Deirdre and Alan Finn and their Tara Stove

Why did Deirdre and Alan choose a Stanley? “My grandmother has her Stanley cooker possibly 40 years. The only thing that needed replacing was the bricks and glass in the door. We liked the idea of buying something Irish. We were talking about it..how it's great that you can dial an Irish number, get through to an actual human who knows what you are talking about and can direct your call. We talked to a person who is a specialist in stove parts and we had the part and were able to light our stove three days after it went out."

Have they noticed any change to their bills? "Our house is a passive house so has a very high energy rating B1 possibly A3. We have a woodpellet boiler with underfloor heating downstairs and radiators upstairs. We built the house using Nudura Block and have a HRV or Heat Recovery System. We wanted to add an extra bit of heat and comfort into our living room. Because of the passive design we didn't have a chimney in the living room. We decided to create a hearth affect by building a chimney breast as part of the stove installation. You can see we built in book shelves behind to use up the space effectively and wardrobes upstairs. Because of the Heat Recovery System we needed a stove that that could connect with outside air. The Tara has an option for outside air kit which was ideal for what we wanted. ”

In terms of savings "The Tara we bought is a room heating stove. We didn't have an open fire previously so we have nothing to compare it to in terms of fuel savings. However when we light the fire at night, it heats the room the stove is in plus heat goes into the adjoining room beside it!

Our favourite moment "At night when the little fella has gone to bed, it's nice to sit down in front of the fire and relax. Last Christmas we didn't have a stove so we are looking forward to this Christmas with the atmosphere and warmth from a lighting stove.”