Christmas and New Year

Please note that we are closed between Christmas and the New Year and will be reopening on January 2.

We would like to wish all our customers a very merry Christmas and send best wishes for a happy 2014.

Sweeps on TV...

We were delighted to see a fascinating item about our recommended sweeps on TV yesterday!  The Pearce family have been sweeping chimneys for hundreds of years and have some amazing stories to tell.  You can catch the item featuring them on the BBC's One Show by clicking the link below - but it's only there for a few days, so don't delay!

http://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episode/b03ktcgb/The_One_Show_10_12_2013/

Special offer on our kiln-dried logs this autumn

It's not quite cold enough to put the heating on, but getting home after a day in this wet weather nothing is more welcoming than a warming fire or stove. We've had more and more of our regular customers coming over the last few days to stock up on kiln-dried logs and kindling, and we wanted to let you all know about our new offer on logs.

If you come into the shop to buy your logs and can take ten bags or more, we are now selling them at a discounted rate of £5.50 a bag. For fewer than ten bags, they are still priced at a competitive £6.

We've been selling kiln-dried logs at Westcombes for a couple of years now, and we've found that practically every customer who has come in to buy a bag has returned   for more. They really are completely different from the bags of logs you may be used to buying at your local garage which are often damp and unseasoned. Our kiln-dried logs contain very little moisture which makes them easier to light, and means a cleaner burn - which will help reduce the chance of smoking and a stained glass window in your stove.

Come and try a bag next time you're passing - we're sure you'll see the difference!

Our new stove showroom

If you've been to visit us at Westcombes this week, you may have wondered what's going on! We're currently renovating one of the upstairs showrooms into a new room which will be just for stoves.  We've been laying a new floor there and so the remaining space in our three other showrooms in the shop is rather over-busy with our huge range of stoves and fireplaces.

Most of the major work is now done, so it's a bit less dusty and we're on our way to having a lovely new showroom for our stoves so we hope you will bear with us until the work is done.

Chilli Penguin

We first came across the Chilli Penguins at the Hearth and Home show in Harrogate, and we fell in love with them at first sight.  We admit, the quirky name did catch our attention, but we knew right away that these stylish British-made stoves were something our customers would appreciate.

Chilli Penguin make their stoves to order in Wales, and they're a top of the range, high-performance product.  We were delighted to take stock of our first Chilli Penguins yesterday, and they are now on display in the stoves showrooms here at Westcombes.

The Chilli Penguin range is fairly small, and you can always spot them by their distinctive penguin logo.  They come in 5 kW and 8 kW versions,  and the smaller models can be used on canal boats - you can even choose one with an oven box so you can cook on it!  There's also a little stove in the range which has been specifically designed for use in log cabins, yurts and beach huts - perfect for a garden shed or studio.

Chilli Penguins come in a variety of beautiful colours to complement any home.  Come along and have a look  - we'd be delighted to know what you think!

Email

We've had a problem with our email this month, and for ten days things weren't getting through to us properly.  If you've emailed us between 10 and 20 July and haven't heard back, please get in touch again - we love to hear from our customers and always reply to all our mail - so don't think we're ignoring you, it's just that we might not have received your message!

Hearth and Home show

We've just spent a great day at the Hearth and Home show in Harrogate - the key annual event on any fire and stove retailer's calendar!

For us, it's a great opportunity to meet up with suppliers and to find out about the latest new developments in the field.

We saw some interesting new stoves and fires, and we'll be bringing you more news on some of them in the weeks to come.

We go up to the show every year - it's held in June in Harrogate.  We always enjoy our visit, and yes, we do try to sneak in a quick trip to Betty's tea rooms - a Harrogate institution - while we're there.

The exhibition fills three large halls at the Harrogate International Centre, and this year there were manufacturers from across the globe as well as a good range of British firms.  It is always a little HOT with so many fires and stoves blazing away on the stands - and every manufacturer keen to show quite how much heat their products can throw out.  We always like to visit the show though, to make sure that we are able to offer our customers a range of the latest products and designs on the market and to keep ourselves up to date too.

What to do with wood ash?

