| First things first, the house or cottage in which | | | | Once the old tiled hearth and surround had been |
| we live was built in the late 19th century mainly | | | | broken up, the feed pipes to the boiler were now |
| of stone construction, for farm workers to live in | | | | exposed enough to be able to get a hack saw in |
| close to their work on the farm ( normally called | | | | to cut the pipes and free up the stove for |
| a tied cottage) and had been occupied by a family | | | | removal. It was very heavy and had to be |
| working on the farm prior to our move into the | | | | manoeuvred onto a sack trolley to be wheeled |
| property in 1987, since when a certain amount of | | | | out of the house and lifted in to the truck for |
| modernisation had been done by ourselves over | | | | scrap. |
| the years, new bathroom, showers and kitchen | | | | It was then that we were able to see what we |
| etc. | | | | thought was the full extent of the space available |
| At the end of July this year we had the chimney | | | | at the back of the fire, we could see a large |
| sweep in to clean the soot from our two | | | | amount of brick and stone infill, for what we |
| chimneys. | | | | thought must have been the original cast iron |
| The one that had been used non stop over last | | | | black grate; complete with an oven on the side, |
| winter as our main heating was the worst as it | | | | which looked so pretty in pictures but were |
| had a Parkray multi fuel heater fitted into the wall | | | | extremely difficult to get the oven up to |
| with a surround of tiles and tiled hearth; this fire | | | | temperature and were dirty as the fire was open |
| had been there since before we moved in and | | | | and not enclosed; but they normally had a trivet |
| although pretty ugly had given good service over | | | | to hang or place a pan or kettle over the fire for |
| the years by heating four radiators and the hot | | | | cooking soups and stews. |
| water in the winter. | | | | But No, they had to remove two more courses |
| We had it fuelled by anthracite eggs or ovals, | | | | of brick before the final aperture was revealed in |
| which gave plenty of heat but this fuel is getting | | | | all its glory, it really made the room look so much |
| very expensive, it also comes with certain | | | | bigger, once all the rubble had been removed and |
| ecological issues attached being a fossil fuel, which | | | | a bit of tidy up had been done. |
| spoils our carbon footprint. We had occasionally | | | | Meanwhile the men had placed the climbing frame |
| burnt wood in it but it was not an ideal wood | | | | and ladders up onto the roof and around the |
| burning stove due to the grate being built for a | | | | chimney stack so that the new stainless steel liner |
| coal based fuel. | | | | could be lowered into the chimney stack, once it |
| "BAD NEWS" said the sweep when he had | | | | was in place a plate was cemented in and a new |
| finished the job, "your back boiler is leaking into | | | | chimney pot and cowl fitted to top out the flu. |
| the grate and there is a lot of wet in the bottom | | | | Where the liner came down into the fireplace it |
| of the grate". | | | | was fitted into an enamelled stove pipe via a |
| So, we had to bite the bullet and replace the fire | | | | socket fitting on the end of the cut flu liner, and |
| with a new one of some sort, we had looked at | | | | then into the socket on top of the new Hunter |
| all the different options over the years and | | | | Stove. |
| decided against oil because we have access to | | | | Before the new stove can be placed into position |
| plenty of wood from the farm. Also most of the | | | | there had to be a new base fitted on the floor of |
| modern systems depend on having electricity to | | | | the cavity, we finally decided on large pieces of |
| ignite and control their burners, and because we | | | | slate, which is more in keeping with an old cottage |
| are subject to power cuts in the winter, just | | | | than the polished granite that we thought about |
| when one is most vulnerable to the cold; it was | | | | first, this is fixed in place on the floor of the base |
| important for us that we had a system that will | | | | level with a coat of cement and tapped level. |
| work on its own, we wanted it to continue to | | | | The next job was to fit a metal plate to the |
| heat the water and the radiators upstairs by | | | | inside of the fire place above the new stove, |
| convection to keep the house warm until the | | | | where the new flu came through a hole cut in the |
| power supply returns. | | | | middle to block out the rest of the chimney and |
| Off we went to StoveTec in Hereford UK to look | | | | stop any of the soot from the old fire falling |
| at what was available to us and just how much it | | | | down into the room in the future; this was sealed |
| would cost, we looked at all the models in the | | | | around all the edges to finish the lower part of |
| showroom and chose a Hunter multi fuel with | | | | the chimney off (this was later sprayed with |
| internal boiler (Hunter are a part of the Parkray | | | | black enamel paint). |
| Group apparently), with single door with one clear | | | | With the hot water pipes connected to the boiler |
| pain of glass in the front, which I liked because it | | | | (the out flow hot to the top, and the inflow |
| had none of the fiddly bits just clean lines and | | | | connected to the bottom on the opposite side of |
| simple design. | | | | the boiler cold), the water was then turned back |
| Steve the owner of StoveTec then arranged to | | | | on and the system filled to check for leaks and |
| come out to do a site survey on the next | | | | and test under pressure with the pump running. |
| Wednesday; whereupon the measurements for | | | | Then it was all systems go for ignition to see |
| the base and the layout of all the pipe work was | | | | how it all worked with a fire burning in the grate. |
| checked, and the chimney stack was inspected | | | | It was simply amazing just how fast the boiler |
| from the garden. | | | | heated up and hot water started to move up the |
| The quote, which was very reasonable and | | | | pipes to the hot water cistern. It is now a week |
| included the fitting of a new stainless steel | | | | since we have had it up and running and we have |
| chimney liner, was accepted and it was arranged | | | | now got the hang of it managing to keep it in |
| for the men to start work the next week. | | | | over night with the aid of some very dry |
| The team duly arrived and proceeded to start | | | | seasoned oak blocks. |
| with the removal of the original fireplace, in | | | | There is no doubt in my mind that the main thing |
| preparation, I had already turned off the water | | | | with running a wood burning stove is to have dry |
| and drained the system with the garden hose | | | | seasoned wood at all times otherwise it will not |
| prior to their arrival. | | | | burn correctly and it willl not get hot enough, plus |
| As with all building workers, we made sure that | | | | it will clog up the chimney with tar and get the |
| copious amounts of tea, instant coffee and | | | | glass front of the door all covered in a dirty black |
| biscuits were available throughout the day in large | | | | coating of soot and tar. I always think that if the |
| mugs with a good quality tea bag per mug with | | | | wood burns slowly down like a cigarette glowing |
| various spoon-fulls of sugar and whole milk | | | | across its length the stove is working correctly |
| according to taste, which after the first day we | | | | and that the wood is dry. |
| learnt off by heart. | | | | The best types of wood to burn locally around us |
| The removal of the old fire place created a large | | | | is oak or ash if you can get it, but I also have |
| amount of dust and noise from the hammer drill | | | | access to plenty of willow, which is OK if very |
| and chisel, and a large quantity of waste rubble | | | | dry, I occasionally get a bit of pine, which burns |
| and a pile of bricks that I decided to save for any | | | | very fast and noisily spitting and popping away in |
| small garden project which may require a few | | | | the grate. |
| bricks, a barbecue comes to mind, which is not a | | | | I can thoroughly recommend our wood burning |
| high priority for us but may come in handy in the | | | | stove and I look forward to many years of |
| future . | | | | warm winters by the fire in the future. |