A fire ... in a bag ... genius ...

We now have in stock - NEW Instant Light Ecoal, and it's genius!

No Mess, No Fuss, just the warmth and glow of a real Smokeless Coal fire in an instant - Simply light the bag with a match. Ecoal - The new eco friendly smokeless coal that saves you time!

Place the Ecoal bag* upright in the grate, light at the marked corners and sit back and enjoy. Burns for up to 3 hours. Ideal for busy days, getting home from work late, cold rooms that need warming quickly and for when you just can't be bothered to make a fire and just wish to enjoy it instead.

• ecoal is a green, clean & smokeless coal
• made from 30% renewable materials
• easy to light coal fire no additional kindling or firelighters required
• saves you time!
• eco-friendly smokeless coal fire with up to 25% less CO2 than house coal
• Ecoal is suitable for use in smoke control areas
• ideal for use in multi fuel stoves
  

Call in at the shop/showroom and pick up a bag ... www.hwood.co.uk

* A bag weighs 4.5kgs.

How to DIY install your solid fuel stove ...

How to install your solid fuel stove - simple answer – don’t do it yourself!!!!

Please let me explain why:

I have had two phone calls this week from customers seeking advice about why their newly installed stoves are causing concerns. In both cases they were installed by their partner, both were very similar, let me give you an indication of one:

First phone call:

Me ... "Morning, can I help?"
Client 1 ... "Yes, I hope you can. I’ve just had a stove fitted and I have smoke in my child’s bedroom above, is this normal?"
(Seriously!!! That was the exact conversation.)
Me ... "No ... how was the flue tested and who actually installed it?"
Client 1 ... "Erm ... my partner installed it last night and said since it burned OK, it was alright."
Me ... "OK, when did you notice the smoke?"
Client 1 ... "When my daughter came downstairs, probably a couple of hours after we lit it, she said her room was foggy - she was coughing quite a lot come to think about it."

Needless to say I informed the client that she was lucky her daughter was still alive!!!

Unfortunately, during my working life I have had three requests from the Police to investigate fume problems from solid fuel appliances that we later attributed to the deaths of the householders. In two cases I believe that these were self installed appliances.

As a side note a few hours later I had the very irate partner of the above client on the phone, he called me a few choice names for "causing concerns and upsetting his partner!!!"!

After he had finished his tirade I simply asked if he had ever seen a death attributed to asphyxiation? Unfortunately I have. I also informed him of the law regarding the installation of stoves and asked if he wanted ourselves to check the installation, as I had previously asked his partner.

I was told categorically that he did not, that I was just looking for work and that there was nothing wrong with how he had installed the stove.

Unfortunately his phone number was withheld. What can I do? No name, address or phone number.

Building regulations and hence the law are quite clear on the installation of ALL solid fuel (yes this includes multifuel and woodburning stoves). They MUST be installed by a certified professional person; usually HETAS registered.

Failing to do so requires planning permissions to be obtained and approved. When you come to sell your house, HIPS now requires all certificates for ALL appliances installed into the fabric of the house.

• Who is going to provide a certificate for a self installation?
• Worse still ... who brings back the family member who has died from a faulty installation?

Multi fuel stoves ... in short supply

It has come to our attention here at Woods, Stoves & Fireplaces that multi fuel stoves are in very short supply - hardly surprising given the recent dramatic rises in conventional fuel costs.

Also that some unscrupulous internet retailers are taking monies for stoves, promising prompt delivery then not being able to deliver until January or February 2009 - NICE!

However, our excellent relationships with our suppliers (including MORSO) means that we have been able to secure some special deals ... check out our Stove supplies pages for details ...

say, say, SAEY ...

Wow! These SAEY multifuel stoves are gorgeous!

The SAEY Scope pictured here is absolutely fabulous - it's a contempory cast iron multifuel stove which burns coal and wood. It comes in anthracite and grey paint.

And - it'll heat a massive space - up to 195 m³.

For more information (sizes, prices, etc) see fabulousfireplaces.co.uk.

However, if you're after an even sharper looking round stove! Contrary I know! Then consider the SAEY Signum 20.

Again, more information (sizes, prices, etc) see fabulousfireplaces.co.uk.

Alternatively, call in at the Woods Stoves and Fireplaces showroom - 26 Church Street, Kirkby-in-Ashfield, Nottinghamshire NG17 8LE - MAP.

Charnwood Stoves - hot property!

The new Charnwood Stoves on display in our new Stoves Showroom are proving to be very popular.

Used in conjunction with the Green Dragon biofuel fire briquettes they are proving to be an economical as well as beatiful installation for customers.

Living with a multifuel stove

They say a picture can say a thousand words. I'll set the scene, raining, dark, cold, central heating turned off.

Sounds miserable? Indeed it does.

Unless you have a multifuel or woodburning stove!

I'm lucky enough to have the fantastic Firebelly FB1 multifuel stove installed from our range of stoves. I installed it with my engineers (check out http://www.hwood.co.uk/).

I light it every night when I come in from work (5 ish), once lit and working (after 1/2hr ish) the living room is lovely and warm.

Our heating does not need to be on after that point... so for the rest of the evening the warmth from the stove permeates around my ground floor (some 720 square feet), it trickles upstairs ... the flue (chimney) naturally passes through my eldest daugthers room, this naturally warms the room.

So ... for the past four week since installing this stove I have not used my gas heating (high efficiency band A boiler) at all during the evenings.

We burn seasoned timber from managed sources and now ... well now, we have just found a fantastic supplier of biofuel logs form from the remenants of rapeseed oil production.

More about the biofuel in the next post.

The enclosed picture is untouched, enjoy :-)