It’s always a pleasure to be invited to see a manufacturers showroom as it can be hard to visualise the products in a catalogue but seeing them in the flesh can make a product stand out.

The Focus Fireplaces showroom was filled with great examples of surrounds and beams that had been put with some outstanding fires which made the products from Focus Fireplaces really shine.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Having a tour of the workshop allowed us to fully appreciate the in house production of their wooden beams and surrounds, along with their quick and efficient delivery system which all happens in the same building. It’s easy to see why the products from Focus Fireplaces are of such a high quality when the production process is the efficient and streamlined.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The amount of work done by hand did come as a surprise, considering the intricacy of the designs and the amount of automation most companies use these days, which makes Focus Fireplaces a special company when it comes a high standard of hand crafted products.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

With the office and workshop purposely situated in the same building, manufacturing is smooth and efficient with every surround and beam made to order.

For more information on Focus Fireplaces you can visit their website here or alternately you can call or visit our showroom.

 

 

When working in a competitive market it can be difficult to compare products and companies on paper, thats why it’s always a pleasure to visit the workshops and offices of the manufacturers we work with.

After visiting the Hearth & Home exhibition in Harrogate, we were lucky enough to be invited to see the Town & Country stoves being built and were given a hands on look at new and updated products.

The machinery and automation processes were impressive but the hand crafting of parts and the physical checks being done to assure quality were something rarely seen in todays day and age.

One thing that caught our eye was the amount of pride everyone seemed to take in their work, we had several of the Town & Country assembly/manufacturing team jumping in to our tour to give us a full explanation of what they were doing.

The passion for the products at the Town & Country workshop shows in the finished products and with new solid fuel and gas stoves on the way it’s definitely worth watching this space.

 

A full video tour is available for viewing here .

For more information on Town & Country products you can visit their website here or alternately you can call or visit our showroom.

 

When installing or owning a fire, fitting protection can be seen as an extra cost that seems un-warranted and it can be hard for installers to stress the importance of fitting rain and bird protection to the top of a chimney.

Recently we were asked to help replace an old inset gas fire that had been condemned, we were more than happy to help this new customer with their fire troubles and see if we could either fix or replace what they currently had.

When we arrived at the property to get an idea of what would need to be done, some tell tale signs started to become apparent.

There are many reasons an appliance may stop working correctly, from appliance issues to chimney issues and figuring out where the problems are can involve some investigating but can help to avoid more trouble in the future.

The old gas fire in this customers property had some twigs and leaves that had fallen through the chimney onto the burner, this can be quite dangerous, especially if a fire is running when these fall down.

Current gas fires have built in safety measures to shut the fire off if there is an issue with the appliance, older fires don’t necessarily have these features and can therefore be dangerous if the appliance and chimney isn’t cared for.

The twigs and leaves were a sign that a bird had likely made its nest in the chimney, a common issue with un-protected chimneys.

A sweep like this can be a lengthy and expensive process that is easily avoidable by adding protection to the top of your chimney.

It took the chimney sweepers from ‘Cleansweep’ an hour and a half to fully unblock the chimney and remove the birds nest from the property.

Adding protection can help to prevent birds nesting in the chimney, downdraught and rain, all of which are common issues with an unprotected chimney pot.

For more information on protecting your chimney or to organise a chimney sweep, call or visit us in our showroom.

If you would like to organise your own chimney sweep, you can contact ‘Cleansweep’ directly on – 01483 473794

Choosing the right stove for your home can be a minefield, whether it is matching the colour with your furnishings or having the glass big enough to show off that flame picture you love so much, it’s not an easy decision .

With so much choice on the market at the moment it can be easy to forget one of the most important things, how well does your chosen stove burn the fuel?

Making sure your stove not only provides sufficient heat and looks good but also knowing it is efficient and clean burning is all part of having the perfect stove for your room.

The Experiment

Here at Wakefords we like to make sure that the stoves we recommend can take the heat and stand up to the test. We had a new Town & Country Saltburn stove put into our showroom by Alex, one of our skilled fitters, and wanted to put it through its paces so we can say with confidence that these British made stoves are a cut above the rest.

We spent an afternoon purposely burning the wood in our stove at a low heat with minimal aeration so we could create incomplete combustion (not something we would recommend doing) which coated the door in soot and other products of incomplete combustion making the glass almost opaque. Over night we let the particulates really stick to the glass so we could give its airwash feature a real test.

The next morning we set up a camera and recorded a time-lapse of the stove cleaning itself with nothing but kiln dried wood and air.

The airwash system working well is a good sign of a clean burning and efficient stove.  The airwash is usually delivered by secondary air being directed down along the front of the glass.

The air is heated as it is drawn into the stove and washes over the glass removing the products of incomplete combustion. This keeps the glass clean for that nice flame picture you so carefully chose.

As we expected the Town & Country Saltburn Multifuel Stove performed a perfect example of a well functioning airwash system. The glass cleared in under an hour and only needed a quick wipe down to have it back to new.

One thing worth remembering about an airwash system, it won’t function properly on sticky tars that come from burning unseasoned wood or other prohibited fuel types. The moisture can lower the temperature of the stove causing incomplete combustion and can reduce the effectiveness of the airwash.

For an example of burning wet wood, or fuels that aren’t appropriate for a stove, another article on this at its most extreme is available to view on our news page.

The Saltburn Multifuel Stove is one of a range of highly efficient, clean burning stoves from Town & Country that give a great example of what modern stoves can do. For more information on the Saltburn and other Town & Country Stoves visit their website: www.townandcountryfires.co.uk or visit our showroom to see the Saltburn in action.