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Log Burner Debacle! Chilli Penguin vs Clearview Stoves.

It's no secret for anyone that knows me, I love Autumn! From September to December are my happy months, the colours, the smells, the cosy feels I love it! As you'll know from my previous posts, we're in the process of installing a log burner, which is so incredibly exciting...Autumn/Winter nights in front of the log burner for the win! Also...with no central heating and an incredibly tight husband who won't put the electric heaters on - I just really need some form of heat....15-17 degrees in the house isn't all that fun!

Actually choosing a wood burning stove has been much harder than we expected - the size of the original fire place is pretty small, which has limited our model choice. We could of course look at opening up the fireplace further but due to the way it's constructed it's likely to cause costly complications (which with our shoe string budget isn't ideal)...we've taken to making mock-ups with cardboard to try and help us make decisions...

Chilli Penguin Woody Stove

This photo actually depicts the Chilli Penguin 'Woody' model which unfortunately is looking unlikely due to the need for more clearance around the stove and the overall distances required from combustible materials. We've looked at placing the stove further out into the room as an option and building it into a chimney breast, but both of those options eat significantly in to the overall floor space for the room. 

It's looking more likely at the this stage that we'll go with the Chilli Penguin 'Short Penguin' model - which is a much smaller model - and admittedly, Rich and I were both a bit underwhelmed by the viewing pane on this model when we viewed it in the show room....so we're a little undecided. We've since (I say we, I mean Rich) made a mock up of the 'Short' penguin out of cardboard and actually given the room size and dimensions feel that it looks OK (I'll post a photo of this on the Bungalow Blogger Instagram for anyone interested ). 

You can see here the Woody vs the Short Penguin as seen in the show room - in that environment we walked away feeling certain we wanted to make the Woody work, but it's just looking to be far more costly and tricky structurally to make it work....we just know this is a long term decision and investment so it's important we're 100% happy!

Chilli Penguin Short Penguin vs Chilli Penguin Woody Stove

The 'Short' is shown here in cream, but we'd be going for black...

We did also look at Clearview models while in the showroom which are great stoves with some really great reviews! They look fab as well...I think if we had bought a cottage or beamed property that felt a little more historic we would have likely gone with a Clearview model...but in a 1960's renovation where the lines are cleaner, and there is little to no character a Clearview just doesn't feel right! The overall finish of the bungalow is likely to be a mix of modern/contemporary and country/farmhouse style....hopefully meeting and complementing each other somewhere in the middle!

Anyway, this weekend we're hoping to make a final decision so that we can get going with the work on the fireplace that needs doing and order the stove...

We're also waiting on some floor insulation which we'll likely do at the same time (blog post and vids to follow on this) and now we're trying to decide whether to decorate the lounge now or wait until some of the other work (including the underfloor heating) has been carried out...probably worthy of it's own blog post that stuff!

Don't forget to go over and subscribe to our YouTube Channel for videos on our renovation project as well as lifestyle videos (a few Autumnal videos planned for the next few weeks) and please do help us out by sharing and supporting this blog! Thanks and see you soon with more thrilling updates ;-) x

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