An evening in front of the fire
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If, like me, you are mesmerized by the flames you genuinely could lose hours just watching them dancing across a piece of wood or two before engulfing them. The picture above of the open fire in the local old farm house pub was one such event that after a lovely meal, the flames took hold of my gaze and the wood basket depleted a tad more than in the photo. With this in mind you have probably considered, or are considering, putting one in your own home and have asked the same 3 questions I did;
Which one should I have?
It is widely reported that open fires, like the wonderful one in the photo, are no where near as efficient as a wood burning stove, a quick glance on a well known internet search engine will bring up enough results to confirm these are the views of many. An open fire generally heats the area around it, whereas wood burning stoves are designed to heat up a much larger area and burn less fuel in the process.
What fuel should I burn?
Wood burning stoves, as the title suggests, burn wood. Wood is classed as a carbon neutral fuel and as such is deemed to be eco-friendly although you would need sufficient space to store your wood and ensure it had the right moisture content for efficient burning.
If you are struggling for wood storage space, or you live in a smoke control area, you may consider a multi-fuel stove as they can burn wood, smokeless fuel (smoke control area) and coal. It is worth bearing in mind that some may suffer from being a “jack of all trades” and therefore a master of none and are unlikely to be able to burn all types of fuels with equal efficiency.
Am I in a smoke control area?
To find out if you are in a smoke control area the best thing to do is contact your local council as there are many areas where you cannot emit smoke from a chimney. The good news is that even if you are in a smoke control area it does not mean you cannot get a wood burning stove, simply ask the company you intend to purchase from about their DEFRA exempt appliances. Follow the Defra link below for more information on this.
https://smokecontrol.defra.gov.uk/appliances.php?country=england
I hope this has helped you as much as it did me when I found it out, yes there are many more questions to ask your potential stove supplier with regard to what style of stove (especially if needing a DEFRA exempt appliance), the installation process and flue system required but now you have a foundation on which to start. You could soon be spending many an evening watching the flames too!
To find your local showroom click here
Dave
