Join in Our Diary of a Wood Burning Stove!

As the winter starts to draw to a close, our popular Diary of a Wood Burning Stove will be coming to an end.  It's been great to share our experiences, but we thought it might be a good idea to gather some other comments from wood burning stove users.  If you've got a wood burning stove and would like to share a brief comment or hot tip on how you find your stove, we'd love to hear from you.  Please email me at hayley@uk-energy-saving.com.  Just a brief comment is fine and it would be good to know the model of stove you own if you know.  Thank you!

If you havn't yet read any of our diary entries, scroll through this blog to have a read.

UK Energy Saving 'Takes a Step' for Fairtrade Fortnight

Our latest press release talks about Fairtrade Fortnight and how UK Energy Saving have been supporting this event by featuring the Fairtrade Foundation and Fairtrade Fortnight on the Energy Watch page.  Read more at one of the links below and visit the 'Take a Step' website now to see what you could do!

UK Energy Saving
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Diary of a Wood Burning Stove!

The milder weather of the last few days has meant we're back to lighting the stove in the early evening rather than earlier in the day during chillier weather.  Perfect for keeping the chill off the room as it gets dark and making it cosy for relaxing later in the evening.

If you havn't read it already, we have now reviewed the previously mentioned paper log maker.  The Eko-Mania was a Christmas present and has proved itself very useful!  You can read more in our full review, but this is a simple way of using waste paper and newspaper to make 'logs' for your wood burning stove.  Particularly good for getting the fire going after the kindling.  Let us know if you've used this or a similar product and what you thought.

Our wood store is starting to look at bit bare now, with mainly less seasoned wood left.  We might buy some more seasoned wood to keep us going until the end of the colder weather and then need to make sure we chop some bigger pieces of wood we have so they can season over the year.  We have been making more use of the Homefire 'coals' we first tried back in November as our wood supplies have dwindled, and these do a great job.  You can actually put a couple on with the kindling and then add a few more when the fire is hot.  They retain their heat for a long time so are also handy if you're going out for a while.

Keep checking back for the next installments of our diary and read previous entries from the list below...

PREVIOUS DIARY ENTRIES

6th February - Keeping the fire in overnight
31st January - Disadvantages? Not really!
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!

REVIEW - Eko-Mania Dry Paper Log Maker

Using the Eko-Mania Log Maker is pretty straightforward and instructions are provided. Essentially a piece of newspaper is wrapped around the aluminium outer tube, tucking in the ends. The tube is then filled with bunched up paper and compressed using the wooden insert. Once full, the wooden insert is used to force the ‘log’ through the metal tube using the outer layer of paper as a wrapper. The first couple of times we found this part a little tricky, but it just takes a bit of getting used to and ensuring that the tube is not filled too tightly. Once you have the hang of this, it takes just a few minutes to make a log.

Read the full review here.

Saving Water in the Home

Yesterday's drought summit highlighted the concerns over a potential drought in the UK this summer following a dry winter.  In light of this, we have put together an article on ways to save water in your home.  This is always recommended, both to save water and money, and you'll find even more information on our website.

Read the article at one of the links below.
UK Energy Saving
Amazines
Base Articles

REVIEW - Riverford Organic Vegetable Box scheme

Back when we first reviewed the Riverford vegetable boxes, one small criticism was the amount of mud on some root vegetables in particular. This has improved, however. Whilst the vegetables are not clean (some earth on them is considered to help maintain freshness), there are no longer the large clods of mud, making cleaning them an easier task!

A further improvement, in my opinion, is the option of the favourites vegbox which aims to offer popular items. This is handy if you are unsure about cooking more unusual vegetables or have picky children who won’t try anything new! Should you feel, however, that the various box contents don’t suit you on occasion, you can also order individual items (minimum order value of £12.50 or £25 on fresh meat) including fruit, vegetables, meat, dairy products and more. These items can also be added to a box order.

Read the full review here.

