Lesley Posted February 1, 2010 Share Posted February 1, 2010 Sorry Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ygerna Posted February 1, 2010 Author Share Posted February 1, 2010 Stove being finished as I type, but just had THE most embarassing moment. He was looking at fitting the vent in the floor, pulled back the curtain to check the size and one of the cats had done an enormous fat stinking poo. I nearly died. Thanks a lot cats. Stove looks scrummy thus far. Am dithering about a shelf to put over it. I was thinking about this one painted white... http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/BRAND-NEW-Thetford-Mantle-Overmantle-Chunky-Pine-Shelf_W0QQitemZ180460254311QQcmdZViewItemQQptZUK_HG_FireplacesMantelpieces_RL?hash=item2a0444f467 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Aunty e Posted February 1, 2010 Share Posted February 1, 2010 Well it's in, it's lit, it's LOVELY!!! The floor vent is great, very u"Ooops, word censored!"trusive, although did have to go through the pooey bit of carpet. Nice. Tried to undercharge me as well, so I had to remind him that we agreed 500 not 450. After the amount of time and effort, I really wanted him to have the other fifty! I have piccies, but I need OH's laptop to get them online, so will try to do that soon. He was very complimentary about the carron, said that it warmed up quickly and threw out a lot of heat. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Charlottechicken Posted February 1, 2010 Share Posted February 1, 2010 Sounds lovely, Aunty e, can't wait to see the pics Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Olly Posted February 1, 2010 Share Posted February 1, 2010 Sorry, still laughing - cats, eh! Who'd have 'em ... That shelf looks lovely. Can't wait to see the pics, bet it feels lovely and toasty now you've got it lit! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ygerna Posted February 4, 2010 Author Share Posted February 4, 2010 quote arrived, double what I was hoping for, and, because of other sudden expenses of huge amounts its not going to happen after all the research, planning and excitement. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Blackrocksrock Posted February 4, 2010 Share Posted February 4, 2010 Try getting another couple of quotations to see if its realistic or not. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ygerna Posted February 4, 2010 Author Share Posted February 4, 2010 I will get another quote but, we now have some major projects being undertaken which were not even in the pipeline when I asked for the quote. We are getting the kitchen done, hence not having the money to spare for the woodburner. Yet. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Aunty e Posted February 6, 2010 Share Posted February 6, 2010 Piccies of the hole in the wall and then the hole in the wall with a stove in it. Haven't quite decided what to do with that wall yet, so am trying out different samples. If I didn't have a predominantly red soft-furnishing scheme, this one would be a contender, but currently looking at summertree by sanderson... Still having trouble getting the fire to burn hot, although this might be the wood, which isn't the best quality, and our lack of kindling. In that we don't have any. When our (recently written off) car gets sorted, I'm going to pop to epping forest to buy some and a little hand axe so that I can chop my own from our logs. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Charlottechicken Posted February 7, 2010 Share Posted February 7, 2010 Ooh, Aunty e, very nice What type is it? I'm impressed that the woodburner fits right in, my chimney breast is only 14" deep and all the stoves I can have are deeper than that, when sited 5cm from the back wall. Are you going ahead with the lovely mantle shelf off ebay too? Edited to add: I use thin garden prunings as kindling, they dry quicker than logs so any you snip off from Spring onwards should be ready by Winter, especially the faster growing plants Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Daphne Posted February 7, 2010 Share Posted February 7, 2010 That is a very sweet little burner - I really like the colour We have a pile of our own kindling (ie fallen branches/prunings) and offcut wood from projects which we replenish all the time. We can also buy compressed pellets from a sawmill near us which I treat as a cheap filler in the fire (£10 for 5 large sacks which last for months). But the best advice I can give is to buy your main firewood for next year now - so you know its had a years ageing. Most often hissy, spitty fires are caused by unseasoned wood. If you pick up a 'new' bit of wood and a seasoned one, the 'new' bit will be far far heavier than the 'old' one. