Demand for wood-burning stoves has surged as Brits opt to warm their dwellings the old-fashioned way amid skyrocketing energy bills.
Retailers are reporting a lack of stoves, as manufacturers struggle to keep up with demand following supply chain and manufacturing problems during the pandemic and a shortage of materials like cast iron and steel.
Some dealers have reported people purchasing several log burners at a time as temperatures plunge.
Consumers are snapping up burners as they battle increasing bills, with the Russian aggression on Ukraine continuing to push up gas prices.
Wood-burning stove sales jumped by 40 per cent between April to June to over 35,000, compared to 25,000 for the same period last year.
Cornish company Anevay stoves said it’s seen a 10 to 20 per cent growth in sales month to month since the start of the year.
CEO Dawie Cronje said that while they’re delighted to be supporting customers who’ve been squeezed by energy bills, the company is struggling to keep on top of the rising demands.
Dawie Cronje said that the company’s lead times had increased from a week to a month due to waiting times for laser cutting and materials.
He said that steel in general had been an issue price-wise, the price of everything. Welding was power intensive, so that also went on energy bills.
Choice Stoves, an online dealer in Lancashire, posted on its website that it had suspended online orders due to the UK stove shortage.
According to a newspaper outlet, Backwoodsman, a retailer in the Highlands, has reported a 165 per cent boost in sales in the last year.
The seller posted a notice on its website saying they’re extremely busy due to the effects of the energy crisis, with surveys taking up to six weeks.
Lancashire stove fitting company Bowland Stoves also announced that they’re completely booked for installations until next year, and that if you’re still thinking of having a stove installed to beat the Gas and Electric prices, why not book your survey and installation for next year now?
In September, DIY store Toolstation revealed that its sales of chainsaws had also increased by a third in a matter of weeks.
A representative for the company said at the time that they suspected the demand was being driven by customers firing up their chainsaws to cut logs and lumber for wood burners as many try to ease the impact of energy hikes.
Some people already have burners, but have not put their central heating on, and have just been closing doors in rooms. Now let’s see if the Government introduce some form of tax at some point, and of course, burning stuff releases carcinogens, where’s the Green in that?
It definitely generates pollution as well as CO2 emissions, but what choice have people got with the rising prices? And whatever you do you will be made to pay through the roof, and if these wood burners take over you will definitely see more rules because you can’t defeat a satanic government.
And once you factor in the cost of purchase and installation which is rather costly and the fact that wood isn’t cheap anymore unless you know a guy, then it will take years to make your money back. Having said that they’re really nice things to have and they look and smell great.
However, if your house is pre-70s, when we all burnt coal in open fires, then it won’t cost that much to fit. All you’ll have to do is get a chimney sweep (do they even exist anymore?). And you should only burn seasoned wood, left to dry out and not green.
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