The great day arrived with thunder, lightning, heavy rain and plummeting temperatures ... as did Stephanos and his workmate with our Bronpi Florida log burning stove. It was not an easy job, and it was not a quick job as it had to fit inside an existing fireplace (which was slightly too small).
Angle grinders to the left of us, Kango drill to the right of us, and thunder and lightning on all sides, these guys set to work. We retired to the bedroom, turned the heating on and even slipped under the duvet at times. Ann reinvigorated us with bacon sandwiches, and we managed chunky leak and potato soup at lunchtime when the guys took a break.
As the day wore on, there was more grinding and drilling but the stove stayed resolutely in the centre of the room. The word was that they had to remove a couple of millimetres here and a millimetre there to get an exact fit. At last, after hours and hours, the word on the street was that the stove was ready to be installed. Ann, Daisy and I crept out to watch. Nearer and nearer to the fireplace the stove moved but ... but ... another millimetre was needed. All this time Stephanos’ mate was vacuuming to ensure no mess at all. Then, with bated breath, the stove was lifted to the waiting fireplace and in it slid. Further adjustments were necessary until the flue could be lined up.
It was in, and then the frame was screwed around the outside. And then, at last, the glass door was put in place. “Finished,” I thought ... but an electrical connection needed to be made (for the convector fan). Fitting the trunking to finish the job seemed to take an age. The guys turned round and proclaimed they had finished.
Ann and I had collected pine cones and newspapers to help the kindling “take” but it was not necessary. The fire was laid upside down with wood at the bottom, a few pieces of kindling above and a couple of fire lighters at the top. The vent was opened, a match was applied and we were away. Within a couple of minutes the kindling was burning, and we just left it to ignite the small pieces of wood at the bottom. After fifteen minutes we put some more wood on the top, closed the door and that was that. Apparently stoves work much more efficiently when the chimney/flue is warm and our chimney had not been used for years. As time went on, the automatic fan started (which is controlled by a thermostat set at 60°C) and hot air started to blow as well.
The next day we set the fire alight at about 10.30 in the morning and even went out for a couple of hours in the afternoon. The house was “toasty” warm on our return and we could enjoy our (and the intsallers’) endeavours. Don’t believe people when they tell you Cyprus has mild winters. It can be absolutely freezing inside the majority of properties, as there is little or no insulation. Buy or rent a property with heating or be prepared to install a log burner. You won’t regret it. Our log burner is a 14Kw model, with a built-in convector fan. So in addition to the heat from the stove, cooler air enters at the bottom of the stove, it circulates around the outside of the fire box, and is then blown out as hot air from the top.
Winter is a time when you yearn for the cloudless skies and sunshine we get for months and months on end. But it is also a time when Cyprus needs rain - lots and lots of it. December last year and January this year have been very wet. Our local dam is 100% full but many others are not so rain, rain and more rain is needed. We’ll just curl up at home.
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