When our air-source heat pump failed during the summer, we assumed it would be a short-lived inconvenience – perhaps an engineer visit and a quick repair. Instead, we’ve unexpectedly spent four months without central heating. What could have been a miserable ordeal turned into a lesson in resilience, routine and, surprisingly, appreciation, thanks entirely to our wood-burning stove.
Whilst taking a short holiday in August we returned home unaware that during our time away our air-source heat pump system had quite literally exploded. A few weeks later and with an engineer onsite we were told the disappointing news that the whole system needed replacing.
Although we’d always enjoyed the stove, it had been something of a secondary source of heating, perfect for dark evenings or weekend relaxation, but never relied upon for whole-house heating. With our ground floor essentially open plan, the stove suddenly became the engine room of our home, its warmth drifting through the space far more effectively than we’d anticipated. We were also extremely grateful to have had a Recoheat system fitted a few months earlier which helped to push the warm air around the house with ease.
The early weeks were fairly kind on us. September and the first half of October were still mild, so we didn’t need to use the stove every day.
As late October merged into mid-November, the weather finally turned. It became necessary to use the stove every day, often from early morning until late evening. The routine of tending the fire wove itself into our daily lives: preparing kindling in advance, keeping track of our wood supply, and managing heat so that the whole space stayed comfortable. We didn’t bundle up in blankets or extra layers; the stove, once properly established each day, provided more than enough warmth.
In previous years we would rarely light the fire much before November – our first light this year was in mid-September. With the first batch of logs purchased in August, we’ve just started our second builders bag thanks to Ouse Firewood.
Ironically as I write this our new heating system has just been commissioned today (27:11:2025 pictured below); we were grateful for the return of the modern convenience. But we were also left with a newfound appreciation for the simple reliability of solid fuel heating. Quite simply we couldn’t have done without our trustee Heta Ambiton stove keeping us going through an unexpectedly chilly chapter. Now in Christmas mode the stove has earned its merit for being a great provider of heat, economical sole source of heating during the outage and all with a little sense of Dickensian times.
We can now settle back into our routine of offsetting our heating costs with the stove and air source system. Living in South Cambridgeshire the weather never gets too chilly however we all need a stove in our lives.
Jez Brook
