Diary of a Wood Burning Stove!

A few months into using our Morso Squirrel stove and we totally love this new feature in our home.  Not only has it meant that we have used the central heating considerably less than normal, it is also a lovely focal point of the lounge.

If you are wondering what the disadvantages of using a wood burning stove as room heating are, well there aren't many!  Over the year, if you are able to collect free wood (and this is great if you can) then this may need chopping down to size and stacking to dry, but at least this provides some fresh air and exercise!  On a day to day basis, there's really very little to do.  It is literally a five minute job to empty the ash tray, clean the glass (check out one of the previous posts about an easy way to do this) and set the fire up ready to light.  You do need to keep an eye on it for a short while once it's lit to make sure it takes properly and doesn't go out, but really this doesn't take long.  Ok, turning on the central heating might just be flicking a switch, but a real fire is such a homely thing and I can heartily recommend it.

It's also not necessary to stay in the house the whole time the fire is lit.  Unlike an open fire, which I personally would be worried about sending sparks flying, the stove is sealed and safe.  As long as you have a good hot fire going, you can put a few logs on (and, as we tend to do, also add some eco briquettes which burn more slowly) and go out for a few hours knowing that when you get back it will take little more than adding a fresh log to get the fire blazing again.

I've heard tell that having a stove can make your house more dusty, but to be honest this isn't something I've really noticed, even though dusting is far from a daily occurrence in my house!

All in all, I would say, don't be put off from having a stove because you think it will be a big hassle.  If you have any specific questions, however, feel free to post them here and I'll be happy to try and help.

PREVIOUS DIARY ENTRIES

18th January - Fireguards

5th January 2012 - Too much draught!

21st December - Christmas Eve plans

13th December - Cleaning blackened glass

5th December - Laundry drying!

21st November - More fuel types and a feathery visitor!

14th November - Trying out some different fuel

7th November - Warming the house

31st October - Cosy living room

12th October - Where to keep all that wood...

19th September 2011 - The first lighting of the season!

Guest Posts

Did you know that we accept guest posts for this blog?  If you are a green/ethical company and would like to write a post for the UK Energy Saving Blog, get in touch for more details.

Five Ways to Cut Down on your Energy Bills

Tired of stressing over the rising cost of gas and electricity? You may not be able to change the sky-high tariffs, but you can change your energy consumption habits. Here are five ways that you can reduce your energy bills.

1. Avoid using energy during peak hours. Using less electricity during peak hours is a great start to cutting your household energy bills. When you’re getting ready for work in the morning, try air drying your hair instead of plugging in the blow dryer, and listen to the radio instead of turning on the television. And when you get home in the evening, consider keeping your dinner preparations to a minimum with a light dinner or reading instead of watching television.

2. Upgrade your appliances. The newer an appliance is, the more likely it is to be energy efficient. This is because as technology advances, manufacturers find new and better ways to make your essential appliances do more with less energy. For example, a ten-year old refrigerator uses far more power than one that you just bought last year. Also, think about getting a front-loading washer, which uses less power and less water.

3. Turn off your computer. Whether you have a desktop or a laptop, you probably use it enough to be conscious of how much power it uses. Instead of leaving it idle, try using the power saving mode to put your computer to sleep in between sessions. This will help you save energy and also enable you to get back to work quickly when you return to your computer.

4. Work with your energy company. If you’re not getting the best deal on your energy tariffs, call your provider to see if they have any promotions that you can use to your advantage. If not, start researching other companies to find the cheapest gas and electricity for your home.

5. Work with Mother Nature, too. If you can create a synergy between your home and the environment, it could actually help you save energy. For example, use window treatments that allow plenty of sunlight to enter the house during the day so that you use less artificial lighting. You could also plant bushes around the perimeter of the house to serve as extra insulation during the hot and cold seasons.

Guest post

UK Energy Saving Responds to Government Feed-in Tariff Announcement

UK Energy Saving has today published a press release commenting on yesterday's announcement by the government regarding solar feed-in tariffs.  Read the press release via one of the links below.

UK Energy Saving
PRLog
PRNewsDistribution
Pressbox

REVIEW - My Green Directory iPhone App

The App also has a simple Listings section allowing you to go through all the categories (including areas such as alternative energy, conservation, food & drink and health & beauty) and filter down to find the companies available. This is easy to use and ultimately provides basic details of the companies usually including web links and phone numbers. There is the facility within the App for reviews to be available, although currently few companies seem to have been reviewed.

