Wood burning angst

Img: wallpaper.com

Summer's officially over, and it's funny how within days of the kids going back to school/childcare the temperature is instantly autumnal. I've been trying to get an invoice out of NPower for about a month now as our last one was issued back in February. Despite leaving two meter readings and phoning a couple of times, the invoice is still elusive. I suspect this is in part a terrible system, but also because no doubt our exorbitant monthly direct debit has put us into credit.

Funny how big companies are quick to chase you when you owe them money but are very slow to refund it if you've overpaid. Obviously quite motivated to get this sorted as the central heating will be put back in action in the next couple of months.

Our downstairs space could do with an extra radiator actually. We had to get a little fan heater to help warm the room up as someone miscalculated the space and the two radiators (or "rads" as builders call them) don't fill the room with toasty warmth, they just sort of take the edge off, even when cranked up to max output. When we were planning the extension I was keen on getting a wood burning stove, something like the Focus Gyrofocus pictured top, sadly they cost over US$18,000 which means
that they were firmly in the "not in this lifetime" category. Shame really as there's something cosy and earthy about a fire, and provided you get a well designed wood burning one they can be better for your carbon footprint than other methods of heating your home.

This place does a more affordable selection of wood burning stoves - firesgalore.co.uk. Style wise there's a lot of ultra modern versions or very olde country kitchen, but sadly nothing like my beloved Gyrofocus. Still, when you're talking about £600 vs $18K most people make compromises.

It's probably too late now to even put in any kind of fire into the extension so I should probably keep an eye out for another rad, but not until NPower gives us a bill so we can see how much the gas is costing us!