Alycidon

There is now a letter from Defra circulating in the trade advising that the govts position is in red here: Defra clarifies their position on domestic wood burning In January 2019, the government launched their Clean Air Strategy for the United Kingdom. While the strategy has been broadly welcomed by the industry, it has also been a thorn in our sides due to scare mongering headlines in the national and local press such as, "Are wood-burning stoves going to get the chop?", "Is my wood burning stove really killing me?" and "Air pollution plans to tackle wood burners". Understandably, this has led consumers to question whether they should invest hundreds or thousands of pounds in a luxury for their homes, in case they are banned in the future. Specflue is pleased to share with you a letter received by one of our suppliers, Garry Puttock of Putlock Chimney Systems Ltd, from Dr Therese Coffey MP, the Parliamentary Under Secretary of State for the Environment. The final paragraph says: "I hope this letter reassures your constituent that we are not considering banning domestic burning. The Government recognises that households have installed wood-burning stoves and the Government is not seeking to prevent their use or installation, however, we are keen to encourage consumers to switch to cleaner burning." To see the letter in full please click here Specflue, with the permission of Garry Puttock, invites you to share this letter with your customers, and hopes that it reassures them that installing a modern wood burning stove, burning the correct fuel, and regular servicing can be part of the solution to air pollution from PM.

Not seen any of the others but am familer with the Esse, I stripped one at the Esse training school about 10 years ago, there is nothing to see. However Charnwoods far more recent quatroflow system introduces a fourth air supply above the baffle plate, maybe the Esse had an air inlet into this area that I did not see. Have tried to ring you to discuss. A

Esse have been saying this for years, their second combustion chamber is the space above the baffle plate !!, go figure !. A

I would agree they are certainly striking, and pretty good at getting heat out and about. I did see one at a trade show many years ago but its always women that have the last word and they decide on how it looks, and I cant see many on them liking how it looks. A

Welcome to the forum, This is a common request in this part of the world, so you and many others are looking for good quality hardwood cord. Over the years I have had a dozen or more people say they can supply, but none actually do due to a wide variety of reasons. It would help if you specified what sort of quantity you are looking for and what sort of maximum diameter. I have recently be made aware of auction prices as high as £85 a ton ride side, then you have to add carriage in, usually £10 a ton depending on the length of haul. So if you are processing for resale you are probably paying more than you can buy ready processed kiln dried products from the Baltic for. On the other hand of you want a few cu m for your own use then one of your local arb members may be able to help. But many of them dont get a whole lot of timber now as the home owner or their friends lay claim to it. Its thats what you are looking at then a rough location would help together with some sort of clarification on transport, ie can you collect it from site, usually at short notice. A

Its sold as an industrial boiler, cant see to many ladies allowing that in their lounge !! A

Actually thinking about it the Posch hydraulics are all self contained, so PTO connection only to the tractor so hyd flow is no bother. A

Rods for liner are NOT the 19mm or so drain rods used above an open fire traditionally. They are a small 12mm ish flexi plastic rod that bends easily. Traditional rods are just not flexible enough. Buying a new sweep set up today then power sweep is the way to go though. But they can be a bit rough on 316 grade liners that have been in a few years and have been used with smokeless fuels, thus may (will) be corroded at the top. Personally I would also go the certified sweep way, £60 every two years if you burn nice dry wood is not to bad. Any stove repairs needed ( firebricks replaced etc) he/she can put in at the same time. A

My brothers runs IFW tri axle livestock trailer and advise that when fully loaded with cattle it tows nicer than their previous twin axle ones. A

I have a Posch 20 ton vertical splitter and run it on a MF135 ( 45hp and 38hp on the PTO) , no real probs on 99% of stuff but a real knotty bit makes it struggle. Hyd flow is only 30L min. A

With the cost of decent cord as it is £75 a cube is pretty fair for seasoned IMHO. A

£125 for a 1.2 cu m bag mixed hardwood, delivered within 10 miles. Been at that rate for 3 years now. A

Wise move in my book. A

Think that site is owned by one of the major on line retailers, I might be wrong but I am not sure that all the reviews are quite what they appear. Odd that when they had a fall out with a major high end brand bad reviews of their products appeared. may of course be simply co incidental but I act for the same manufacturer any have never had a bad comment of any sort in over 10 years. I would be better swayed by reviews here or maybe Green Living Forum. A

I got stopped when towing a big box trailer with a Disco, I am in Northants, also Northamptons biggest mower seller I believe also got stopped and heavily fined for no tacho. Remember we have weighbridges at Weedon and J18 so are more likely than most to be stopped. A

Arada ( Aarrow) have been making Stratford for many years so spare parts such as baffle plates and grates should be readily available either direct or through your local dealer. Good stoves, we never have an issue, British designed and made. Henley stoves I have no hands on experience of, their web site advises of their distribution sites but shows nothing about the actual production. I suspect that either they may be being made abroad, perhaps the far east or countries like Hungary and Rumania or are being assembled in Ireland from components made world wide. That is not necessarily a bad thing, a number of 'British' stove brands do exactly that providing you are right on top of the component manufacturing process. I believe you would be better off with a Stratford. A

Yes I do, name had slipped my mind yesterday. We rip them out on a regular basis and replace with a stove, not one complaint ever, A

This is a haifway house between a stove and an open fire. We have had them here under another brand name for many years. There is still nothing stopping heat from the fire rising up the chimney, so if the cost is only £150 or so then its probably worth it if fitting is DIY. Otherwise do the job properly and install a stove with a galvanised steel register plate in the chimney to prevent heat loss. A

That will be a turn up for the book. They are decent stoves but deffo not first division. A

Its all a con, the max allowed MC is 20%, thats pretty poor, stove manufacturers all want 15%-16%. They charge you so much a tonn, audit your suppliers, the product and the process you use, money for old rope. Cuts no ice with punters who will change suppliers for £2. A

I use a 462 with a 25 inch bar, pulls it fine in my book. Pulls a 20 better but so it should. Agree with Husky unreliable comments, I have a 560XP which has not been anywhere near as reliable as previous Husky saws. A

Wood burns from the top down, you only use air from below when starting the fire from cold. thus the device by the sound of it is no use at all in most real life situations unless burning solid fuel. I suppose that might appeal to the boat boys, but reducing the primary air flow will reduce the heat output and increase flue deposits and pollution into the atmosphere. A

20% is the max limit currently advised by Woodsure, the firewood arm of Hetas, stove manufacturers are on paper having to fall in line but talk to their tech people, they want max 15% or 16%. Reserch recently has suggested that the optimum MC for minimal emissions is 10%-12%. All stove will burn 20% wood yes, but emissions will be higher. more soot, slight deposits on the glass etc. Wack some 5%- 10% stuff in there and no issues at all. I do NOT belong to Woodsure, the levels are in my book far to high, but they are being led by the nose by CW, the Woodsure fees are so much a ton so they need CW on board to pay their overheads. A

This is a proposed Europe wide directive, yet the actual requirements have still NOT been set in stone. A

The Defra approved Squirrel ( 1412) is compliant due to its tiecery air system, the other Squirrels the design of which dates from 1950 are likely to be discontinued and replaced by the new 2850 wood burner, A