’s amazing how many people are contacting me because they’ve had a wood-burning stove installed that day,’ he says. ‘I ran out of wood in the middle of January last year so I’ve now got 300 cubic metres of logs in stock.’

That’s a lot when you consider a normal sized rubbish skip hold just five cubic metres. ‘Wood is carbon neutral and people are starting to accept the environmental arguments,’ he adds. ‘People are using more wood and less coal, which has to be shipped from places like Poland.’

George does have some words of caution, however. ‘If we keep burning hardwood at the current rate we will run out one day. Softwood is cheaper and quicker to grown. In fact, it grows twice as quickly but it doesn’t burn twice as fast.

‘People with open fires don’t like it because it has a higher resin content and that causes it to spit. But it’s fine for wood-burners and we need to start educating people about the difference.’

John Stanley launched Vesta Stoves in Scarisbrick five years ago. ‘We are probably one of the only companies in the country that actually makes wood-burners rather than importing them,’ he says.

‘Wood-burners are increasing in popularity all the time and they do have lots of advantages. With gas prices going up and up, they are seen as a real investment and they are much more efficient and controllable than an open fire where about 80 per cent of the heat goes up the chimney.

‘If you burn £200 a year on an open fire, that would come down to about £50 a year with a wood-burner. The payback is almost instant.

‘Wood-burners with boilers are becoming massively more popular now as well. They are a big investment – you need a different kind of water tank for one thing – and the payback time is nearer ten years but they can reduce fuel bills dramatically.’

Nick Astley, who runs Fuelmizas, retailing a wide range of wood-burners in Ribchester, believes the economic argument is the main driver. ‘The powers that be would like to think people are buying wood-burners because they are carbon neutral and envionmentally-friendly but it’s really the price of fuel that’s causing the change.

‘Some are put off because they have concerns about living in restricted areas but you can now get Defra-approved wood-burners for smoke-free zones.

‘Others have visions of having to go out to collect wood, chop it with an axe, stack it and season the logs. But life’s too short. Like most people, we simply have the wood delivered.’ Cue George.

An impressive range of wood and multifuel stoves are available from Stove Megastore, as well as a heat powered stove fan that can help distribute heat around the room, further reducing the amount of fuel needed.

The History Of The Biofuel Stove

While a fireplace is often set into the framework of the house and is closed off in a way that allows you to see the flames and experience their heat, stoves offer a very different image. The stove image that comes to mind is of an enclosed and usually a raised metal structure that is often mostly closed off. Stoves, like our kitchen stove, can be cooked on, and even a stove that is solely responsible for heating does not usually offer much in the way of attractiveness, although it might be more efficient than a fireplace.

The problem with stoves is that they burn their fuel, which is released into the environment, and that this fuel burning can deplete some of our natural resources. While wood is technically a renewable resource, it is not the only fuel for a stove. Some stoves run on natural gas, and others run on coal, neither of which is immediately renewable. Since these are not the best environmental choices, people interested in creating a healthy alternative worked to develop a better stove.

The better stove that was developed is the biomass stove. These stoves run on natural and highly renewable fuel rather than making use of and depleting less renewable resources. While the biomass stoves still emit carbon because of the fuel that they are burning, they are at least not burning some of the resources that we have come to understand are limited in our world.

The first patent for biomass stoves appeared around 20 years ago, and these stoves were designed to be supplied with wood pellets. Although technically any stove that burns wood is a biomass stove because it burns wood, a biomass fuel, the term “biomass stove” is usually reserved in modern times for the stoves that have been designed to burn wood pellets or other fuel pellets.

Other Fuel Pellets

Wood pellets are no longer the only biomass that can be burned in biomass stoves. Because of the lack of alternative fuel sources, scientists began to experiment with what they already knew. It was realized that wood burning stoves could burn hotter and more efficiently with a special system that allowed them to burn the super-dense compressed wood pellets.

Further innovations have led to the question of what else we can burn for heat and even for an attractive fire. The biomass stoves became a way to replace fireplaces with a more energy efficient and therefore more environmentally healthy alternative. Even better, you may not even need to use an extensive ventilation system (like a chimney) to use a biomass stove; a small vent through the wall and up may do just fine.

Biomass stoves are now designed to burn with fuels other than wood pellets. Stoves have been specifically designed to burn fuel like corn pellets, and even waste that would otherwise be wasted like cherry or olive pits. These units require a calibration, which is usually done for you and can be selected with a simple button, and they are ready to burn your bio fuel of choice.

How Biomass Stoves Work

If you simply drop a handful of wood pellets into a biomass stove and try to light it, you will find that it doesn’t work. Your biomass stove is designed to make special use of energy to blow air through the fire pit in a way that allows the fuel to reach temperatures hot enough to burn. The user fills a special hopper, which feeds the pellets or pits to the fire at a regular interval.

The biomass stove, once lit, provides a great deal of heat to a home, allowing you to achieve much more comfortable warmth with much less fuel, making biomass stoves a more fuel efficient alternative to other heating features in your home. The fuel is highly efficient, which means that the use of the biomass stove lets you save a great deal of money that would otherwise be wasted on firewood, gas, coal, or other energy sources.

Also, because the biomass stoves are beginning to be able to run on even more energy efficient fuels, like highly renewable corn pellets, they are becoming even more positive in their impact on the environment. They save us money that we would otherwise spend on fuel, produce better heat, and put off less pollution than a traditional stove or fireplace does, and still provide us with good looks and a great source of heat.