A Multi-Fuel Stove - a problematic experience!

Well - its certainly been an experience! We spent the inevitable three months waiting to buy this house, and during that time did lots of research about what wood/multi-fuel stove we wanted and (perhaps more importantly) who we wanted to fit it for us. the first thing I visualized in the front room was where the stove needed to be. And here we are, finally, EIGHT MONTHS later! We have a stove - admittedly it's not entirelyfinished (bits of wood to paint, floorboards to replace etc) but it is IN, it is LEVEL, the flue is (just about) true, and crucially IT IS WORKING!!! (A bit ironic after the temperatures recently have been hovering around 30 degrees with swims in the sea a daily ritual to keep cool (my dog that is) !

This was how the living room wall began its transformation (right) - originally (on the right of the picture) the wonderful 1970's 'sauna-look'!LOL! Determined to keep so me of the original 'retro' character of the house - I wanted to keep it, but update it. Wall lights had to go, then it took alot of sanding and lots of paint...

So what went wrong with the stove? Why did it take so long? Well, it all started when we went against our better judgement.

You know when you always say to your yourself (with the benefit of hindsight of course) why didn't I just 'trust my instincts'? Well, there you go.

You should.

If you don't get a sense of confidence out of someone, why would you give them thousands of pounds to do a job on your home - arguably THE most important job in your home (i.e. one that provides the heating), something that you will look at every single day for as long as you live in the house (well, OK, hopefully). There's no doubt that a wood-burning stove is a massive investment. Something that needs to be considered carefully, especially (as in our case) when you have no chimney to install it into (and don't want one built).

It's a can of worms! Even after you've decided which stove to go for (you can spend anything from £200 to £20,000). We opted for a Morso 3440. The convector seemed to be the best option because we wanted to heat the whole of the downstairs space - which will eventually be twice as big after the next big project (conservatory - EEeek). I learnt that the retailers get a 40% discount from some of these stoves, so they take the p*** when they ask the customers to pay the full RRP. In the end, we managed to save hundreds of pounds by ordering directly

online. Although we had to wait over a week for delivery, it was well-worth the wait.

The location of the flue is the next big decision. Different legislation

for different stoves in relation to the distances to the walls for the single and twin-wall....the exit from the roof, etc etc. We had to carefully consider where the fitted wardrobes were to (eventually) go in our bedroom upstairs. (It seems environmental and

financial madness to send

all that warmth outside) Next? The hearth material (we opted for an original piece of Welsh Slate as a opposed to an imported piece of granite - I like to support genuine products and J has some Welsh blood, so it kinda made sense to us). The guys at this family-run quarry were really helpful: http://www.berwynslate.com/ and recommended the method of fitting and provided a type of stain-guard etc. It made me a little nervous when Mark and Dave were fitting it (Slate being so brittle) but it all came together nicely in the end.

(Left) - the beginning of the

flue system - through the roof (between the rafters - not THROUGH them and not through the ridge tiles)! and cut through the bedroom floor above....

Overall, I think I ended up speaking to everyone in Kent with (and without) a HETAS certificate. (It's essential to have a HETAS cert if you were ever considering renting/selling your house). It was Bill Hayward from Barham's 'Absolute Chimneys' who let us down badly at the last minute. The slate we wanted had a four week lead-time from the quarry, and one week before the installation was booked-in, Bill Hayward realised he hadn't ordered it! Oh dear. Suspiciously, he has just moved location and re-launched himself as 'Wingham Wood Burning Stoves' . I wouldn't recommend them for a number of other reasons. Thankfully we paid by credit-card and so insured ourselves against any risk. Worryingly, apparently there's a number of stove companies locally who are struggling to keep afloat. Is there too many perhaps, trying to cash-in on what is perceived to be a fast-growing environmentally friendly option for home-owners? After all, even Grand Designs is constantly singing the praises of multi-fuel stoves and boilers. All I can say is, if you want some advice about getting a stove; do your research, decide on your stove and pay on your credit card!

To the right - flue painted and with the ventilation plate on - and with the slate hearth fitted - tricky as the floor wasn't level....

In the long run, it was more effective to leave the retailers behind - once we had the stove, we ordered our hearth ourselves directly with the quarry and found an independent HETAS fitter from the HETAS website to do the job. Dave & Mark Harlin were absolute stars. They worked so hard until 10pm to get the job done, despite a few technical set-backs.

Yes, there's still a few 'bits' to do - floorboards to renew, paint to the fireboard to finish - but overall with the stress of the (unnecessary) drawn-out purchase and (dusty and noisy) installation behind us, I'm looking forward to keeping the cold weather firmly outside, and our home nice and cosy in the most efficient, cost effective and environmentally-friendly way we know...bring on that snow!!!

Dizzy enjoying the heat from her new stove! (shame about the lovely 1970's orange vinyl floor tiles - another job, for another day)....