Getting the best from your wood stove after installation

Whether you’ve just bought a stove, are thinking of getting one, or have inherited one with a home you’ve moved into, there are several things to consider so you can make the most of your stove.

To make sure you get the most out of your wood burning stove, it’s vital to use the right kind of wood. First and foremost, it’s important that you burn as dry wood as possible – ideally it should only contain less than 20% moisture. In other words, wood that has been drying for at least 18 months.

Ensure you clean your stove on a regular basis and have your chimney cleaned at least once a year but preferably twice.

These two factors alone will ensure your stove produces heat efficiently!

Using fresh logs with a high moisture content of around 60% to 90% will reduce your stove’s heat output.  This is because you’ll waste energy burning off the water, so you’ll need to use more to warm the room. It will also leave more build-up in your chimney, create more smoke and potentially harmful air pollution.

If you choose the right stove, it should be very easy to maintain. But there are a few steps you should take to keep it efficient and safe. To keep your stove in good working order, the Stove Industry Alliance recommends that you have your chimney swept at the beginning and the end of the winter to avoid a build-up of tar and soot, which could damage the chimney and stove when not in use. From a safety point of view, blocked chimneys can also cause deadly carbon monoxide. One sweep should cost between £50-£100.

Can we help?

If you are looking for assistance choosing a new or simply need help with your existing burner, please make contact and one of our qualified fitters (HETAS) registered who will be happy to assist.

Cost Efficient Heating & High efficiency levels and getting better all the time!

Firstly Not only are wood stoves becoming more eco-friendly, but they’re also becoming a lot more efficient. This means that more heat is used to heat your home rather than being expelled up the chimney.

Many wood burners these days have an efficiency level of over 80% plus. This means that you’re not losing much heat at all. Only 20% is being lost through the chimney and the rest goes into making your home nice and toasty.

An open fire loses as much as 80% of the heat through the chimney. Thus making them incredibly inefficient at heating homes.

Older stoves over 10 years less cost efficient heating.

Older stoves will have a lower efficiency rating. So if you want to ensure you’re getting more heat into your home, then a new stove would be a wise move. Not only is a more efficient stove better for your wallet as you’re spending less on fuel, but it’s also better for the environment.

Very fast quality heating

The biggest advantage homeowners have with a wood burning stove is the quality of heat the burner will give off. Woods stoves operate on the principal of radiant heat. This warms an area faster and more efficiently than warm air being blown through a home’s vent system. Fitted in a central position in your home you will be amazed how the rest of your house suddenly gets a whole lot warmer. In turn you will reduce any other heating bills you may have as the thermostat controlling your central heating remains off.

Can we help?

Finally If you would like assistance in selecting and installing your new log burner, please get in touch. One of our qualified fitters (HETAS reg) will be happy to help.

I want to reduce my heating bills. Heating bills hurting your budget yet again?

Heating your home is a very costly exercise and the likelihood of it reducing in the near future is almost nil. Here’s a story that may inspire you.

From a client of ours –

“Last winter’s gas bills meant it was time to act. An engineer from Kent Stoves confirmed the idea of installing a woodstove was going to work well for us. We got the old gas fire and pipework removed, measured up our fireplace and started looking for a stove that would fit our relatively small fireplace”.

“We did our homework and got Kent Stoves advice as to the correct wood burner we would need to heat our living area”.

“Two months on, we have slashed our gas and electricity consumption. Although it is a bit early to say with certainty, I estimate we will have cut our bills by £600-£800 this year. We should recoup the cost of the stove and its installation in under three years.

“Meanwhile, we have upgraded the loft insulation – prompted by another article. And, if we keep the stove going all day, it heats the entire house. We still use the central heating to heat the bedrooms if it’s very cold”.

A wood burning stove can save you an awful lot of money and are relatively easy to maintain.

What to do if you want to save money

If you would like to know if you could benefit from a wood burning stove get in contact. One of our qualified fitters (HETAS) registered engineers will guide you in the right direction.

Hetas Registered Stove Installers and pointers to look out for when selecting your new wood stove!

A stove that is too small for the room will not be powerful enough to heat the room adequately, on the other hand, if you have a stove that is too large it will need constant attention to keep the temperature down.

A result of this is the combustion within the stove will not be complete and you will quickly have a build-up of soot not just on the glass, but up the chimney as well.

With this in mind, when calculating the required output, a slightly greater output should be considered (no more than 1.5kW), as there will be a greater need for rapid heating in the long dark cold months of winter.

Always fit where possible in a central position in the property.

As you are making a large investment within your home installing a new stove it really will pay to get expert help (HETAS registered) when selecting the stove to meet your needs.

Wood stoves are cleaner and more efficient than you think.

Open fireplaces are great, but they are not very energy efficient at approximately 20%. Wood burning stoves are much more efficient, at around 80%, so you get all the benefits of a real fire without most of your money going up the chimney in smoke!

Only burn mature logs – Vital information for heat and efficiency.

Wood is a far more environmentally friendly fuel than oil, gas and electricity – and subject to far less price rises. Freshly cut wood contains a lot of water, so you should dry it out before you can burn it. This can take as long as 18-24 months.

It is very unwise to burn wet or unseasoned wood as this will cause a soot build up in your chimney and make your burner very dirty.

Can we help?

If you would like assistance selecting and installing a new log burner, please get in touch. One of our HETAS qualified fitters will be happy to help.

Cheaper Winter Heating with Wood stoves. Log burner wood stoves are still gaining ground in the race for cheaper heat.

Wood burning stove installations are increasing annually and over the last ten years we have seen huge strides towards solving environmental issues.

Due to rising fuel bills homeowners are seeking alternative cost-effective heating options.

Wood burning stoves are a real alternative for cheaper winter heating. These days they really do offer an impressive range of options to meet your home’s needs. Long gone are the days when wood burners were seen as an ugly and dirty heating source.

Why install a wood burning burner?

People in the UK tend to spend most of their time in one room – the living room, and as such a lot of the heating costs are focused here. Therefore, if you can use a cheaper form of heating in just this location, then the costs of the central heating and additional heating should fall considerably.

How much cheaper is it? Well, the cost of wood logs is obviously variable, depending on your source and where you live. Some people have access to free wood from gardens and the local area, which is fantastic – this essentially means once you have installed the wood burner, you can heat your home for free, just imagine that!

The big 3 advantages!

• Fuel in the form of logs, wood chips, brush clippings is renewable, and sustainable.
• Wood supply prices are relatively stable and have been for years.
• Professionally installed stove will add value to your property.

Help needed?

If you would like to explore your heating options, please do make contact. One of our qualified fitters (HETAS registered) will be happy to assist.