Looking after your Stove
Now the spring is upon us and your stove usage will be less, it may be time to think about getting some basic maintenance done on your stove, we can supply parts for you to do the maintenance yourself, or if you don’t want to do that then we can pop out and fit the parts for you. We are happy to help.
Stove maintenance is essential to keep your stove running and looking its best, from door rope, glass, firebricks, baffle plates, re-spray’s and new grates, supplied and fitted.
At the end of the season it is very important to get your flue/chimney swept, if you have a stainless steel liner installed and it carries a warranty the warranty will be void if the flue is not maintained to the manufacturer’s instructions, normally that means that the liner must be swept twice a year by a registered sweep from the likes of the national association of chimney sweeps or guild of master sweeps.
If chimney liners are not swept at the end of the season, then all the corrosive deposits will sit in the flue over the spring/summer eating away at your liner.
It is commonly believed that only gas appliances produce carbon monoxide. All appliances that burn fuel produce carbon monoxide, your solid fuel stove or open fire produces 100's of times more carbon monoxide than gas or oil appliances. This, and the risk of a chimney fire, is why it is important to have your chimney swept by a trained and competent person, after all no one wants to become a number on next years carbon monoxide or fire statistics. The number of chimney fires is increasing every year in the UK with as many as 32 thousand homes in the UK having a chimney fire in 2010. A significant number will be largely due to not getting the chimney swept often enough. Other contributing factors are:
Burning fuel that is inappropriate for the appliance.
Burning fuel with too high a moisture content (logs should be less than 20% water).
Overnight burning / slumbering fire - please don't do this, it can be dangerous and costly and is highly polluting.
Unsuitable or inefficient stove or chimney.