Read the full review here.

REVIEW - Taptu Environment iPhone & iPad App

The Taptu App contains over 20 news streams, many of which relate to environmental sections and columns of The Guardian, but also other relevant blogs and news sites. You can select the streams which you are interested in viewing (literally adding them from a list which includes an image and brief description) and these are then added to your personal streams list. You can also mix and colour code streams for a more personalised feel.

Read the full review here.

Diary of a Wood Burning Stove!

It's been another couple of weeks since our last diary post, but the wood burning stove has still been seeing plenty of action.  Combined with the mild winter we've been having, using the stove will undoubtedly have saved us money on our heating this winter.  We'll report more on that in due course, but there have been many evenings when the heating would have been on had we not had the fire to keep the chills away.  Of course we've had to pay for some wood for the fire, but we've been stocking up on free wood too.  Spread the word if you do install a wood burning stove as it's surprising how many people have wood available from time to time.

It might seem like an obvious point, but if you have children do invest in a fire guard for your stove.  The stoves get very very hot so it is important to ensure that even slightly older children can't touch the stove even by accident.  We have put a couple of hooks on the wall through which we can position our fire guard so that it can't be knocked over or moved, but this is probably only necessary with inquisitive toddlers, and exactly how you secure it will depend on the design.  We do move ours out of the way once the children are in bed, however, as this does let a little more heat circulate.  Ours is actually second hand so this is something which it is worth looking out for at car boot sales and the like.

If you've got any tips or information you'd like to pass on to our readers about your experiences with a wood burning stove, do comment on this post.

PREVIOUS DIARY ENTRIES

5th January 2012 - Too much draught!
21st December - Christmas Eve plans

13th December - Cleaning blackened glass

5th December - Laundry drying!

21st November - More fuel types and a feathery visitor!

14th November - Trying out some different fuel

7th November - Warming the house

31st October - Cosy living room

12th October - Where to keep all that wood...

19th September 2011 - The first lighting of the season!

REVIEW - Raw Chocolate Company Raw Chocolate Supremefoods

We tried the Organic Raw Chocolate Raisins first. The raisins are dipped in raw chocolate and then dusted with cacao powder. Lovely juicy raisins are used and that contrasts well with the rich, dark chocolate. These were my personal favourite.....

If you are a dark chocolate fan, these Surpremefoods will make tasty snacks rich in antioxidants. The re-sealable bags are also very handy, as, whilst they are somewhat moreish, eating a full packet all at once would be too much! They are also something of a treat at £2.99 for 100g of raisins, £3.49 for 100g of mulberries and £3.99 for 100g of goji berries. If you buy a case of 12 bags, however, you get 12 for the price of 11 and the 200g bags are better value. The plastic/foil bags will be tricky to recycle.

Read the full review here.

REVIEW - Raw Chocolate Company Raw Chocolate Bars

The Raw Chocolate Company offer a range of Raw Chocolate bars which contain no added sugar or dairy and are made using sun-dried cacao. Raw cacao is extremely high in antioxidants and The Raw Chocolate Company is Fairtrade, Soil Association and Vegan Society accredited......

.....As is always the case with chocolate, personal taste will dictate which one each person will like best, but I can definitely recommend trying these products particularly if you are a dark chocolate fan, although the Organic Vanoffe bar in particular will also appeal to milk chocolate lovers. All the bars have a good solid texture (they don’t need to be refrigerated).

Read the full review here.

REVIEW - Tropical Wholefoods Fairtrade Apricot Kernels

The apricot kernels look like a small nut and, as you’d expect, have a crunchy texture. They are rich in mono- and poly-unsaturated fat and fibre so make for a healthy snack. The natural apricot kernels I personally found to be rather bland in taste although with a hint of almond, but the Tamari Roast were a much more interesting flavour, and I’d be happy to have them for a snack.

Read the full review here.

REVIEW - Faith in Nature Anti-Bacterial Multi-Surface Wipes

These wipes have a light citrusy smell and we tried them on a few different surfaces including bathroom sinks, a baby changing mat and tiled areas. They are not overly large in size but one is sufficient to wipe down a sink or similar. The wipes are very moist and produce a small amount of ‘foam’ leaving a good finish. Whilst I personally tend to use a reusable cleaning cloth and spray or cream cleaner, I would find these wipes particularly useful for areas such as changing mats and high chairs.

