How to get the most from your wood-burner

Recently, Sadie Nicholas shared ten lessons she’s learnt from ten years of having a wood-burner. In response, Spectator readers offered their own advice for getting the most from your wood-burner – from maximising the heat and minimising the mess to fire-lighting tricks and cooking tips…

Join the fan club

• ‘Combine wood-burners with small fans. The problem with heating a room in winter (or cooling it in summer is air circulation). A small fan or a large fan set on low speed quickly circulates the air, warming the entire room faster. It actually does cut down the cost of heating a room.’
• ‘We highly recommend a free-standing fan on top of the wood-burner, which has vastly improved how heat is distributed. We leave doors open which means that our wood-burner has become much more efficient than just warming the vicinity.’
• ‘A fan placed on top of the stove gives air circulation and far more quickly heats the air.