Daydream fund challenge part 4

greenbee

But the penguins are pretty

Thanks for all the input. I had a long chat with the chimney people yesterday who were pleased that the builder suggested they have another look, but they're not worried. They've provided the details as to how much he can open it up (900 x 800) and were expecting the flue to be a mess. So they're booked in for Dec. 5th... I just need to make sure I have a stove here for them to fit by then...

The deadline will be good for the builder He tends to do better when he has one...

DaftyDuck

Personal preference is fine... Me, I dislike the Morso styling intensely. I recognise many like them, but they all remind me of fake stage set fires from the 1960's, or fake Gothic architecture. Mind you, they are reliable!

There's a very good stove shop 3 miles from me, and a very expensive one less than a mile... all that local wood, I guess... so I did look closely at many, and took advice on many more. Most seem as reliable, as efficient, as low tech as any other. Few if any are outstandingly good, a few are slightly less good than others... maybe. But, they lose out on minor detail like door handles getting hot, or hinges failing. Spares, ease of repair, that kind of thing. Important, but not necessarily vital.

I know of two people who have built their own, and both are better than most that are sold. My blacksmith/farrier knocked one up, solid lump, overweight, crude, but burns anything, throws heat out like a furnace. An elderly academic built a rather more refined one, with multiple air intakes controlled from a remote panel, a sprung loaded grate (fire always at same height as it burned down), rear-emptying ashpan that slid out ready covered, so never any mess at the front, cast iron upper lid that hinged to circulate air into the room... He did that back in the 70's, and I have no idea why some of those concepts didn't make it into circulation.

Well, I do... He was suitably insane and eccentric, and it would probably explode if let loose in most people's sitting rooms. It was fantastic!

I do think a good install can make even a bad stove reasonably good, and a poor install make an excellent stoves terrible!

I even used to install my own, before the regulations changed in 2000ish. They were excellent stoves....;)

greenbee

My problem is that I live in a very expensive part of the world... but have discovered that contacting suppliers in one direction results in quotes that are considerably cheaper from those in the other direction.

I also need to look at what to use for the hearth. Standard round here is slate, which I don't like because it marks. I do have an old slab of marble in the garage somewhere which could possibly be cut down for the back hearth. No idea what to do for the front though. Guess I need to choose the flooring so I can decide. Previously I've used terracotta tiles, but I know those won't work with the caramel-colour I want the wood/bamboo (whichever is the best price on the day) to be.

The problem with all this work is decision-fatigue ...

choille

I've used concete slabs in the kitchen for the hearth of the range cooker. I mean to tile it with some nice mat black little square tiles but it looks fine with the slabs - but then again I'm a bit ruff.

Good to hear of the hand made stoves dafty - I've had one for about thirty years a long oblong box with a baffle - cooked on it, burned anything & everything in it - moved house & lastly stopped us freezing to death in the caravan. Great things if they are made right.

Very cold here & chilling out and about over East - raw.

Davesnave

We used slate for the hearth, but it doesn't have a polished finish, so we hope it will look fairly unblemished, even if it takes the odd scratch. So far so good. We'll put a sacrificial rug in front of it to protect the floor this winter.

Pete's Morso is one of the modern round ones with a big window, Dafty. I'm sure he would have had any old lump, but his wife had a hand in selecting it. That said, Pete has made the neatest small polytunnel for her that I've ever seen.:A

I've cleared-out a wood shed, ready for the 3 loads of logs Pete owes us and the sweep has been, but we are still running on oil here. We're not using much fuel for heat at present, so I'm being lazy. Can't say the same for leccy, which is about £2.75 a day on average, so those solar panels are beginning to look tempting...;)

Peed with rain all day here, but it was warm. Tomorrow looks like being sunny for Remembrance....and freezing inside the church.:(

The P word has been spoken and parts allotted, but no script has winged its way through the ether yet. I'm a P U S S Y cat belonging to a certain Richard Whittington. We are also short of 5 actors, which is a little worrying....:eek:

choille

The Morsos are nice - we will put a stove in upstairs but they all look a bit like some sort of TV set - well the ones I've seen do.

There's more snow on the tops. Went down the beach and got blown along the sand - bracing stuff. I look quite pink - wind burn and hypothermia do wonders for the complexion. Nice to get back into the warmth. First time I've lived in a warm house. The insulation does work as does the stove - still amazed to turn on a tap and get hot water coming out.

Our electric bill really rocketed over the Summer months which is quite weird. I have a calor gas cooker, no electric heating, no tumble drier, no dish washer apart from OH, don't use a hoover hardly ever as it's hard floors, don't iron.... so they have come and put on another meter to test it as it can't be right.

choille

So you are to be a p.u..s.s.y Dave - no getting dressed up in frocks this year?
Well, not for the pantomine at least.

Davesnave

My roles have been 50% male and 50% female. :A

It's equal opportunities innit? We have a Sexual Disorientation Officer, otherwise known as a Producer, who keeps tabs on stuff like that.

As she put it this week: "We mix you up every year, just like a company of real actors."

Hmmm...She has a way with words.

choille

You do well Dave.

Well - it's nasty here - hail storms and heavy sleet showers. A day for listing on the bay. Wish sales would pick up.

Chesapeake

Afternoon all, this talk of woodburners is making me jealous. This house is the first I've lived in for 7-8yrs without an open fire. We bought a fire pit for the garden but it just isn't the same. I've even considered buying a shed just so I can buy a woodburner and sit out there being cosy.

We've been babysitting a 3yr old and a 6 month old for 24hrs... it was fun most of the time but such an eye opener for a childless couple! We've decided we need at least 5yrs between our kids haha. Took the 3 yr old round the reservoir with the dog so they both got just as wet and muddy as each other and now the dog is almost passed out on the sofa so I did a good job.