Bald Monkey

we have been looking at these, the testimonials seem to be ok but I never know whether to believe them! Electric Radiators & Electric Heating | The Economy Radiator Company The biomass route is a no but I will look at the air source heat pumps. WorcWuss, what type of heaters are they, can you let me have a website to look at? Cheers

As the title says which is the best electric only heating system? Recently moved into our new house and the village has no gas and the house currently has storage heaters. We have just received out first bill for 3 weeks and this was a mighty £143 We intend to get a wood burner fitted in the future but would also like to maybe get some of these new electric radiators fitted but there are so many out there with varying reviews on economy and performance. Just wondered if anyone has any experience they can share. The wife doesn't want to go down the oil route because of the hassle of having pipes etc fitted and making a mess of the house. Cheers guys and girls

Just opened a bottle of Jura Superstition and it's going down very nicely.

Hey Chipper, I'm sort of in the same boat so hopefully I can offer a bit of advice from my situation. Basically I retrained a few years back and got all my Arb tickets then spent a couple of years working for various tree surgeons around my area as and when they had work, when there was no work I volunteered for my local wildlife trust which looks great on CV's and also built on my knowledge base. This volunteering led me to securing a 1 year contract working at a local nature reserve which turned out to be the best year of my working life. This was what I was looking for all my life. Unfortunately this was only a year contract and this finished a couple of years back and I'm still looking for a permanent job in this field. Trying to find a full time position in conservation is probably harder than Arb, for example the last interview I had a couple of months back had over 250+ applicants for one position but at least I got an interview. This is something I want and I will stick at it until I succeed. In the meantime I have been working for various tree surgeons, volunteering and I'm currently employed full time working in a warehouse. This is something I don't enjoy but you do anything to earn money to pay the bills and put you through training (or driving test in your case). Basically what I trying to say is if you are prepared to do anything there is always a job, you might not enjoy it but it will only be in the short term and you'll be earning money in the meantime. It might also be a good idea to set yourself some targets, on new years eve I wrote down a 1 year, 2 year, 5 year and 10 year target plan. It will be good for you to cross them off as you achieve them. i still volunteer and get out when I can increasing my knowledge on wildlife in my own time as ultimately it will only help me with further applications. I wish you all the luck and stay positive, I know it's difficult as I've had to stay positive for the past couple of years, you have your ups and downs but I'm confident I will reach my goal eventually and I'm sure you will too. Good luck

Happy new year everyone

Been heating up the flue before lighting recently and touch wood no further problems. So it was either the wind in the wrong direction or a cold spot in the flue. As it's a rented and we are moving out in March it's not really a big problem for us, if we were staying longer then I would have got the landlord to get someone to look at it. Will mention it to them anyway but no big deal for us. Cheers for all the responses and advice

cheers chaps for the info, I'll have a think about it. I don't want to get really big just fitter and leaner.

Thinking of giving these a go. What weight set up do you suggest to start with? Personally I'm thinking of getting 8,12 and 16kg to start with. Is this a good start? Cheers

Well had a good look round the stove today and found no obvious problems. So I've lit it this afternoon and so far no problems so thinking maybe it was the wind in the wrong direction problem and it back drafting down the chimney. Cheers for all the posts

Thanks Dean, Sounds like a good idea, will give that a go later

Haven't used it since last weekend so that could be the problem.Will have a look getting the baffle out tomorrow. Cheers

Didn't get chance to get the flue hot, it happened almost straight away after lighting. Will give it a go tomorrow when I've had a chance to have a look at it.

Cheers guys, No trees nearby but a few houses that are taller than the cottage. The chimney is higher than the ridge tiles. The smoke is coming out of the actual stove from around the glass and the vents. Not sure about the ventilation into the room? Thanks again.

Hi everyone, After a bit of help please guys. Currently living in a rented property with a wood burning stove. Never had one before and not long after moving in we lit it and there was no draw and the room filled with smoke. So we had it swept by a qualified chimney sweep who was recommended to us. He said it could of done with a sweep but wasn't overly bad. Anyway it's been fine now for about 8 weeks and then this evening my wife went to light it and the same thing happened. All the smoke came out into the room. Surely it can't need sweeping again this soon. The wood we are using is seasoned and when we light it we use firelighters and kindling and small logs to start off with. Anything you think we are doing wrong or potential faults you can think of? We leave the ash in it and only clear out the excess when necessary. I'm gonna have a good look tomorrow to see if there are any obvious blockages but it's strange the same thing has happened within 8 weeks. Here the stove. Thanks in advance