How to prepare your wood-burning stove for winter

How to prepare your wood-burning stove for winter

The nights are drawing in and the cold weather is beginning to set in for winter. It’s time to make sure that your wood-burning stove is ready for action.

It’s time to put it through its paces. Much like an athlete in pre-season training, now is the time to do all the preparatory work to make sure that your stove is in peak condition and doesn’t let you down when you need it most.

Here are a few measures you can take to make sure you’ll be snug all winter. Continue reading

What’s the best way of storing logs for wood-burning stove?

What's the best way of storing logs for wood-burning stove

A good supply of logs is a key consideration if you’re using a wood-burning stove to heat your home.

If you’re keen to run your stove as cost-effectively and environmentally friendly as possible, and we presume you are, then you will need to set aside some room for storage. That’s because you should allow wood to season before using it on your stove.

That means cutting your wood and allowing it to dry and air for a prolonged period. The reason for doing this is to reduce the amount of moisture contained within the wood. The seasoning process cuts the moisture content in wood from 50-80% to less than 25%. That means the wood sets alight more easily, your room heats more quickly and – because your home gets up to temperature much faster – you burn less wood. Continue reading

Choosing a fireplace surround for your wood-burning stove

Choosing a fireplace surround for your wood-burning stove

A wood-burning stove isn’t just an efficient, functional means to make your home nice and snug. It’s also a very attractive focal point in your living room. A work of art, if you like.

It makes sense then that – just like any other artwork – you would want to frame it. That’s where a fireplace surround comes in useful. A surround helps to draw attention to your stove. It encourages people to admire it. And why wouldn’t they? If you’ve got it, you might as well flaunt it! Continue reading

Have you considered installing a wood-burning stove… in your car?

No, neither have we.

But that’s because you and I just aren’t as creatively minded (or eccentric) as this gentleman. His name is Pascal Prokop and earlier this year he decided that bitterly cold weather in his native Switzerland, coupled with the heating system breaking in his trusty Volvo, only left him with one option: installing a wood-burning stove in his car. Continue reading