If you've been using your woodburning stove right through the last few chilly months, you may have been wondering whether there's anything useful you can do with the leftover wood ash.  We were very pleased to hear the issue covered in last week's Gardeners Question Time on Radio Four when the panel were asked whether it could be used on plants in the garden.

The experts on the programme concluded that wood ash is useful for gardens - and that now is the ideal time to use it.  However, although it is high in potash, it is also quite limey so is best used on fruit bushes, especially gooseberries, or around Clematis.  It seems that you need to put quite thick layers onto the soil - up to an inch - and then rake it in a bit.

Of course, it's generally during the winter months that you've got lots of wood ash, but the panel said it wasn't as good to use it during the winter because it tends to get washed away very quickly.  They advised collecting your ash during the colder months and then using it at this time of year on your fruit bushes and Clematis - so now you know!

It's that time of year again...

Now that some warmer weather finally seems to have arrived, getting a new fire or stove is probably the last thing on your mind - but in fact, it's the perfect time of the year to be considering this. If you plan ahead, you can have your stove or fire ready and fitted for the first chilly day of autumn - and make the best of it throughout the colder months.  As it is, we always find that we get a huge rush of customers the moment the weather changes, and in the run up to Christmas there are sometimes longer waits to get stoves from the manufacturers and fitters are often working some weeks ahead.  So, if you want to ensure you get the maximum benefit from a stove or fire this year, we always suggest coming to see us at Westcombes during the warmer weather!

Why fuel is so important...

We've had a few customers recently who've been burning the wrong sort of fuel in their stoves which can cause real problems.  If you put damp unseasoned wood into your stove, it is much harder for the stove to work efficiently. Damp wood doesn't light well, smokes badly and can stain the glass in the stove window.  What's more, it can cause problems that you can't see - filling your chimney with soot and deposits which means it will need sweeping more often in order to avoid the risk of a chimney fire.

People are often surprised at the difference it can make when they start using proper wood.  At Westcombes, we recommend the kiln-dried wood which we stock in store, along with kindling and flamers firelighters.  We've found that once customers try a bag of our logs, they never want to go back to buying damp wood from their local garage again.  It really does make a difference, and that's why we give a free starter pack of kiln-dried logs and kindling to everyone who buys a stove at Westcombes and offer free local delivery on orders of ten bags of logs or more. 

Enamelled stoves

We're finding that our ranges of enamelled stoves are very popular with some customers, as you can choose a colour to match your interior decoration.  

The Mendip stoves come in a lovely range of colours, including this lovely powder blue, along with pewter, claret, ivory and dark blue.  There is a small version 5KW version of this stove, as well as a larger 8KW version to suit every home.

We also stock Carron enamelled stoves which again come in a range of colours, including the blue enamel shown here as well as black, red, green, antique and cream enamel and matt black.  

The Carron stoves also come in different sizes and styles.  There's the Dante shown here which is a 5KW stove, as well as a standard 5KW and a larger 7KW version.

We currently have a huge range of more than sixty stoves on show at Westcombes. We started out with one dedicated stoves showroom, but they are gradually taking up more and more of the store as we increase our selection to include more different makes and styles.  Whether you prefer a sleek modern design or something more traditional, we can offer a very wide choice  - so do come and pay us a visit! 

Why a woodburning stove could help rent out your home...

Well, here's an interesting fact for all you woodburner fans - apparently in Scotland when tenants are looking for a rental property, one of the top assets they seek out in a new home is a wood burning stove. The canny tenants are not only thinking of the cosy appeal of a woodburner, but also of their purses - with energy prices rocketing, a wood burning stove can offer warmth while allowing you to cut down on your central heating bills. 


At Westcombes, we know that it's not just north of the border where it can be colder - although  it doesn't feel that way today - that woodburners are popular.  And it's not just in rural areas either, as we've noticed how many of our customers are keen to install Defra-approved wood burning stoves in their homes.

So whether you want to make your home more attractive whether to a prospective tenant, buyer or just for yourself and your family, come and take a look at our huge selection of stoves to see what might suit your home and budget.


For more on this story, click here