There are a plethora of names used to describe different kinds of stoves:

Multifuel Stoves
Multi Fuel Stoves – These stove are generally designed to burn wood, brickettes coal and smokeless fuels on. The grate will be designed so that air can be drawn up through the fuel for burning coal. Some stoves has adjustable grates depending on whether you are burning wood or coal.

Wood Burning Stoves
Woodburning Stoves
Wood Burners
Log Burners – These stoves are everyday terms used for stoves, however, even though the names would suggest that these stoves should be used to burn wood, they are usually used to describe multifuel stoves.

Wood Only Stoves – Wood only stoves are stoves that are only suitable for burning wood. The reason is that the base of the stove will be flat without a grate allowing the air to flow over the wood rather than up through it.

Seasoned wood – perfect for wood burning stoves

 

Coal is great for increasing the output of your multifuel stove

Fuel logs, environmentally friendly, clean and slow burning

It is amazing how many smoke control areas there are out there. The other problem being the fact that people do not realise that they need a smoke control approved stove.

The list of smoke control areas and further information can be found here.

At The Greener Company we highly recommend the AGA Little Wenlock SE stove which is approved for burning wod in a smoke control area. The Little Wenlock SE is a well priced, efficient and solid stove.

For further information or to purchase please call us on 01925 750 290.

Fortunately we are one of the only showrooms in the UK that has a live display of an AGA Fusion pellet stove.

A pellet stove? what on earth is that?

A pellet stove is a heating appliance that is run on biomass pellets. Biomass pellets are made from compressed bio matter such as wood shavings, leaves grass and waste cardboard. these pellets are loaded into a hopper in the stove which are then burnt to produce heat, so what is the big deal?

The beauty of a pellet stove is that they are highly efficient, self lighting and can be programmed on a timer to come on exactly when you like. The heat from a pellet stove is virtually instant and, due to the blower, is spread throughout the room.

In our showroom we have an AGA fusion pellet stove which heats our entire 3000sqft space!

For further information please see the listing on our website AGA Fusion Pellet Stove or call in to see a live demonstration.

If you are installing your stove into an existing chimney there are a few things that you need to consider. The first one being whether you are going to line your chimney or not. Lining your chimney has many benefits and we advise all potential customers that they should have their chimney lined.

The reasons we advise this are multiple. Through our experience we have come into contact with many figures in the industry, from sweeps to fitters, manufacturers to sales reps, and we have spoken to them all.

Chimney sweeps – both the chimney sweeps we use in our area cannot recommend lining your chimney any higher, especially if you home is built before 1950. They advise this as WITHOUT a liner you MUST sweep your chimney twice a year for safety reasons. A traditional brick chimney was not designed for the modern, efficient stoves that we see today. The efficiency of the stoves means that there are more tar deposits in the gases and these gas are burnt much hotter causing condensation. This condensation and tar will bond with the brick which can cause chimney fires at the worst and brown staining of the chimney breast at best (after a year or two). The other danger is the lethal carbon monoxide gas that stoves produce. If this leaks into your house it can kill, especially if the chimney breast runs through a bedroom. The sweeps do smoke test chimneys but you cannot get accurate results unless the chimney is tested under pressurised, scientific conditions, and even when this is done (at great expense) you still cannot be sure if it is leaking between floors or ceilings.

Manufacturers – All the manufacturers that we have spoken to have expressed that their appliances run at their optimum when used with a liner. This is because all stoves, when designed and trialled are tested with a liner set up in a laboratory.

What do we say? – Apart from all the above there is a less technical way to look at it. Quite simply, if you line your chimney, you will have a chimney that is guaranteed for 10 years, without a liner there are no guarantees on your chimney and it is your responsibility to put right any problems. Secondly, using a liner means burning more efficiently which means that you use less wood, saving you your hard earned money!

Many customers overlook the importance of sweeping their wood burning stove’s chimney.

Our chimney sweeps recommend sweeping your chimney regularly, especially if your stove is used often.

You need to sweep your chimney at least once a year if your chimney is lined. If your chimney is not lined and is of brick construct you must sweep your chimney at least twice a year to prevent a build up of soot and tar.

Lining your chimney is a good way to keep your chimney in good condition and get the best efficiency from your stove (we will discuss this further in our next post).

Please contact us if you think you need your chimney sweeping.