Our best salespeople

In these trying times everyone is trying to second guess the future. Will we have a winter like last year and will our oil bil be as high or lower. On some reports I have been reading the Russia/Ukraine supply problem for natural gas may be about to hit the headlines once again. The Ec have sent a delegation to report back to Barrosso. But the monies outstanding seem to be the main problem. "Naftogaz Ukrainy owes about $650 million to Gazprom for imports of an estimated 2.4 billion cubic meters of gas in May, according to the Center for Energy Research, an independent think-tank." (source Platts) .

Well we are way out west so the natral gas supply doesn't really affect us but unfortunatley it will. If energy prices in any sector climb over security of supply then all energy prices climb. Oil which the West in particular is very dependant on will certainly climb and that will happen regardless of how we are financially and all we need is a very cold winter like last year to send us into a real spin price wise.

How can we insulate ourselves from this problem?

Well actually the answers in the question first off insulate well, theres even grants for it now. Second after you have insulated don't leave a gaping 8" hole in your fireplace open. Either seal it up or if you use it regularly get an insert stove installed. How good are they? Don't ask us we are salespeople but ask our past customers and see their pictures on our wall in the showroom as they I firmly believe are our best salespeople.

Get your chimney cleaned

Now that it's summer time (ahem) it's the ideal time to sweep the chimney. Even if your appliance is gas you should have it checked and swept periodicly. The reason for this on gas appliances is to ensure there is no blockage in the flue that could lead to fumes coming back down the flue, even Duncan on TV advises getting it done.
If your appliance is solid fuel either an open fire or a stove its crucial as it will impact on the performance of the appliance but if not done could lead to chimney fires. The reason for a chimney fire is that soot builds up in the flue and gradually over the years accumulates and heats up everytime you have a fire. Eventually this takes light and then increases the draw of the chimney drawing up for unburnt fumes from the fire below which then ignit in the flue and increase this happening again. It's self perpetuating and thats what gives the roar associated with chimney fires. When the fire brigade come they will know what to do but you could end up with a cracked flue pipe and need to reline the flue costing major money as well as pay for the fire brigade call out.
Get it swept which leads me nicely on to our new promotion. Buy an insert stove this summer and we will sweep your chimney before we start, free, gratis and for nothing. At the end of the day it makes sense.

High temp plaster

More and more customers are looking for hole in the wall solid fuel fires and of course we are only too happy to sell them. Theres always a proviso and here it is. The look of these units stems from the gas fired units. The solid fuel units give off a lot more heat and can on occasion crack the plaster surrounding the insert stove.

This can be caused by several reasons.

1. The fires lit have been too big too fast and cracked the plaster instead of gradually having a bigger fire each time.
2. The wall or plaster or screed below the plaster had not fully dried out and when heat was added the moisture expanded cracking the wall.
3. The heat generated was just too much for the gypsum plaster.

So we usually say to our customers ensure a high temperature plaster is used around the stove area. When they ask their plasterer or builders merchant for this they are often left with a blank stare and told no such item exists. Well here it is and can be bought directly from the website.

www.vitcas.com

I should add we are not endorsing this particular manufacturer in any way and all the rules regarding proper drying out and gradual adding of heat still apply. The company also advocates using a high temp screed before the plaster and while it's certainly more expensive than ordinary gypsum plaster you are only covering a small area.

On a mission

Help us kill off the open fire?

I have often espoused the benefits of a stove over an open fire even though they make up a good portion of our business. So we are gonna take a bit of a risk here and try and get every fireplace we sell to be a closable one. The benfits are huge and obvious if you read any of the posts below. But lets bring it back to money for every one of these



you spend on fuel for your fire this on average is how much you get for it in heat.



Put in a stove instead and you get eight euro back in heat.
On top of that you no longer lose heat up the chimney when you have no fire on. So many people spend a lot of money on insulation to stop heat loss and rightly so but then leave a gaping hole in the front room losing heat 24 hours a day seven days a week.
Convinced yet? Not only are you saving money you are also helping the environment.

Now heres the kicker I'm trying to sell stoves so I have an agenda here.
My best advice is go find someone who bought a stove from us and ask them. Come into our showroom and see the pictures on our wall of people who were so happy with their stove they let us go out and photograph it and let us put it on our wall. then join our wall of fame yourself and start saving.

Have breakfast on us.

This Friday 17th April we will have a Breakfast morning with Mulberry Stoves where they will run a demo on how to use the Swift Range cooker in oil or solid fuel. We will also be launching the new Mulberry Stoker solid fuel insert stove that sits into a standard fireplace opening but convects heat into the room and stops you losing heat up your chimney when the fire is not in use. Special discounts available on the day.

The benfits and problems with wood as a fuel.

Ok as Irish we are used to turf and footing it out on the bog, leaving to dry, saving it and finally burning it. In much the same way as turf people say you get heated twice from wood, once when you chop it and second when you burn it.

First off it is a renewable fuel if bought from responsible forests where they are constantly replanting for the future. If burnt correctly its carbon neutral and unfortunately thats where we irish fall down a little bit. On the continent they are used to seasoned wood whcih means it has been split, raised off the ground, stacked and left to dry for 18 months to 2 years. The moisture content is now less than 20% and it burns cleanly leaving very little ash, giving great heat, and giving a beautiful fire.

Unfortuneatley in Ireland we tend to cut it down leave it for a week or two and then burn it. This results in low heat output, cresote (like a varnish on your stove or flue inside) dirty glass and a dirty chimney/flue. This in turn reduces the efficiency of your stove in the future. If your fire is crackling and spitting you know the moisture content is wrong and you will not be getting the heat you should be from your fire. This is because the fire is working to dry the wood first which cools the core temperature of the flame and makes for an inefficienct burn.

The good news is we are changing. At a wood energy conference last year both Teagasc and Coilte were encouraging people and land owners to enter the wood energy business. While the trees are primarily grown for building timber as the trees grow they become too crowded. Thinning occurs of the crooked trees or where there are just too many. These can then be used fro firewood. The leaves and needles are usually stripped and left on the forest floor to allow the nutrients seep back to the soil for the other trees left behind. The smaller branches are chipped for use as wood chip fuel and best of all this can all be done at a local level meaning your fuel is not transported from all over the world contributing further to climate change.

The biggest downside to wood logs is their bulk. You ideally need to have a large shed to store them or else you end up paying more for them if buying in small quantities. As more people start to use dry wood logs the market will grow and prices should come down further.
Start today and find a supplier near you.