REVIEW - Riverford iPhone App

The ‘veg machine’ which appears when the app is opened is designed a bit like a fruit machine giving you the option of choosing up to three vegetables you’d like to use in a recipe. For each selection you make, an image and the name of the vegetable is shown as well as the number of matching recipes. The only problem I had was that I sometimes had difficulty getting the app to move across to the next scroller, but I think this is just down to user practice! Once you are happy with your veg selection you then simply click to be shown the relevant recipes, then click through on the name of a chosen recipes for full details. This is great if you have a few lonely vegetables at the bottom of the fridge which you’d like to put together in some way!

Read the full review here.

Energy Watch - Fairtrade Foundation

February's Energy Watch page features the Fairtrade Foundation and the upcoming Fairtrade Fortnight.  If you havn't yet seen our new-style Energy Watch profiles, follow the link to have a read.

Why Should I Shop Locally?

UK Energy Saving have published a new article entitled 'Why Should I Shop Locally?'. Follow one of the links below to read the article.

UK Energy Saving
Amazines
HubPages
EzineArt

Diary of a Wood Burning Stove!

The cold weather last week meant that we have appreciated our wood burning stove even more than usual!  There were a few days when I lit the stove much earlier in the day than normal, taking the chill off the house and gradually warming it enough that we still didn't need the central heating on in the evening.  Following last winter's freezing weather, that is exactly what we had hoped the stove would allow us to do rather than often having to put the heating on during the day.

You may recall that we had planned to try leaving the stove in overnight at Christmas but the mild weather put us off.  Well a couple of days ago we managed to get the fire going again in the morning from the embers.  We quite often use a few smokeless coal-type briquettes in the evening and these do tend to stay hot for a long time.  Over the weekend we noticed that there still seemed to be a reasonable amount of warmth coming from the stove first thing in the morning, and my husband managed to get the fire going again with just a little newspaper and kindling.  Bingo!  Soon the fire was roaring, and that was without even trying to keep it in overnight!

PREVIOUS DIARY ENTRIES

31st January - Disadvantages? Not really!
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!

REVIEW - Burt’s Bees Replenishing Lip Balm with Pomegranate Oil

This classic lip balm tube is of course the perfect size for popping in a pocket or bag, so that was the first selling point for me. I then went on to try the lip balm itself. I do suffer from dry lips, particularly in the winter, so use lip balm many times a day to keep them soft. This lip balm from Burt’s Bees smoothed on easily and left my lips feeling moisturised and protected. The smell and taste is unusual but very pleasant and I felt that the lip balm lasted well. All in all I can certainly recommend this product for dry lips.

Read the full review here.

REVIEW - Faith in Nature Powerful Anti-Bacterial Washing Up Liquid

This washing up liquid has a lovely subtle citrus scent and the concentrated formula means that one good squirt is sufficient for a bowl of water. I was pleasantly surprised how far this washing up liquid went, producing a good foam and easily cleaning a load of dirty dishes. Even the last dishes came out clean and grease-free. Biodegradable and phosphate and paraben-free, this product is described as active against Listeria, Pseudomonas aeruginosa and S.aureus.

Read the full review here.

REVIEW - Bentley Organic Calming & Moisturising Organic Soap

The first thing you notice about this soap is the lovely lavender scent – if you like lavender this will definitely appeal to you. I just used the soap on my hands (although it can be used all over the body) and found it to have a beautiful creamy texture which then produced a good lather. My hands do get dry but this left them feeling soft and smooth and without the urgent need to use hand cream as is often the case when using soap bars. Despite the scent of the bar, the soap doesn’t leave a strong smell behind after use which I feel is a good thing.

Read the full review here.

REVIEW - Simply Soaps Hand Made Soap Bars

The soaps of course have different scents which have individual appeal. The scents were pleasant but not overpowering and didn’t linger on the hands. As the soaps are handmade they have that lovely, slightly ‘rustic’ look and texture. They all lathered up well and left skin feeling very clean but not overly dry.

Read the full review here.

Green Product of the Month

It's a new month so we have a new green product of the month.  For February this is the Taptu Environment iPhone & iPad App which we reviewed recently.  Follow the link to find out more.