Our first firewood burn at home !

[TerryH]

I suspect that many people here have a fond memory of when they first burned some of their own firewood at home.. well now we can say that we have too !

We already had an open fireplace but it was not to our liking and our living room was/is undergoing renovations so we've not been able to use it until now.
Yesterday I put a new iron fireback in place and burned our first bit of fuel from the woodland.
Feeling marvelously 'off-grid' right now. Well... 'off-grid' as and when we choose to be would be more accurate, I suppose.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cMMu4rlFOfA

Will be fitting the stone surround on it this weekend, then it'll look all proper posh like

[oldclaypaws]

Congratulations. From the before and after photos its a vast improvement. We also went for a stone hearth and surround. Its York stone, got it on Evilbay from a stonemason who cuts the stone from the quarry himself. Seen comparable ones in fireplace stores for £1600, ours cost £400! Just shows what you can do if you shop around. Woodburners are more efficient than open fires, more controllable and perhaps safer, you can stop them down and leave them for a couple of hours, then come back, flip the vents open and off they go again. Ours is a Dursley Highlander 5, think it was about £700. We fitted chrome grate bars, expensive but indestructible- the iron ones do buckle and need replacing every couple of years. Biggest advantage of a woodburner is you can stick chestnuts or a dutch oven on top of it. We've often chucked a handful of oven chips in too- takes about 30 minutes. Who needs 'lecky?

[Dexter's Shed]

must have been half asleep as didn't realise that was you, have left a reply on your you tube channel

[oldclaypaws]

Have you ever read such a load of tosh as this; they don't seem to have heard of 'real fires'.

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Dimplex-Laguna-LAG2-Dual-Glass-Mantel-Fireplace-With-Optiflame-Full-HD-Fire-/171237940331?pt=UK_HG_FireplacesMantelpieces_RL&hash=item27de939c6b

We also have a remote control for our fire, it consists of turning to your other half and saying 'your turn, stick a log on'.

[TerryH]

Thanks. Yes we may be fitting a wood stove in the other room at some point in future but wanted the open fire in the living room. Of course we need to put a fire screen in front of it asap.

Love your little knight in armour standing guard there, OCP

[Wendelspanswick]

Isn't it funny how cats seem to get the prime position in front of a fire, mind you the left hand cat looks like it could do with going on a diet.

[oldclaypaws]

You calling me fat?

[TerryH]

'ere Kitty.. pass the bottle opener will you ?

[smojo]

We have an old Victorian house but when we bought it in 1975 there was a 1960's low level fireplace in the lounge with a Canon Gasmiser. Hated it. 20 years later I had enough money to replace it with a replica Victorian cast iron fireplace. Our friends had one but it had fake coals and a gas flame. I felt it would be so frustrating to have a fire that looked real but you couldn't throw anything on it. Everyone said it's too much work, dirty and messy to have a real fire. So before we got the new one, I took the Gasmiser out and put an old grate in the 1960s one so I could try a real fire for a few weeks. First time I lit it I was hooked. Brought back all those fond childhood memories and gives such a lot of atmosphere to the room. We say it's like the soul of the room. We are fortunate to live in a non-smokeless area so we can burn coal or wood. There's nothing like a real fire for making you feel good. I guess it hits a note in our ancestry or something primordial.