Tips on log burning fireplaces and open fires accessories

There’s nothing quite like having a log burning fireplace in your home, the sights and smells, and the ambiance it creates is increasingly sought after. There is lots of information around on the designs and requirements of the fire or stove itself, however in order to make the most of your fire, you’re going to need to understand which open fire accessories are ‘must haves’ and which ones are going to make life that much easier! 

Perhaps the most important open fire would be a carbon alarm. This measures levels of carbon monoxide in a room and will warn you if there are dangerous levels. At Camelot Real Fires, we class these (along with fire alarms) as ‘ must haves’ when running a log burning fireplace. Another ‘must have’ is a good log store. Storing outdoor wood to keep it free from moisture will ensure it does not smoke, and storing indoor wood far enough away from the actual fire in a specially reserved area or a rack will minimise the risk of the wood catching fire before you want it to! 

Other open fire accessories that will make life easier are things like gloves, pokers, ash shovels, buckets, and tongs. The pokers and tongs will help you to start the fire and manage it whilst it burns, while the ash shovel and bucket will neatly clean up any ash residue from your log burning fireplace once the fire is out. For more tips on log burning fireplaces and open fires accessories, contact the team at Camelot Real Fires, UK specialists in real open fires. 

To know more about open fire Accessories and Log burning fire places visit to website.

Fireplace design and chimney size

The design and construction of an efficient yet aesthetically pleasing open fire is a science all in itself. Many shops selling stoves and open fires tend to direct their customers towards stoves because of the specialism involved in open fire design. Not least because it is not just the open fire involved, it is the additional elements such as the open fire cover, chimney, canopy, and the general construction of the house in which the open fire is to be installed. 

An open fire chimney needs to have a cross-section of 200 mm diameter minimum but 225 is the recommended minimum (for a relatively small opening). The chimney itself needs to be higher than 5 m and free from blockages, and be in good condition. This will ensure sufficient draw. An open fire cover or canopy is recommended in order to enhance the draw, and reconcile the difference in size between the fire and the flue to ensure the room is free from smoke. The issue with this is that often is the size of the canopy required is much much smaller than a customer initially expects, throwing the visual proportions of the open fire and the chimney out of kilter. 

Experts in open fires and chimneys, Camelot Real Fires decided to address this point by inventing the revolutionary Thermovent fire, which eliminates the link between open fire size and the chimney flue size. This does away with the need for a specifically sized open fire covers, allowing the customer to have whichever canopy looks the most ascetically pleasing. 

To know more about open fire chimney and open fire covers visit to website.

Fireplace Furniture Spotlight: Canopy

There are many aspects to fireplace construction, and in this series of spotlight pieces, UK fireplace experts Camelot Real Fires will highlight the essential pieces needed for period style, but functional open fire. 

Canopies can be quite versatile in their appearance and made from a wide variety of metals including steel, stainless steel, brass, and copper. Textures and mountings can be added to enhance the design and make a truly unique piece, a trend that is growing in fireplaces in the UK

Contrary to popular misconceptions about canopies in the fireplace, they are designed not to simply ‘catch’ the smoke, but rather to create airflow up the chimney and to address the size difference between fire and flue. Sometimes this means that to get the proper flow of air and smoke up the chimney , the canopy needs to get smaller, not bigger which is contrary to what you might expect. 

In many instances, canopies are made by general blacksmiths, great at working with metals but with little concept of the dynamics of fireplace construction and creating optimal efficiency. Camelot Real Fires are experts in fireplace construction and can make a bespoke canopy to match the desired look of your fireplace and make sure it is working to its best. 

Camelot have also revolutionised fireplaces in the UK with their Themovent fire, which allows any canopy to be used because it does not need to link canopy size with fire size like with traditional canopy use. Get in touch with them to find out more about the Thermovent open fire. 

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Many owners of open fires who are seeking open fire advice are facing the issue of inefficiency

Many owners of open fires who are seeking open fire advice are facing the issue of inefficiency. Their open fires are not giving them the heat they expect, or are taking too long to heat a room. There are a few handy tips that can help with both of these issues.

The problem usually arises from poor fire construction, either the actual design of the physical fireplace itself, or from the materials used to make the fire. 

Firstly, to get the most heat out of your open fire, use a wood that burns at a high temperature, something like Ash or Beach will burn slowly but give a good deal of heat. Using dog irons (sometimes called Andirons) will lift the fuel from the base of the fireplace, allowing air to flow around the fire and encouraging the fire to burn more intensely and so produce a more heat – but you will use more wood. 

If the issues stems from the fact that most of the heat from the open fire is going straight up the chimney rather than in the room, a great solution is a convecting open fire such as the Thermovent fire designed by Camelot Real Fires. This design ensure the smoke goes up the chimney where it belongs, but directs convected hot air drawn in at its base out into the room. Thermovent is up to 5 times more efficient than a traditional open fire. 

