Green Blogging

I love our fire.  Several years ago we had an eco survey done of our house.  There were various recommendations (some of which we have not yet done), but the one we liked best was the suggestion that we have a closed log stove in the sitting room.  As I had a small savings policy about to mature at that time, I decided to go for it.

We were recommended the Ironworks company in Wymondham, as a supplier.  So off we went to see them.

Although they had qute a lot of different stoves in their showroom, it was quite clear that so far as they were concerned, there was only one stove manufacturer that they were prepared to recommend.  Clearview, we were told, outdid all the other stoves by far, in performance and efficiency.  They are very reliable, strongly built to the highest standards, with the fine craftsmanship and traditional styling. They have an exceptionally large and strong glass window, which because of the special air distribution system, means you can see the flames clearly without sooting up. And, so efficient are they, that they can, officially, be used to burn coal in smokeless areas.

We decided to have a clearview stove.

As we have a small house, the pioneer 400 was deemed the best for us.  You can see it here (and also the picture above).  We had the black one.  We also booked  Mr Martin of Great Eastern Chimney Lining Service Ltd to come and install the special flue which is needed for this type of stove. The installation and flue, indeed, turned out to be the most expensive part of the operation.  The stove was in the region of £800, but with the installation the whole lot came to a little under £3,000. Luckily that was just under the amount of my savings policy payout.

Come October the fire was installed.  It took three days, and poor Mr Martin and his boy spent a lot of this on the roof.  They both worked very hard indeed, and the fire when finally installed looked lovely.  In fact it quite changed the whole atmosphere of the room.

That was two years ago.  The stove has not been all joy, and running it it has not turned out to be particularly cheap (being city dwellers we do not have access to free firewood), but we would not do without it.  Banter about who has let the fire go out and who is best at lighting it (Graeme in his estimation) is now an important part of our family life, and caring for the fire takes up a surprising amout of time.  However neither of us begrudge this in the least, indeed it adds a new dimension to life.  Plus it gives us a sense of how much it really takes to heat our home.  Seeing logs and trees consumed brings it home to you, more than just pressing a switch.

It is also nice to feel that our heating is carbon neutral.  We get our wood from a local tree surgeon and Green Party member, which is a good use of resources.

And the fire is very therapeutic.  There is a constant wuthering sound, which is very soothing, and watching the flames you can feel a connection way back to the stone age when people sat watching the flames turn wood to glowing embers.  We would not be without it now.