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. Overnight 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.

Article taken from EXODRAFT

A man had a vision, and thanks to his persistence he finally got what he wanted with help from Wakeford Fireplaces and exodraft
A developer took great pleasure in designing his own house. He had an eye for detail and when he was nearing completion, he wanted to install a fireplace, but not just any fireplace. To suit this exquisite and personally designed house, the fireplace also needed to have that perfect personal touch, and he certainly had a very specific idea of what the fireplace should look like. And part of that design demanded a short flue.

No help offered

He visited several fireplace shops in the area, but unfortunately, the answer was always the same: This is not going to work! No one was able to help him or in any way suggest any alternatives of interest, but he still held on to his vision for the fireplace and wasn’t about to give up that easily.

Solution finally found

Finally, he came upon Wakeford Fireplaces in Surrey, where he spoke to Adam Wakeford, the owner.

He explained his idea and the problems as well as the negative responses he had encountered so far. Luckily Adam Wakeford
was familiar with exodraft chimney fan systems and had installed a number of systems with great success at several of his customers. Adam knew the benefits of the systems, and he was quite confident that this customer’s dream could come true using the exodraft chimney fan. Adam Wakeford and Keith Brant from exodraft UK discussed the customer’s project and agreed on a recommendation. The solution proved to be a success.

The customer was delighted. He had the fireplace of his dreams and it all worked perfectly.

Most of us have smartphones these days and there are plenty of apps to download, some are good fun, others only stay on the phone for a short period of time before being deleted. Using a photo app I found over the Christmas break, we took some random photos of the showroom. We liked them, so we thought we would share them.

Opening this week after having a relaxing Christmas break it’s great to get back, it’s been a busy start of the week. We guess it’s because of this gloomy weather we’re still getting at the moment.

If you’re still thinking about getting your fireplace changed, or you want to receive the high heat output and impressive efficiency figures of a wood burning stove, now’s the time to make contact with us.

With the weather the way it is, imagine snuggling up on the sofa with a fire roaring away in the background. Perhaps even adding a glass of wine and a good book into the equation …

Firenzo Napier Wood burning stove

Newman fireplaces

Dru Beau Gas Stove

Focus fireplaces Beamish surround

Valor Airflame

Town and Country Stoves

 

Supplied and fitted in the pleasant village of Pyrford, just outside of Woking, Surrey, a wonderful Wessex Stone ‘Ashton’ fireplace, made in a natural bath stone and complimented with an Aarrow Ecoburn 5kw Multi fuel stove.

Wessex Stone have been hand crafting bath stone fireplaces for over 20 years, deep in the heart of rural Gloucestershire on the outskirts of the Cotswold market town, Tetbury.

Wessex Stone Fireplaces are able to provide exactly what each client requires, not only modifying existing designs, but also have the capability to design and produce bespoke surrounds to a client’s individual specification. Wessex Stone are also able to provide a bespoke ‘one off’ crafting service, whether it be a feature for the garden or mimicking an existing feature of a building.

For more information, visit the Wessex Stone Website.

Arrow Stoves are part of the Arada family based in Devon, manufacturing stoves near the city of Exeter for over 30 years, Aarrow stoves come with a standard lifetime guarantee to assure peace of mind

Raw steel is crafted with precision. Exacting joins are welded at 1500°C. Sparks fly as surfaces are perfected. Your stove emerges, bearing all the hallmarks of being designed, engineered and built in Britain by people who take pride in a job well done.

With different styles and designs, Arada have a range of stoves to suit all homes. With the Stratford range of stoves, you’re able to warm water that in turn will heat radiators in other rooms around the home.

For more information, visit the Arada Website