loskie

There have been a lot of tool thefts in this area in the past 2years. Easy access from M74, Travellers sites etc etc

BBC News - Chainsaws stolen from Barony campus in Dumfries Did a course here in 2000. They looked after me well. Keep your eyes peeled.

I can't understand the difficulty in lighting them. I have a Town and Country Little Thurlow (traditional masonry chimney) and a Stovax Stockton 7 (SS Double skin chimney) both easy to light. The little Thurlow easiest I think. Just takes a bit of thinking about really its not difficult. Of the two the Little Thurlow is best overall. I am not sure if that is down to the stove or chimney though.

Is it down as much as that? I pulled out my old rayburn 18m ago and the last time I bought oil for that it was at 83p ish I think. That's some drop. I miss the Rayburn but the running costs were too high.

You do know that you can do your own stove installation don't you? If you are capable of opening up the chimney then it will be easy. Then just get it signed off by the council building control officer. No need for a HETAS installer IIRC.

[ame=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SYyd0dvNNXU]Sir Mix-A-Lot - I like big butts ( Official Music Video ) - YouTube[/ame] Gotta love big butts

I have had a Town and Country Little Thurlow(5kw) for 8yrs and more recently a Stovax Stockton 7kw put in a new extension. I would rate the Thurlow highly and the Stovax as average. Used to have a Clearview double doored thing (15kw?) in a previously rented house. Did 9 rads and hot water. It was a belter of a stove too.

As per Cornish, I cut a lot of windblown spruce for my wood burner. Never burned well on its own but fine if mixed with a different flavour of logs. Didn't seem to leave a bed of embers or give a foundation for a fire.

Sold my 1950 Rayburn no 2 last Summer when renovating the house. It had been in since new and sometime along the way converted to oil. In the time we owned the house it did not do anything but heat the kitchen and cook, Ran from Nov to April ish and would use 1400l of oil. Was nice but damned expensive, we could use a lot of extra gas central heating and still save loads. Extended the kitchen and put in a Stovax Stockton 7 multifuel as new but bought second hand for £425. Managed to sell the rayburn for £90 collected to a commune who were going to convert it to wood. It was nice but Toooooo expensive to run. Made good roast tatties. http://arbtalk.co.uk/forum/firewood-forum/54641-1950-rayburn-no2-solid-fuel-potential.html

I second that above. I had a sinus op in Feb this year after suffering for 23 years. Was told NOT to use Sinutab as prolonged use can damage nasal lining and was prescribed nasal spray steroid Avamys and sometime nasonex. Was also given a course of strong steroids taken orally for 10 days. That didnt half shift some serious lumps from inside my head. Like huge bloody bogeys. Since the op (recovery was fairly quick surgeon said my nose was a mess inside. Broken a few times due to rugby and drunken fights in my teens, a lot of polyps removed) I have used the Avamys daily and the NEILMED nasal douche 2 or 3 times a day. Dont bother buying the powder for the solution its just a 50/50 mix of salt and bicarb so says my surgeon, Takes a while to get used to it, unpleasant at first like breathing in sea water and you need to get used to the stuff coming out of your nose unexpectedly some time on. If it is bad visit your doc and dont settle for a dose of antibiotics. Mine did that for years it wasnt until the practice nurse referred me to hospital that things were taken seriously. Good Health.

FC has been felling hundreds of acres of Larch(not necesariliy diseased but to slow/stop spread) here in Galloway. Not sure where it is sold to but is larch not pretty good for a woodburner? One of the problems here is the huge biomass powerstation nr Lockerbie.

I see it is like the much maligned "rent a roof schemes" for solar panels then?

I'll try and refrain from smugly saying that you should have thought of this before you purchased the stove. I have noticed the red top tabloids advertising stoves(woodburning only) and how much they can reduce ones heating bills. All well and good if you have a regular, pre planned, preferably free source of good quality wood but if not and you have to buy it(not to mention keep it working when you are out of the house) then the cheapest option is probably mains gas if you have access. There i've gone and done it with my smug reply. Sorry One thing the OP could consider is getting an entire pallet of compressed peat briquettes delivered. This is my local place( I have never used them as manage to source my own logs) Wood Fuel Co-operative - The Woodfuel Co-operative Good luck and enjoy your woodburner. As with many things practice makes perfect.

From what the neighbour tells me he can remember his sister as a young girl coming here for her tea. The Rayburn would have been installed as a coal burner in early 1950s then converted to oil in the early 80's by the same family. Not a farmer but good guess. Was a moudie man. That's a mole catcher if you are South of the border. I must admit I am missing the rayburn but not the oil bill and slow controlability. It has actually been an interesting excercise in social history.

Well luckily I managed to sell my Rayburn to a self sufficient family got £90 for it which I thought not too bad. He is converting it back to solid fuel. He did also manage to make use of other stuff coming out of the house which would have been skipped otherwise so good for him and good for me to see the stuff used and not pay for disposal. The 1200l plastic oil tank was also sold yesterday for £100 so that has created a bit more space too.