Read the full review here.

Diary of a Wood Burning Stove!

It's been a couple of weeks since our last diary entry but our trusty wood burning stove has still been getting plenty of use over the festive period.  You may recall that we were planning on trying to keep the fire in overnight on Christmas Eve, but the weather was so mild that we decided against it!  If we get a colder spell we might still give that a go so watch this space!

Even though the weather has been relatively mild, there has of course been a great deal of strong wind over the last few days.  Getting the fire going has been quite tricky as a result.  We've found that the extra draught created by the wind means that the newspaper and kindling is burning so quickly it's hard to get a log going before it's all died out.  Careful watching and less airflow seem to be required as well as putting a log on earlier than normal.  We've also had to add more paper to keep the flames alive while the heat builds up.  Once the fire is going it has been fine.  Any other tips on dealing with this situation are very welcome!

There were a couple of wood burning stove-related presents in our household this year!  One was a canvas log carrier which has proved to be very useful for getting logs into the house.  There will be others on the market, but ours is from Fallen Fruits (see image) and is available on Amazon.  We also received a log maker designed to make logs from newspaper.  We'll be writing a review of this product shortly so more on that to follow.

PREVIOUS DIARY ENTRIES

21st December - Christmas Eve plans

13th December - Cleaning blackened glass

5th December - Laundry drying!

21st November - More fuel types and a feathery visitor!

14th November - Trying out some different fuel

7th November - Warming the house

31st October - Cosy living room

12th October - Where to keep all that wood...

19th September 2011 - The first lighting of the season!

On the Twelfth Day of Christmas...

Pack decorations away carefully so that they won’t need replacing next year and either replant or compost your real Christmas tree.

This is the last of our '12 Days of Christmas' tips, which I hope you have found useful.  Keep visiting the UK Energy Saving Blog and our main website for plenty more energy saving and green living tips and information.

Make a Change 2011

Our Make a Change 2011 campaign has now ended but we have published an overview of all the energy saving and ethical living suggestions as a reminder.  Have a read...

On the Eleventh Day of Christmas...

Christmas cards can be cut up to make gift tags for next year – recycle anything that’s left.  There may be Christmas card recycling schemes happening in your area or you could include them with your paper recycling.

Pop back tomorrow for our final tip or subscribe to this blog so you don't forget!

Latest greenCHAT Newsletter

The latest issue of greenCHAT is now on our site and looks at insulating your home and wood-fuelled heating, along with the latest updates on our website and details of some other interesting sites.

NEW Energy Watch from UK Energy Saving

Our Energy Watch page has had a facelift!  You may have read our monthly Energy Watch updates over recent years, but we hope you will also like our new look and style.  The page will now feature a different green/ethical company or event each month and we hope this will provide information for our visitors on some of the great eco organisations out there.

To kick start the New Year, the first new-style Energy Watch page features the wonderful Bishopston Trading Company, and we hope you will find the information interesting.

As always, we welcome any comments or suggestions you may have - do get in touch.  To be reminded of when the page is updated each month, subscribe to this blog or follow us on Twitter, Facebook or Google+.

Read our press release at one of the links below:
UK Energy Saving
PRLog
24-7 Press Release
PR-GB

Green Product of the Month

This month we have selected Easy Logs from The Briquette Company to be our Green Product of the Month for January.  You can read our review to see what our thoughts on the product were.

On the Tenth Day of Christmas...

Back to work?  Try taking public transport or car sharing to reduce your car usage and carbon emissions.

Pop back each day to find out what our next tips will be or subscribe to this blog so you don't forget!

On the Ninth Day of Christmas...

The Christmas season is almost over so find homes for all your pressies and think about the best way to recycle replaced items such as mobile phones.

Pop back each day to find out what our next tips will be or subscribe to this blog so you don't forget!

On the Eight Day of Christmas...

Happy New Year! Make a green/ethical new year’s resolution. Here are a few ideas...

- Try more organic and Fairtrade products
- Replace bulbs with energy saving light bulbs
- Switch your electricity supply to a green tariff
- Buy fish from an MSC source
- Draught proof your home and install insulation

There are loads more suggestion on our website.

Pop back each day to find out what our next tips will be or subscribe to this blog so you don't forget!