At first glance the idea planning a stove purchase, installation or even maintenance of an existing machine in the summer might seem bizarre? Who uses a stove in the summertime? Why on earth would you even begin planning a purchase, installation or maintenance of an existing stove in the hot summer months? Well………………..
Planning ahead
Many people seem to assume that once you purchase a stove it can be installed immediately and hey presto, job done. The reality is very different, even the process of choosing a stove relevant to you is not easy. There are many factors to take into consideration such as:-
• What kind of stove would fit your room?
• What heat capacity do you require?
• Are there restrictive regulations in your area?
• Have you budgeted for the cost of installation?
• Are you looking for a contemporary or traditional design?
These are relatively simple questions, but sometimes it is best to see them written down to focus your mind. It is highly advisable to approach your local stove retailer at the earliest opportunity so you are not wasting time looking at stoves when it may not be possible due to your building shape, size, etc.
When you consider that some of these are fairly big questions, it does certainly make sense to start the process as soon as possible. If you start in say June/July this only gives you a couple of months before we are starting to approach autumn and then winter is upon us. Time can catch up on you!
Booking an installer
The UK stove industry is huge and while there are many installers up and down the country, when it comes to the wintertime you will find many of them are totally booked up. Even though some stove installations may be relatively quick, where there is little additional building work to be done, others can take days. As a consequence, when planning ahead with a wood-burning/multifuel stove it is imperative that you book as soon as you have chosen a stove which is applicable for your room.
When you begin the process, and approach various stove installers, you will very quickly learn that the best installers can be booked up months and months in advance. As soon as the traditional stove season starts, normally August/September, this is often too late to book up before the following year. This is why it makes perfect sense to begin the process in the summertime, when installers are less busy, so that come wintertime the process is either booked or hopefully completed.
Finding the best installers
As with any industry, tradespeople skills and the end product can vary significantly in the stove installation market. You will normally find that the better installers are registered with recognised industry bodies such as HETAS and will have client reviews available for you to peruse. However, there is another way to find a local installer who can do a quality job. Speak with your stove retailer!
Many stove retailers will either have their own installation team or work very closely with experts in the region. Very often they will recommend one or more stove installers in their area to approach about installing your machine. The good thing with this is; if they are in any way seen to be recommending an independent third-party there is no way they would put their reputation on the line. You can pretty much guarantee that any installers recommended by a local stove retailer are top-notch. They will do the job at a reasonable price but more importantly the installation will be correct, safe and likely to last for many years to come.
The stove industry is no different to any other industry in that you get what you pay for. Yes, you could have a stove installed privately (by an unregistered installer) and then signed off by the local building regulations department. However, there will be a cost to this and what happens if the installation does not fulfil the latest regulations?
Maintaining your stove/replacing parts
On a regular basis we have customers approaching us towards the festive period looking to buy a spare part for their stove. While we will stock the more common spare parts requested by our customers, it is impossible to stock each and every part for each and every machine. As a consequence, any purchases made towards the festive period must take into account delivery from the manufacturer to use, delivery from us to the client as well as the obvious delays prior to the festive period. This is another reason why it is more sensible to carry out repairs and maintenance on your stove during the “quieter” summertime.
Even though the modern day wood-burning/multifuel stove is built to last many years, it is still very important to maintain and repair on a regular basis. Something as simple as a small crack in the viewing window will not fix itself and is likely already causing your stove to lose heat. The rope seal around the door is very important and once this begins to degrade it needs replaced. Even though in isolation many of these smaller fixes/maintenance issues may seem irrelevant, the cumulative impact can save you a fortune on fuel over the years by retaining as much heat as possible.
There is nothing better than enjoying Christmas morning in front of a rip-roaring wood-burning/multifuel stove but sometimes just a little more forward planning can make a huge difference. If you have any questions or queries about the time it may take to deliver spare parts please feel free to telephone, email or contact us via the online chat function.
Summary
The time span between the initial idea of getting a wood-burning stove, choosing the model best for you and installing is not normally just a matter of weeks. It does take some forward planning, there are many aspects to take into consideration and we are more than happy to help any of our customers/potential customers with this timescale. Those who are yet to enjoy the benefits of a wood-burning stove in deep winter, maybe even Christmas morning, do not know what they are missing!