What's going on?

The Windy Smithy is on Pause, until January of next year, 2023.

FAQ
Getting on with shit. Chilling. And going on a bike ride at some point.
Yes, we are please to say that the Louis, Louis Ranger, Henry, Henry Ranger and Arthur models will still be going in the morning, with seasoned hardwood and judicious fire management.
From a quick survey at the Buddhafield festival, it seems that about half of Wendy users can keep her going all night. The firebox is very small, and this will require a bit of skill, as well as dry seasoned hardwood. It will also depend on the ambient temperature and what time you get up in the morning! I find that with dry oak, i can keep the Wendy in for eight hours in sub zero temperatures.
If you have closed the vent too much for overnight burning, and the fire has gone out, there will often be a good stash of charcoal in there, which makes for very easy fire lighting which will warm the place up while you go back to bed for 5 minutes!
Well, it is mostly down to the draw. With an insulated flue, you are going to have a better draw, as the flue gases stay hotter and, as we all know, hot air rises.
Also, in adverse wind conditions, especially if there are high obstacles near to your flue, there may be some turbulent wind that just wants to find its way down your chimney. This seems to happen mostly when the wind is coming from an unexpected direction, as we tend to optimise things for the prevailing wind.
It's all in the name.
Our Woodburners are designed to burn Wood, on a bed of ashes, with the air flow coming from the front. Your firewood needs to be below 20% moisture content, ideally split and stacked for 2 years for most species.
Coal requires a grate to allow the ash to fall through, and the air to come from underneath. This is not incorporated into the design, so it will be difficult to burn coal in there, and would not be appropriate.
In any case we would ask you to consider burning only wood from sustainable resources, such as forest thinnings or from a woodland harvested as part of a long term management plan.
Just ask us a load of questions, lots of times, and we'll put them on here. Eventually.