It’s a very pleasant feeling to be curled up in front of a stove when it’s cold and windy outside and the rain is lashing down. And if you add some music, a good book, and the chance to relax on a comfortable sofa in your country home – that’s the real way to enjoy the warmth of a stove.
We all associate a stove with well-being and creature comforts, but it’s also a fashionable accessory which is very much in vogue. So will yours be just for decorative purposes, or can you think of it as a heater?
Whenever you are buying, installing or indeed carrying out any maintenance work on a stove, you are strongly recommended to consult a professional. That way, you’ll get a proper survey which will then recommend a stove suited to your requirements, as well giving you clear instructions on how it operates.
The stove’s potential heating capacity must be carefully considered. Some properly vented models, for example, can be used to supply heat to several rooms. But a model designed for natural convection will only heat a smaller area.
Pellets provide economical and long-lasting heat, but they must be FSC or PEFC labelled products.
And choosing your pellets carefully will achieve optimal performance, while also prolonging the service life of your stove. The grade, calorific value, moisture and ash content must all be taken into account, and there are DIN +, Önorm and NF standards applicable which should guarantee the quality of the product you buy.
As with all products, there is a wide range of pricing options. Essentially, it depends on the quality of the stove: Around 3,500 euros will buy a high-end cast iron stove which is quiet and easy to use. And you can expect a stove of this quality to last you for at least 20 years. However, if you purchase a budget stove you will find it rarely lasts for more than ten years.
The cost of installing your stove should be somewhere between 500 and 1000 euros, but you should also allow for annual maintenance costs. For instance, you could anticipate spending something like 100 to 200 euros on regular chimney sweeping.
