Showing posts with label wood burning stove. Show all posts
Showing posts with label wood burning stove. Show all posts

Thursday, 6 May 2010

Carbon monoxide - a silent killer

About 50 people die each year as a result of carbon monoxide poisoning - and when we mention it you probably think about your gas appliances - oven/hob, central heating boiler, gas fire, etc ...

But 19 year old Declan Oliver died because the wood burning stove he and his father had installed was not correctly fitted. Read more about this sad case.

The BBC website has a wonderful Health guide relating to carbon monoxide poisoning - here.

Our advice ...
  • Have appliances professionally installed; or
  • Have DIY installations professionallly checked
  • Have your gas appliances serviced/checked annually
  • Fit a carbon monoxide alarm - our prices start from around £25.
Yes, it'll cost a few pounds ... but really I can't imagine how Mr Oliver senior feels now ...

Friday, 13 March 2009

Stove reviews

If you're thinking of buying/installing a wood burning stove take a look at this site http://www.whatstove.co.uk - there are tons of stoves reviewed by people actually using them ...
Then you can pop into our showroom and talk to us, possibly even see the real thing - see http://www.hwoods.co.uk.
Alternatively, you can buy online from http://www.fabulousfireplaces.co.uk but be careful to get a HETAS installer to commission the stove, obviously for safety, but also because at some point you might need a HIP to see your house.

Wednesday, 21 January 2009

How “green” is your woodburning stove?

Green wood burning stove Very, I here you cry, we’re using a renewable fuel comes another cry, did you order it from the internet?

Why yes, of course, is the response.

How many tens if not hundreds of miles did a HGV have to travel to deliver your stove?

How many shops did you trawl round, buring fossil fuels to look at stoves, before buying it online?

How far did your installer travel before getting to you? Next street? No? Next village? No? Next COUNTY? No?

So, I ask you again, how green is your woodburning stove?

Think green. Think local. Support local businesses and the environment.

Tuesday, 11 November 2008

Delivery dates on multi-fuel stoves ...

At the end of October the various stove manufacturers were showing the following lead times from their factories:

Aga: 10 - 12 weeks
Aarrow: 20 weeks on boiler stoves and 18 weeks on dry stoves
Charnwood: 12 -14 weeks
Dovre: Usually 4 - 6 weeks
Dunsley: 16 weeks for their Highlander range, around 30 weeks on Yorkshire - very popular ranges ...
Esse: 10 weeks
Hunter: 19 weeks
Jotul: 4 - 6 weeks
Morso: 8 - 12 weeks
Stovax: 8 - 10 weeks
Tiger: 4 weeks
Villager: 14 - 16 weeks; and finally ...
Yeoman: 6 weeks

And now for the good news! We have - IN STOCK:

Morso Squirrel 1410

Morso
Squirrel 1412

For more information - visit http://www.hwood.co.uk/ or call 01623 752097.

Tuesday, 4 November 2008

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?

Monday, 29 September 2008

Hoorah! we are Parkray Stoves accredited installers!






We are really chuffed to be taking in the Parkray range of stoves for display and we have been accredited as a Parkray Installer! Fab news this is a really terrific range of multi-fuel/wood burning stoves!

Tuesday, 26 August 2008

Stoves burn green

Like the rest of us ESSE stoves are looking to the future and developing stoves that will burn "green" and economically. A recent post on their website talks about their innovative, new Afterburn2 system (they have a patent pending on the system it's so new).

We will soon have a ESSE 505C woodburning stove on show in our showroom ... call 01623 752097 for more details.