Ok im sat in my office tonight writing this little blog and i must admit the central heating is now on.
You can tell the weather has started to turn cold as when i was returning from taking my dog a walk early this evening i could see quite a few chimney pots with smoke coming out of them.
This really is a sure sign that inside they have a lovely roaring fire going either burning coal or logs, what better way can an evening be spent than in front of a real fire with your family around you.
Call me old fashioned or nostalgic but i really do love solid fuel and the warmth it supplies.
So our Stove is now made up ready to light and the log basket is brimming with seasoned dry ash and oak logs all ready to light at the slightest hint of the next cold weather snap.
All i need to do is to fill up our bin full of kindling ready to start the stove for the next few months of cold weather.
Our Tiger Plus stove is in for another winters hard use i hope it really does fill the house with a glow and the noise of it crackling away is fantastic, something you do not get with radiators and a combi boiler.
Im not saying i would exchange them but to have a solid fuel fireplace or stove is great and every house should have one.
With so many people returning to burning wood and coal sales are still really high and we have loads of stoves arriving again this week to replenish stock levels.
So if you wish to purchase a solid fuel fireplace or stove you are already at the best place so have alook through our website and order something to heat your home in mans most ancient form of heating Fire there really is nothing like it.
Posts Tagged ‘solid fuel’
Weather has turned cold time to light our fireplaces and Stoves
Sunday, September 26th, 2010Regular maintenance for Solid Fuel Stoves and Fireplaces
Saturday, August 28th, 2010So you have your new solid fuel fireplace or stove installed the last thing on your mind is maintenance and cleaning of chimneys and flues etc.
Most of the time this is very seriously overlooked and a lot of customers do not even have the chimney swept before installing a new real fire fireplace or stove.
As most people are aware fitting of a solid fuel fuel appliance must be done by HETAS registered fitter or have it signed of by Building Control inspector from your local council.
Bizzarely after that there is no further regular maintenance required by law, in my opinion this is very shortsighted as burning solid fuel can also create carbon monoxide which is a silent killer if the fuel is not burnt correctly i have read online about a death from a blocked flue for a Kitchen Range.
There are no regulations currently that say solid fuel fires of any type must be serviced and chimneys swept once a year. It would be good to have a regime in place or guide line so people know how often to service the fireplace, flue etc they have.
I understand most people would detect a fully blocked flue but how often have you heard people say sometimes the fire blows back smoke into the room, normally there is an underlying reason for this do not leave it have it investigated by HETAS registered fitter.
As a guide chimneys should be swept once a year by a decent sweep try the NACS which has sweeps numbers all over the uk they will give you free advice as to how often you will need it cleaning depending on the fuel you are burning.
As the flue is the only source for the toxic fumes escaping make sure it is in good condition so smoke does not enter your property right through the run of the chimney if in doubt have a chimney sweep test it for you and if found to be faulty it can always be lined.
So enjoy your winter fires and as good sound advice get your chimney swept just as you start to reuse the fireplace after the Summer so if you do have birds nest etc in the flue it will be removed before you light the fire.
Happy Burning and just to let you know our local sweep is cleaning my stove Thursday next week
Bliss Fireplace range of Solid Fuel Spares
Thursday, May 27th, 2010The Bliss range of solid fuel spares is to be added to our ever growing fireplaces website and we have these to be added as soon as we can get round to it.
The Bliss range offers a good selection of spare ashpans and grates and includes grates for popular models from Parkray and Baxi.
If you have bought replacement solid fuel spares before from your local fireplace shop you will know how much they charge,they are now available for us to offer you huge savings on all these items.
Also available are clay backs in 16″ and 18″ sizes complete with the throat lintels to match if needed, we can also offer a range of coal saver bricks to reduce the burning size area of most fireplaces and these are available in sets from 8″ to 11″.
A few new frets will also be for sale and a lattice all night burner for 16″ and 18″ fire openings.
To complete the range we will also be listing the Skamolex fireproof chamber boards we use in many of our Stoves and firebasket suites so our customers can now buy them direct from us, also we do skamolex bricks that can be used for the same thing.