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Aunty e Posted February 7, 2010 Share Posted February 7, 2010 It's a Carron stove, it's around £450 in cast iron and about £600 for a colour (I decided the extra was worth it) and having just done a quick measure, our chimney breast is only 14" deep as well, but our stove is pretty much backed up against the back wall. The chap who installed it was a HETAS engineer, so I'm going to assume that's ok... The stove comes in lots of lovely colours, I was quite tempted by red, but thought I might regret it if I ever changed the covers on my sofas. I've been known to flit between red and green in the living room, and it's a bit trickier to change a stove than a sofa cover. OOH, I also discovered some lovely cream radiator spray paint, and have tested it on one of my cast iron light fittings. They just don't work in the fake cast iron for me, but luckily look pretty darn nice spraypainted cream, so I can recycle all of them. Replacing would have been a nightmare as there are two large centre chandeliery things, and four side lamps. Hurrah for a lick of paint:) I think I am going to go ahead with the mantle shelf, I think it would look lovely, and finish off the wall. Have to paper first - hubby and I are disagreeing slightly on which colourway to get the paper in like he's ever had an opinion before. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Olly Posted February 7, 2010 Share Posted February 7, 2010 Ooh Aunty E, it's gorgeous! I have got a cream stove (Charnwood) for similar reasons, goes with my white-painted and mainly pine kitchen but would fit with other colour schemes. I have masses of kindling, and could happily let you have some ... if you would like me to drop some round, PM me your address, can't guarantee today but sometimes between now and Tuesday night I could root some out the garage and drop it over to you! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ali-s Posted February 8, 2010 Share Posted February 8, 2010 Lovely stove auntie E It looks very nice in cream Scrunched up toilet roll and kitchen roll tubes make good emergency kindling. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Daphne Posted February 8, 2010 Share Posted February 8, 2010 oh yes - you'll find that far less paper/cardboard/junk mail needs recycling, at least in the winter months! I find that loosely scrunched newspaper on the bottom of the pile does a good job for the first lighting, and put tightly twisted paper, bits of cardboard, twigs, whatever on top so as the flames are strong enough when they lick upwards to burn this slightly bigger stuff. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Aunty e Posted February 8, 2010 Share Posted February 8, 2010 I'm starting to wonder if part of our problem might be the wood....Olly, I'll PM you, we'd LOVE some kindling and you could have a nosy at the house/baby/kittens/garden You'll just have to forgive the mess! Essentially it's just a load of cheap but seasoned hard and soft woods, but I can only seem to get it smouldering, not burning. It got rained on a LOT the day it was delivered as it was stuck outside for a bit, but I was hoping it might have dried out by now. I'm going to bring some more into the house in a minute to try and dry it out, and pick up a little axe so the pieces aren't so mahoussive when they go in. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ali-s Posted February 8, 2010 Share Posted February 8, 2010 Our first load of logs were either not seasoned properly or just soaking wet. I just couldn't get them to burn properly, they hissed and spat and smouldered. I got very disheartened and even posted on here about it. They have been stored away until next Winter. I have a wood routine now Wood brought in from the log store is stored in a wicker basket in the porch for 4 days which starts the drying out if damp. The wood is then stored at the back of another wicker basket next to the log burner for a further two days before being used in the stove. The wood at the front of the wicker basket is the wood that is being burnt. Woe betide anyone that uses the wood at the back of the basket , I gets lots of this from the rest of the family but the routine works. I start the stove by using off cuts of softwood (bits and pieces builders/joiners discard) and then when the stove has warmed up I use Oak barrel staves which burn long and hot and give off a lovely flame. Of course if the wind is blowing in the wrong direction, blowing too strong or not at all or if it is too cold or too damp outside it takes different lengths of time to get the stove going, I think stoves can be very tempermentral according to different weather conditions. