There is no doubt that holiday cottages with wood-burning stoves attract much more traffic and much more custom. It is therefore no surprise to see that many holiday let landlords put wood-burning stoves front and central of their advertising campaigns. This prompts the question, why are wood-burning stoves so popular with holidaymakers?
Back to nature
Looking at a wood-burning stove for the first time it is difficult to guess the myriad of combustion technology under the surface. What may look traditional and rustic on the outside will contain systems which burn, re-burn and burn again all emissions. This has led to a significant increase in the efficiency of modern day wood-burning stoves while still managing to maintain that rustic, old world back to nature feel. So what else attracts holidaymakers to wood-burning stoves?
Romance
You really do have to experience the heat and the atmosphere created by a wood-burning stove to understand the difference from a traditional home. The heat is deep-seated, relaxing so what better mix than to introduce a wood-burning stove on your holidays. We all enjoy time away from the hustle and bustle of working life and who would say no to a little romance?
Cosy and comforting
The heat from a wood-burning stove is all-encompassing, extremely relaxing and akin to someone putting a warm dressing gown around you. When you consider the vast majority of us book a holiday to get away and relax, what better way?
Ignore the weather
Whether hot, cold or indifferent, it may as well be raining cats and dogs, with a wood-burning stove in your holiday cottage nothing else matters. It could be Siberian weather outside, howling winds and blowing gales but it doesn’t make a difference. There are few holidays you can go on which are not dependent upon good weather.
What type of stove should you buy?
Holiday let landlords have certainly recognised the attractions of wood-burning, often as opposed to multifuel, stoves. The next question is what type of store should you buy and how much should you spend?
It will to a certain extent depend upon what type of property you have, the clientele you are targeting and the value of the property. You could go for a simple traditional wood-burning stove or one of the more contemporary looking eye-catching modern day stoves. In many ways it might be better to err on the side of caution and at least initially look towards a relatively cheap but good quality stove. Why?
Many holidaymakers are stove virgins
Yes, let’s not forget that many holidaymakers who will make use of the wood-burning stove in your holiday let have never used one before. It is therefore sensible to leave detailed instructions firstly with regards to health and safety and secondly how to start the wood-burning stove. If you were a fly on the wall you would see many “experts” using wood-burning stoves for the first time only to see their fire dying a sad death before it even grabs hold. With simple detailed instructions they will be able to light the fire, keep themselves safe and also keep the fire burning, but they may have a few false starts!
I have heard stories from friends and family who have used wood-burning stoves for the first time in a holiday cottage. Yes, simply throw on the wood, light and watch the flickering flames and the burning embers, not likely! All I can say is it was a good job that many of them were staying for a week to give them time to learn how to light the fire. Lighting a stove is not as easy as some people would have you believe.
Cost of installing a wood-burning stove
There are many factors to take into consideration with regards the type of wood-burning stove suitable for a holiday let. This would include the size the property, position in relation to windows and doors as well as the budget and required heat output. We would welcome the opportunity to talk through these factors and help you to decide what type and what size of stove would best suit your situation.
Summary
There is no doubt that the pull of a wood-burning stove is something that holiday let landlords are well aware of. Many holidaymakers will never have used a wood-burning stove before therefore they will require detailed instructions and safety guidelines. Yes, they will think it’s easy, simply flick a match and throw on some logs but they will soon find out otherwise. However, once the fire is burning there is no doubt that the flickering flames and the burning embers create an atmosphere and a heat which is very different to anything they will ever have experienced before.
They will absolutely love it!