There are a few other additions to our fires section and these mainly are gas fire ceramics such as pebbles,driftwood,logs,charcoal etc so keep visiting our fireplace website to see our ever growing range and pick up one of our solid fuel spares bargains
Solid Fuel Fireplaces and Stoves
Monday, March 29th, 2010So with the news reporting we are again heading for another cold snap and even in some areas a bout of snow it should come as no surprise for me to tell you that sales of solid fuel fireplaces and stoves are at the highest level they have ever been compared to gas and electric options.
We have seen increased amounts of usage for woodburning and coal fired stoves and fireplaces over the past few years so much so now that 65% of our current sales for March have been for real fire Fireplaces.
I supppose the price of Gas and Electric has alot to do with this still as we are charged far too much this so we find the majority of our customers are channging their Heat Sources to something more economical to run and if burning Logs something that is greener too.
It seems every road you drive down chimneys are again working and whispers of smoke are to be seen from people burning wood in there Fireplaces and Stoves
Also i have noticed the amount of people selling logs and as some of you may know from previous posts one of my good friends has a log supply company so anyone requiring good hardwood logs drop me an email and ill forward you his number.
So i am a big real fire fan and love open fires and flames so im really pleased people are returning to solid fuel there really is something nostalgic about an open real fire.
No rise in VAT on all our Fireplaces
Wednesday, March 24th, 2010Well it was budget day today and to be honest i really thought we were going to have to alter all our prices on our website and in our showroom with a new VAT rate but thankfully for now thats been put on hold.
As with most products we buy the Gallery range of fireplaces and stoves we sell does include VAT at the present rate of 17.5%.
Its a simple tax that is very difficult for customers to avoid and a lot of talk this week has been centered on an increase to 20% which effectively is you our customers paying £2.50 (aproxx) extra for every £100 you spend.
Anyway im glad that hasn’t come to light the country is in a bad enough state without people being charged extra to compensate banks borrowing our money.
Since the Credit crunch crisis here at Cast Fireplaces people have started to use Debit cards more now than ever before and Cash on Collection is very popular too.
I prefer Debit card for my online shopping as once its been taken from the bank its done then and you dont have to worry about paying credit card bill ontime but i do understand the ease of use with credit card should anything go wrong.
So with this little bit of Good budget news apart from Fuel Duty rise again our prices will remain the same so you can heave a sigh of relief that the Limestone fireplace you are looking to buy for £600 will not cost you £613.
Personally i think with all fireplaces burning wood seeing as it is carbon neutral there should be some form of VAT reduction due to it being GREEN i will write to MP and let him throw my letter in the Bin.
Deeper Back For Solid Fuel Fireplaces
Thursday, March 4th, 2010Hello again todays little article is about a product we are getting asked for more and more but it only fits a few of our Fireplaces.
Brand new in the 2010 purple brochure photographed with the Pembroke Black Fireplace is an item called Deeper Back For Solid fuel use.
Basically this is an extra back supplied by us to replace the standard back that comes with the fireplaces it fits. It has been designed to increase the area for burning solid fuel fot the following three Fireplaces
Pembroke
Henley
Jubilee
These three very popular fireplaces have the option of the deeper back which to be fair does increase the size quite a bit and are ideal for customers wanting to use solid fuel fire regurlarly.
The original cast back is removed and this deeper one bolted on replacing it, as it is not tapered as much it forms a squarer opening and also it gains 65mm depth wise too so you have more room to throw on some more coal or a log or two.
It adds £105 to the price of a fireplace package as we have to replace the solid fuel kit with one with a bigger grate and ashpan too.
The damper flap is the same size with the same design on it so if you you wish to use your fireplace for solid fuel regurlarly consider having one of theose three fireplaces and then we can offer you the Deeper back to go with it.
Will add photo next week of the items when i remember to take my camera to the Factory
Help needed with Oak Fireplace Mantel
Saturday, February 27th, 2010A customer today has rung me today with one of the strangest queries and situations i think i have ever answered.
