Author: Nichola

Stoves

Touching up the paintwork of your wood burning stove

Posted on

Your wood burning stove will require maintenance from time to time and this may include touching up the paintwork.  You may find odd rust spots on your stove or areas where the paint has faded and become grey over time. Do make sure that you use special heat-resistant paint and that your stove is cold.  The ideal time is, of course, during the Summer when you are not using your stove.  Make sure you clean the surface of your stove thoroughly before applying any paint and remove all rust spots by sanding down properly.  Protect the area around your stove (especially if you are using a spray paint) and cover the glass windows and any brass handles or knobs.  You need to make sure your room is well-ventilated. If you […]

Stoves

The best wood for a woodburner stove

Posted on

Whether you have a woodburner or a multi-fuel stove, it is important that any wood that you burn is well-seasoned (dry).  Some woods take longer to season than others but, generally speaking, wood should be cut, split into logs and dried outside, but under cover, for a year before being used as fuel. Wood from conifer trees, like pine, tends to contain quite a lot of resin and is good to use as kindling.  If you know any cabinet makers or kitchen manufacturers that use pine, ask them if they have any off-cuts which they want to get rid of.  You could find that you are never short of kindling again! Both ash and beech wood are considered excellent for burning as they produce a steady flame and good heat […]

Stoves

Buying a multi-fuel wood burning stove

Posted on

As the weather becomes warmer, this article may seem to be rather irrelevant.  However, if you are considering buying either a wood burning stove or a multi-fuel burning stove, then this is the time of year when you may find some good bargains amongst retailers. There are several things to consider first before installing a wood burning stove.  If you have a large room to heat then you will need a bigger stove to give you larger heat output.  Do you also require the stove to heat water?  It may be possible to fit a back boiler or use an existing back boiler. It is very advisable to have the chimney swept.  You may need to get your chimney lined before installing a stove, although that is not always the […]

Stoves

The best way to light a fire in a multi-fuel burning stove

Posted on

Lighting a fire is a little bit like untangling a knotted ball of string!  It is very difficult to stand by and watch someone else do it without wanting to join in and take over, in the certain knowledge that you can do it quicker and better! However, for many of us, lighting a fire and keeping it going all evening is a skill that we have not had to use before.  It was something that our grandparents had to do in their old, draughty houses.  With the arrival of clean, efficient central heating, many modern houses do not even possess a fireplace. The last 10 years have seen the rise in popularity of the multi-fuel burning stove.  The best way to set the fire is to start with loosely […]

Stoves

Multi-fuel burning stoves : the latest “hot” must-have!

Posted on

During the 1960s and 1970s householders yearned for the latest trends for their home – hence the rise of the pastel coloured bathroom suite and the mesmerising lava lamp in every lounge from Looe to Lanark.  Fancy, elaborate ruched blinds and sandwich toasters made an appearance a decade later and then, at the beginning of the twenty first century, almost every fashionable household boasted a huge American style fridge-freezer and a coffee machine that was a bubbling, hissing miniature version of one found in the local “Starbucks” or “Costa”. However, over the last 5 years in particular, there has been a huge rise in sales of wood burning stoves and multi-fuel stoves.  Is this a trend that is here to stay? Home magazines have not been able to show home […]