Hearth and soul

The recession has forever changed the look and feel of the Irish hearth. The challenge of heating our homes in winter means that a multi-fuel burning stove is now the hottest thing a house can have, writes ALANNA GALLAGHER

HE STOVE, ONCE relegated to garden sheds and garages, is back at the heart of the Irish home – the hearth. In Ireland the fire is a ritual that marks the change of the seasons, says stylist Josephine Ryan, author of newly published Essential Irish; Homes With Classic Irish Style, a book that celebrates our interiors. It is the focal point of any room, she says, adding: “At one time lighting the fire was associated with hardship back when central heating and hot running water were not a given. Their advent made us look at the open fire more romantically. But that sense of romantic Ireland is dying, because of the hard fact that fuel costs are rising.”

We’ve all had to think more efficiently which is why more and more people are warming to the idea of a multi-fuel stove. With an open fire you lose between 75 per cent and 80 per cent of the heat up the chimney, explains William Fenton of Greystones-based Fenton Fires. “With a stove the inverse is almost true. After two harsh winters, and another forecast, who can afford that level of inefficiency?”

This quest for better heat efficiency has driven Stanley’s stove orders up 35 per cent year on year, says Eileen Slattery, marketing director at Aga Rangemaster. Homeowners are buying stoves in their droves because they are looking at alternative ways of heating their houses, Fenton says. “They’re attracted to options that give them a sense of independence from the main fuel suppliers of oil, electricity and natural gas.”

Most buy a stove to warm the principal room in their home and minimising central heating time to an hour or two before bedtime, explains Paul Timbs, Aga’s retail manager in Ireland. “The holy grail is an Aga in the kitchen and a stove in the sitting room.”

Fenton recommends you buy a style of stove that you like the look of but also opt for a brand that you can easily get parts for.

But why are so many of the models only available in black? Fenton’s response is: “Most stoves will outlast the styling of a room and homeowners are afraid of being left with an outdated appliance.”

He has a smart solution if you want to go beyond the Model T Ford “any colour as long as its black” choice. Fenton Fires stocks a heat-resistant aerosol spray paint that will affix to matte surfaces. It comes in six colours: ivory, pewter, green, blue, grey and copper and costs €19 per can. You will need two cans to cover an average-size stove. You could use stencils and make a stove unique to your space.

The use of colour both on stoves and in the surrounding walls makes a big difference to a room’s look and feel, says Ryan. Think creatively about the surround, she says, citing one house photographed in Essentially Irish. Its deep sea blue stove is set in a chimney breast tiled in white. A panel of copper, what looks like an old unfurled water tank, is placed behind the stove to reflect heat back into the room. Simple blue and white tiles mark the hearth area out from the surrounding wood floors and protect them from wayward sparks.

Another stove in the same house is installed in a double height room. It is raised off the ground, a good idea if you have the height to play with as it lifts the flames up into view, says Ryan. Sculptures on and around the heavy wood mantle add texture to the setting.

If you’re looking for a more unique style of stove one option is to buy an antique one. Stoves by Ovne in west Cork specialise in antique and retro designs from 1760 to 1960. They offer ornate solutions that are a million miles from what owner Tom Keane calls “the generic black box design of the modern stove”.

His dramatic designs have featured in several of the Harry Potter films and also in the forthcoming Tim Burton movie, Dark Shadow. Keane describes his stock as “art that warms”. Unlit, he says, “they act as a piece of furniture as opposed to a blank screen”.

Ryan, also an antique dealer, isn’t charmed by the antique and retro options, but she too has jumped on the stove bandwagon. Last winter she installed a modern contemporary Chesney wood-burning stove in her Victorian home in London. Hers is surrounded by bare brick.

What she loves most is the fact that when she goes to bed, especially at weekends, she can stoke the fire and then turn the stove down to its lowest setting. “In the morning, if you’re lucky, there should still be embers. Thrown on a log and you have a blazing fire for breakfast.”

Essentially Irish: Homes With Classic Irish Style by Josephine Ryan is published by Ryland, Peters Small (£19.99/€22)