But the wood burning stove has become the new badge of middle-class success – with more and more families spending upwards of £3,000 to have one fitted.
At least 175,000 households are installing a wood burner each year, five times more than in 2007, according to Hetas, the industry regulatory body.
And the trend has led to an increase in the number of installers registered with Hetas, up from 791 in 2007 to 3,252 today.
In these days of environmental concern, it is essential that all these new wood burning stove installations are as efficient as possible, both at burning fuel and in the emissions they vent into the atmosphere. An inefficient stove will burn more fuel than it needs to and pollute the air with carbon particles, which is obviously undesirable for all.
The FlueCube is a product invented to tackle these issues.
Invented in New Zealand in response to emissions legislation there, the Flue Cube chimney cowl reduces the amount of fuel burnt by a stove because it maintains the system at the optimum temperature. This means that the wood burner only burns what fuel it needs to maintain that temperature.
The FlueCube uses warm air inside and cold air outside to create a cyclone inside the chimney cowl meaning that nothing moves inside the box other than air. With no moving parts to wear out, the Flue Cube is a product that is built to last a lifetime with no maintenance required.
The FlueCube chimney cowl burns carbon particles within the box and any that escape this process are compressed meaning that the emissions from your wood burner are practically non existent.
So if you are installing a wood burning stove in your home, consider fitting the FlueCube to maximise the efficiency of your stove and save you money.