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Going for the natural look

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For all those who have left the grid behind and are making a go of it on their own, wood stoves are one of the best options available anywhere on the home heating scene.

It’s also a fact that a home with a professionally fitted stove can be worth up to 5% more than one without.

Sales of wooding burning stoves are going to reach record levels this fiscal year and the future looks very bright and very warm indeed.

Log burners make great focal points for interiors and come in all shapes and sizes, they are cleaner and more efficient than open fireplaces, and can even save you money on your heating bills. If you’re dreaming of installing one, you’re in good company – 175,000 are installed each year in the UK.

To enjoy using a log burner safely and responsibly, it’s important to do your research. Think first about the size of area that needs to be heated, as a rule of thumb, 1kW of heat output for every 14 cubic metres of space is needed to make your room 21C when it’s 1C outside. Read more

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Safety & Efficiency

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A professionally fitted wood burning stove can save you hundreds on annual fuel bills but do make sure your new burner is suitable for your home. Many people tend to install without seeking professional advice, this is fine, but if you want to get total efficiency do seek advice from a qualified fitter.

One thing is for sure, if you have a stove fitted and you are selling your property the buyer is likely to want to see a certified certificate for the installation of the stove.

Homes with a certified fitted boiler can be worth a lot more money when selling, also bear in mind some insurance companies will not accept the risk unless the stove has been professionally fitted.

A HETAS registered fitter is fully trained in fitting and able to give advice as to the most suitable wood burning stove for the area to be heated.    Read more

Take action and cut your energy bills

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As the cost of electricity, oil and gas remains sky high and is increasing, heating a property as we all know can be extremely expensive. Have you considered installing a wood burning stove? If not, you could very well be missing out on a much cheaper form of heating.

Although the initial cost of a wood burner may be more than a gas fire, it will certainly save you money in the long run. When used efficiently, a kilowatt of heat per hour costs about one fifth of kWh of electricity and about one third of kWh of oil and gas. So, as you can see the installation cost can soon be recouped.

Wood burners look decorative and they have a certain magnetic quality. They are great for winter social and family gatherings at home bringing a certain ambiance to the home. Read more

Beautiful heating solution

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Today’s wood heating appliances are designed for beauty and performance. A wood stove or fireplace insert can be the focal point of any room. Regardless of your taste, there’s a stove designed for you and your budget. In fact, it’s difficult to find ugly stoves or inserts nowadays. With so many beautiful stoves to choose from and the costs coming down this does make a great heating solution.

Another great advantage of wood heating is having heat when there is no power. There’s not much more satisfying than being warm and happy around your wood stove when all the lights in the neighborhood are out. You’ll have that pioneer feeling, as you should. You thought ahead!

The biggest advantage homeowners have with a wood burning stove is the quality of heat the burner will give off. Wood stoves operate on the principle of radiant heat, which warms an area faster and more efficiently than warm air being blown through a home’s vent system. Read more

Wood burning stove revolution continues

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The sales of wood burning stoves have been rising for a good many years, but now sales are hitting all new levels. This year sales and installations to date are 22% higher than the same period last year. Increased sales are attributed to ever rising energy bills and the homeowner looking to reduce heating bills.

Wood burners also have other benefits including giving a room an ambience and correctly fitted could well increase the value of your property.

Efficiency

As great as open fires are they are not energy efficient and only give approximately 20% output. Wood burning stoves are much more efficient, at around 70-90%, so you get all the benefits of a real fire without most of your money going up the chimney!

Chimney

When having a new wood stove fitted it is likely your chimney will need to be lined for safety and efficiency.

Homes dating from the mid-1960s onwards should have had a concrete or clay chimney liner fitted when they were built but ask a qualified installer to check out the chimney, whatever the age of your home. Read more

Countless benefits

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There are plenty of benefits of using a wood stove to heat your home. The most obvious is the cleanliness of burning wood, which gives off less particulate matter and is a renewable resource, unlike gas-powered alternatives. Another chief benefit is the cost efficiency as wood can cost a great deal less than electricity and gas. If you have your own supply of seasoned wood, then it really is a “no brainer” as they say.

Not to mention a professionally installed stove can add value to your property.

There are some more peripheral benefits about heating your home with a wood-fuelled stove. Wood burning stoves can be used as additional cooking surfaces in the home, perfect for warm cocoa. They also have the added bonus of saving you money on other utilities, like electricity which as we all know is very expensive. Read more

Home improvements this summer?

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It’s that time of year again when we all start thinking about home improvements. All DIY superstores will tell you May equals a significant increase in sales.

One thing on all homeowner’s minds is reducing their energy bills, so, if you are thinking of changing things at home do consider installing a wood burning stove. Doing this one thing will in the long term save you a great deal of money on your Gas and Electricity bills.

Wood burning stoves always make great focal points for interiors, they are cleaner and more efficient than open fireplaces, and can save you money on your heating bills. Install one and get ready for your life in the winter months to get a whole lot better.   Read more

Sales keep on rising

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There is a kind of primordial attraction to a real fire. We all enjoy coming back to the warming welcoming glow of a home fire after a day stuck in the office and then in commuter traffic.

However, a roaring open fire with the heat escaping up the chimney has fallen from favour. Now it must be a wood burning stove, which gives out five times as much heat as a regular fireplace and heats a far bigger part of the house.

More than one million UK homes are already using wood burning stoves, with average annual UK sales more than 178,000 units and rising.

They have become a fashion statement with many now having inspiring designs that have made them ornamental focal points. Add to this their impressive green credentials and the fact they make your home more energy efficient. You also become less dependent on energy suppliers, so it’s not hard to understand the popularity of wood burning stoves. Read more

Making the most of your wood burner to save money

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Whilst wood stoves can be used as an alternative for the main heating system in a home, they really are an excellent supplementary support system. In cold periods when the central heating isn’t enough, or you don’t want to turn it on full blast, the stove can be used as a supplement, and this proves particularly cost-effective compared to the cost of electric room heaters.

When your log burner is burning away and working to its full capacity, it’s time to start saving money on your heating bills.

Heat always travels up, and it will do the same in a two-or-more story home. So, if you leave the stairway door and the bedroom doors open, the heat generated will naturally go up the stairs and fill all rooms with warmth. Just ensure the passageway leading upstairs remains open, the heat from the wood stove will warm the upstairs. You will be able within an hour or so to turn the central heating thermostat down a few degrees and in turn start to save an awful lot of money. Read more

Getting the best from your wood stove

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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.

If you’re thinking of getting a multi-fuel stove, think about what fuel you’re going to use. According to a survey conducted by the Stove Industry Alliance (SIA), 77% of multi-fuel stoves owners said they used their stove exclusively to burn wood.  As not all multi-fuel stoves burn wood as efficiently as dedicated wood burning stoves, those people would be better off with a log burner.

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.  Read more