Our glorious chimneys and the difficult choice of a woodburning stove......

I couldn't resist a very quick post just to show a picture or two of our glorious chimneys!  The original stacks have been overclad in the aluminium/zinc and the red pots are going to be replaced by blue/black ones.  They look superb against the new slate roof.

We have also been looking into wood burning stove options and discover that this is far more complicated than we thought.  We hoped to use the existing original fireplace with a stove insert ..... 

...... however after a visit to the fabulous Robeys showroom in Belper we realised that a lot of building work has to take place to acheive this. That being so, we have the opportunity to get rid of the old hearth which we don't like and rethink how the whole chimney breast and stove will look.  We also now think that we won't need as large a stove (esp as we are not now trying to fit one into an existing hole)  We were looking at Scan and the Rais 700 but, seeing one lit at the Belper showroom, we could feel how much heat it generated!!  The Rais Q-Tee is the latest possibility with an lower output of 4.7kw. This stove, together with all the insulation, solar gain, the aga in the kitchen and Heat Recovery and Mechanical Ventilation system, should ensure we are cosy and warm without much need to use the back up system of the original oil boiler.  Well that is the theory!

A huge amount of work has been going on inside the house this week as the plasterers are onsite.  I will post again in a few days with an update on this.