Trick of the Trade!

from etcetera magazine August 2023

The Night Sky astronomy

The ceramic rope on the door of your wood-burner is considered a perishable item. Its purpose is simple; to create a seal between the door and the body of the stove which allows you, the stove user, to regulate the air entering the firebox for efficient combustion. Over time, stove ropes can fail to complete the task they are designed for and this can happen for a variety of reasons.

As a perishable item, stove rope can simply wear down and fall apart from use. This happens particularly quickly when the previous stove rope was not secured by heat resistant stove rope tape as the loose woven fibres fray and fall apart. Stove rope can also go hard and become ineffective. This can happen if the door seal has not been sufficiently tight for an extended period of time which allows the exhaust gases from the fire to collect and cool on the rope, hardening it in the process. A hard stove rope cannot compress and therefore cannot create a tight seal. Even stove rope in good condition can fail to perform. When the stove rope is fitted, it is perfectly cylindrical. After much time spent compressed against the body of the stove, the rope can flatten and then no longer creates the intended seal.

Trick of the trade

Knowing when to change your stove rope is a pretty simple task in most cases. Firstly, check your stove rope to see if it has frayed, if any part of it has fallen apart or is even missing, and give it a squeeze to see if it’s still compressing or if it’s gone completely hard. So long as it passes the metrics above, you can now try this trick to know if your stove rope is doing its job. Take a strip of newspaper around a couple of inches wide, place it between the stove rope and stove body at various points around the seal and pull. If the paper slides out, the seal isn’t good enough. The most common question asked at this point is, “How do I know how hard to pull”? The answer; imagine you are using a bank note instead of newspaper, not one of the modern plastic ones but one of the old cotton fibre ones, you know, the ones that could rip (can you see where this is going yet?). If you would be concerned that a bank note in its place would tear, you’re pulling too hard. Anything less than this, if the paper stays in place, your rope is good and there is no need to change it yet. Do make sure you check multiple sites around the stove rope to make sure it’s a nice tight fit all the way around.

Before you change your rope

one thing you must look at before pulling the old rope off and replacing it. Take a moment to check if your stove allows for adjusting the door catch to tighten the seal. This adjustment feature is often found in stoves with door knob style handles and can be a simple solution to ensure a snug fit without the need to replace the stove rope.

If you would be concerned that a bank note in its place would tear, you’re pulling too hard

By conducting these checks and taking the necessary steps, you'll ensure your woodburner remains efficient and your home cosy throughout the log burning season. An annual inspection of your stove rope should be more than sufficient and we would recommend checking the condition of other parts of your stove, such as firebricks, baffle plates, and the fire grate alongside. This will give you plenty of time to get your stove back to tip-top condition before the cold weather returns this winter.

A quick reminder

If your rope is in good condition, compresses well, and passes the paper trick, you needn’t do a thing. If your stove rope is tatty, hard, fallen apart, or even missing, it’s time to change it regardless. If, however, your stove rope passes on its condition but fails the paper test, there is

On that note, it may be 30+ degrees outside and winter is the last thing on anyone’s mind but do remember Chimney Sweeps’ calendars fill up extremely quickly this time of year in preparation for the winter months. Just a reminder that contacting your preferred Chimney Sweep sooner rather than later is a good idea to secure your slot and avoid disappointment in a few months' time.

Hello and welcome to August’s musings. I’ve nothing especially against August (for it contains my birthday, if anyone is interested) but it can be a bit of a pain. Often too hot to work comfortably, sometimes the places you want to take visitors to are shut because it’s the actual holidays, but mostly because, by the end of it, you know autumn is just around the corner. Like a policeman with a speed camera. Just waiting to take the fun away. Still, it does mean it’s then the countdown to Christmas and you know how much I love that. If you don’t, you soon will.

Well, I really should be sponsored by Starlink. The super fast - and I do mean super fast - satellite internet service has just reduced its monthly subscription to 40 euros. And, to add to the money saving, the price of the kit is now only 199 euros! Inflation? Times of austerity? Pah! Because I’m on the slightly boring side of dull, I’ve been keeping a track of all the LNBs I’ve replaced this year due to cracked rain covers allowing water ingress. Well, the results are interesting (spoiler: they’re really not). The vast majority, in fact 83%, are the LNBs which are specific to Sky minidishes. The stupid ones with the oval necks which don’t fit French dishes. As far as I can tell, they are simply not designed for the weather we experience in this part of the world. They are also stupid. So if you find an installer who wants to use a Sky minidish (they're the virtually black elliptical ones, full of holes), tell them no, and ask them to use a proper satellite dish which will hold a 40mm neck universal LNB that’ll last longer than the ones that come with Sky dishes. Not sure if I mentioned it, but those ones are stupid. And rubbish.

Did you know that you can create a Freesat ‘favourites list’? This allows you to add your favourite channels into one list so you can access them without having to use the TV guide. To do this, press the ‘Home’ button on your remote control and go to ‘Settings’. Then select Freesat Channels and enter your PIN. Finally, choose Favourite Channels and simply select the channels you want to save. You can access this quickly by pressing the LIST button on your remote control.

Please remember that I no longer cover the same areas as I used to. I cover a 90 mins radius of 79240 (DeuxSèvres/Vendée border). Google Maps will help.