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Aunty e Posted February 8, 2010 Share Posted February 8, 2010 (edited) Hmmm. I might pick up a net of different logs from the nice men in Epping forest and see how they burn instead...I have two sheds, so we can store this wood til next year if need be. To be fair, the roof is leaking on the shed that the wood is in, so until that gets fixed it might not dry out very well from its soaking. Edited February 8, 2010 by Guest Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Daphne Posted February 8, 2010 Share Posted February 8, 2010 Another thing is to try leaving your vents fully open, and even the door IF you have problems getting the fire going early on. Another thing might be that your understorey (ie the paper/kindling layer) is too dense (you need air pockets) or too airy (you need enough stuff to get the fire going strongly enough to give the bigger wood a chance). You could also try not putting any/much proper wood on until the understorey is going nicely. If you think you've got all this sussed and its when your proper wood goes on that it all goes damp squib-like, then I think you're right - your wood isn't seasoned enough. Seasoned wood that gets wet should be OK (ie not wonderful but useable) if you let it dry out for a few days. But even dry unseasoned wood will never be much good until its seasoned! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Aunty e Posted February 11, 2010 Share Posted February 11, 2010 Quick update - I nipped over to a nursery nearby and picked up a net of their logs this morning. Within about a minute we had a roaring fire going, so it looks like it was the wood. I'll have to keep this lot for next year and find some more for this year. Time to get the second shed up in that case! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Olly Posted February 11, 2010 Share Posted February 11, 2010 oh hurrah - now you know what a roaring fire should look like! Definitely don't give up on your wood, after a year in the shed it'll be perfect for next winter. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chickencam Posted February 12, 2010 Share Posted February 12, 2010 Damp wood is a real pain, we have had 2 loads of great mainly oak logs from the same supplier then we ordered another load last month and it was raining on delivery day. they had covered the trailer with tarpaulin and claimed that the logs had just got wet when loading, but they had obviously been stored somehwere damp too. they are seasoned but quite damp still, so they may have lost our custom It is hard after a cold winter like this to get dry wood because the suppliers don't have the storage space either. if you have plenty of storage get a large load in the summer to sue the following winter. We have only enough storage for about a months supply. The angles that you load the wood into the burner can also make a difference to how well it burns, wigwam shapes for kindling and then when loading logs make sure that they are not lying flat on the bottom and that some of them are propped up on others to create are funnels to draw the flames. My OH hasn't got the hang of this one yet I am always rescuing his fires. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Olly Posted February 19, 2010 Share Posted February 19, 2010 I didn't want to start another woodburning thread - but a couple of things. Firstly, an article in The Times today. Secondly, I'm thinking of investing in a couple of items - a moisture meter and an Ecofan. Any of you lot use a moisture meter, and if so is there one you'd recommend or are they all much the same? The Ecofan is a bit of a splurge - going to be around £100 with delivery etc - but as my stove is in a corner of the kitchen I'm hoping it would really help to spread the heat into the rest of the room, and maybe up the stairs as well. There aren't a lot of reviews out there, but most people seem to recommend them. I need to check the size of the stove top tonight, and check that it runs at the required temperature, before I put my order in. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Daphne Posted February 19, 2010 Share Posted February 19, 2010 My friend's brother sells smokeless woodburners in Bristol and he says interest (and purchases!) is growing all the time, so I reckon that Times article is spot on. Re moisture meter - excuse my ignorance but whats that for? Is it to measure the moisture in the wood? Re ecofan- I've never heard of this either, but I like the idea looking at the link. It'd be great if somebody real has used one and could say what its like, I think I'd want a bit of comfort before I bought one. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Charlottechicken Posted February 19, 2010 Share Posted February 19, 2010 Secondly, I'm thinking of investing in a couple of items - a moisture meter and an Ecofan. Any of you lot use a moisture meter, and if so is there one you'd recommend or are they all much the same? Great minds think alike Olly! I have both these things on a list to research when I am recovering from my op. Unfortunately, I haven't read anything particularly good about the ecofan, there appears to be another brand, probably slightly dearer, which is preferred. I'll try and find the article I was looking at. I would love a moisture meter, just my type of gadget, but haven't done any research at all on them yet. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...