If you need more open fires advice, talk to the team at Camelot Real fires who are always happy to help. 

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Why I love my wood burning fireplace

As soon as I walk in to the house on a cold evening the first thing I do is check to see that we have enough good seasoned wood stored near our woodbunring fireplace along with kindling and matches to light it. I make a regular habit of checking our air vent is clear and we have the chimney swept every year to ensure there is no build up of tar or soot in the flue system.

It only takes a minute to form a V with two logs and load in firelighters and kindling in the centre and put a match to it. Having checked the flue baffle is in the open position I then walk away with the crackling of the think wood announcing the start of a warm fire for the rest of the evening. My advice is try not to sit and watch a fire start. It’s like watching paint dry and will feel like an age. With good wood in a well maintained log burning fireplace the fire will take. If you watch it you may be tempted to fiddle with it and end up having to start over. By the time I’ve made a decent cup of tea the fires is ready for some more attention when I will make a small adjustment to the position of the two logs to ensure they have the opportunity to take and pick out some more smaller logs to lay over the fire as it starts to take.

Once the fire in your log burning fireplace is well set don’t forget to make use of a fire guard if you leave the room for any reason.

A specialist in the UK in the field of open fires who will be happy to assist you in creating a fire for your log burning fireplace is Camelot Real fires. Search Google to find them.

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Why are fireplace grates either cheap or expensive?

With the popularity of stoves the market for fireplace grates has changed dramatically. Today there are a huge range of mass produced and cheap fireplace grates produced in China available – but they typically only offer grates of a relatively small size. Larger grates tend to have to be made to order or purchased second hand.

Second hand fireplace grates are often sold very cheap on-line – mainly because the owner has probably replaces the fire so its in the way and they are heavy and cumbersome to ship so can only really be sold locally. In addition they don’t offer any really efficient heating options. Such fireplace grates may also have suffered from heat distortion or deterioration if they are old as a result of heat - especially if the previous users burned coal.

If you are considering using a fireplace grate ensure you also use a fireback or over time (10-20 years) the brick or stone at the rear of the fireplace will break up and disintegrate requiring repair. These are sometimes integral to the fireplace grate but the more traditional designs have separate fireback.

If you need a larger fireplace grate the other option is to have one made for you. Blacksmiths can do this but also some specialists will create a fireplace grate for you including dog irons and fireback. Ths issues here is having items made to order will be quite expensive. Unfortunately there isn’t much in between in the market in the UK at present.

One final point in relation to fireplace grates is the difference between burning wood or coal. If you burn wood in a grate with a slotted base you will get less heat and go through a lot more wood than you need to. Wood fires should be burnt on a solid surface with some capacity to hold some ash. This will prevent the red hot embers falling through the grate and going cold before they are fully burnt. The result is more heat, less ash and less wood burnt.

One such specialist in the UK in the field of open fires will be happy to assist you in creating a fireplace is Camelot Real fires. Search Google to find them.

To know more about fireplace grates and fireplace grate visit to website.

Canopy or Hoods for an open fireplace

Fireplace canopies (sometimes called hoods) are features of many open fires. Often they are in place to make sure a fire doesn’t smoke but they can also add additional design detail into what otherwise can be seen as large dark space with a fire in. They also afford the opportunity to use different materials and colours to create reflections into the room when the fire is lit. Often a fireplace canopy will include a flue baffle control to make the fire more efficient also. 

A contemporary fire canopy can be seen as improving the performance of the fire as well as its appearance. Modern materials such as stainless steel can be used as can modern colour finishes. In addition laser cutting processes can enable intricate designs to be added to a canopy making it a real design feature of the overall fireplace. 

The size, position, shape and installation of a canopy, if its a working contemporary fire canopy, is critical to its success however. Too big or small, the wrong angles or air leaks around the fireplace canopy when it’s installed will mean the fire will smoke – which means it won’t get used and can be unsafe. This is a situation we have seen many times when we are asked to correct a smoking fireplace. It’s almost always down to the people who made or install the fireplace canopy not understanding the key criteria to create a canopy that works. 

A fireplace canopy can be quite discreet of nothing more is required – or they can be full of shapes, design detail and features to really stand out. One of the common situations that arises is blacksmiths for steel fabricators making canopies. These often don’t work and can look like a piece of engineering in the room rather than a piece of furniture – which is what a canopy should be. As the focal point for the room canopies will be looked at a lot so you want them to look good (and work). 

There are specialists who focus on contemporary fire canopies and offer their service across the UK and beyond. Search Copper canopies to find one such specialist. 

To know more about contemporary fireplaces and fireplace canopy visit to website.