He originally enquired about the Crown and Oak Lincoln fireplace from our wooden fireplace packages section which was simple enough as he was asking about dimensions and opening sizes etc.
He then told me he was having the inside of his house insulated with a foam which is 110mm thick with a plaster skim on it and would it affect the fitting of the fireplace.
He is using this fireplace for solid fuel use but when i explained that with the brick work to the chimney breast and also the insulation of 110mm im pretty sure there will be not enough depth on the cast back to vent it into his chimney.
We continued to sort out methods of fixing and i cam up with the idea of fitting the cast insert to the wall in the normal way using rope and sealeing it to the wall and then clad arond the sides of the cast with the insulation then we will custom make a mantel with a reverse rebate of 110mm (inside legs longer than outer legs) which will then fit flush with the plaster work and also hold in place the cast insert.
Im pretty sure this will work and he is coming to see me tomorrow afternoon at the factory to discuss that and another fireplace for another room.
So with us being able to custom make another bespoke mantel and a little bit of knowledge gained from numerous years in the Fireplace trade it looks like we could have a solution.
So if he does order ill keep you all posted on how it works out and take photos of what will be a very strange looking mantel untill its fiitted.
Really looking forward to Monday we have new company vehicle arriving i will tell you all more then.
Can we do made to measure Granite Hearths
Friday, February 12th, 2010Hi all another busy day again with deliveries to Torquay and Middlesborough two vans though not 1 big run ive had the easy Middlesborough run Stuart has been to Torquay and worked his way home with seven drops i only had four.
Anyway when i got back to the office i answered a few made to measure Hearth emails which we do have quite frequently infact now every other day but there were four of them wanting prices within a couple of hours which is very unusual.
All of them were for solid fuel ranging from a small sectional hearth for a multi fuel stove to sit on to a large 64″ x 18″ hearth for an original marble surround.
Anway all of them have been emailed back with prices and manufacture times and writing this at 20.25 we have had an order all ready for a box flusehed hearth.
Thats the joy of made to measure items and indeed hearths you dont have to put up with standard hearth not covering the constructional hearth or where existing flooring has been laid up to a hearth you are replacing you can have what you want in any size you want.
Also if you are buying a fireplace package from us and require a made to measure hearth do not worry we can still supply made to measure at the additional price to the package saving you a fortune.
So if you do want made to measure hearth just visit our Contact page and send us an email.
Slight Delay in Email answering Fireplace Questions
Saturday, January 23rd, 2010Hi there sorry for the delay in answering Fireplace emails today (Saturday) i was out shooting till 5 pm ( Last Day of our Season not too good a day) and had renewed our Norton Anti Virus at Work on all our laptops and main pcs which meant it had upgraded in the morning and i forgot to import address book and lower our spam filter settings which meant most of our emails went to Spam Filter
When i spoke to Rhian at Lunchtime she said the phone had not stopped ringing but there had been only 1 email which is very odd for a weekend.
Anyway when i got home i quickly realised what i had done and emptied Spam folder and there they all were so i quickly answered all those with little apology and explanation as to why we were so late answering as we really do try to answer the all within two hours if not straight away.
Rhian had collected a nice little pile of Fireplace and Stove Orders and i was then driven to the Factory to meet some customers from Ramsay St Marys at 6pm at our Showroom
Mr and Mrs Hewlett again did not make it past our show piece surround the Oak Stourhead as they liked it straight away and both said thats the surround now we just need to choose the insert and after finding out they wanted a sollid fuel fireplace with a large burning area they opted for the Jubilee and Oak Stourhead Fireplace Package with extra deep back and solid fuel kit which makes it a good size for burning solid fuel.
This Back is only available with the Pembroke, Jubilee and the Henley so they were more than happy with the chosen fire and left saying they were glad they made the effort to come and see us and after seeing it in the flesh realised they had printed off the same option from our website with realising it just goes to show our pictures must give a good impression of the fireplace so have a look at the photo and see what you think
