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- Published: 07 July 2015
Oxford Fireplace Centre are a small family business - and proud to be so! We thought we should introduce ourselves so that when you come to see us in the shop, or we arrive to quote for your fire - or even come to install your fireplace you know who we are. So we should start, I suppose, with the main man. A bit of a Legend in his own right, although he is no longer steering the ship, he's only a phone call away.
Name: Ray (Dad)
Job: Previous Owner, now retired but still here when we need him
Catch Phrase: "Want to see a coin trick?"
Drink: Tea, splash of milk, no sugar (but if you ask he will always say "Gin and Tonic" despite the fact that he is T-total!)
Super Power: Incredible memory for faces and places
Nemesis: The clock - All times given for his arrival will be estimates!
Qualifications: Gas Safe and HETAS
Time in the Industry: 27 years
Name: Rebecca (Daughter/Wife)
Job: Managing Director and Owner
Catch Phrase: "You just have do decide on what you want to look at... for the next 30 years."
Drink: Coffee, white and 2 sweeteners
Super Power: Product Knowledge
Nemesis: Driving around Oxford, but I'll do it for our customers!
Time in Industry: 10 Years
Name: Lloyd (Husband/Son in Law)
Job: Director and Owner
Catch Phrase: "Let me just grab a brochure"
Drink: Tea, white, no sugar
Super Power: Fact Checking
Nemesis: Navigating the computer system
Time in Industry: 5 Years
Name: Tony (May as well be family)
Job: Head Installer
Catch Phrase: "Put the kettle on Tom"
Drink: Tea, white, 2 sugars
Super Power: Getting the job done Nemesis: Kittens!
Qualifications: Gas Safe and HETAS
Time in the Industry: 21 years
Name: Tom (Same goes for Tom)
Job: Installer
Catch Phrase: "It's in the Van"
Drink : Tea, white, 2 sugars
Super Power: Awesome tea making skills (and always smiley)
Nemesis: Sooty chimneys Qualifications: HETAS
Time in Industry: 11 Years
- Published: 22 March 2013
You can always trust the British weather to do exactly what you don't expect. With heavy snowfall forecast up and down the country today and tomorrow it really is still a sensible time to invest in a new fire. If nothing else you will beat the September rush!
One of our most Popular displays currently in the showroom is our Derby 3 large by Bellfires with Ceramic back in our custom fireplace that we call the Fiona. Made for us by Worcestershire Stone and Marble it can be made entirely bespoke and from any of over 20 materials.
If you want to see it why not pop in to the showroom. It is fully remote control and balance flue so can be installed in to an existing chimney or as a new installation entirely.
We are looking to build a Gallery of some of our installations on our website. So if you have a fireplace by us why not take a quick snap while it is lit, email it to us and we will show them off proudly. Make sure you mention your name and address in the email and we will send out a small thank you gift courtesy of Oxford Wine Company for every picture we use. If you have a before and after all the better.
- Published: 05 January 2013
Well we have made it through Christmas and are looking forward to the New Year. Its been such a mild winter so far, so we are fully anticipating a very chilly few months to come so if you missed the pre-Christmas fittings you still have plenty of time to get your fireplace sorted this season.
Our fully qualified in house fitters are on just a 5 week lead time at the moment. They are registered with Gas safe and Hetas so whatever type of fire or stove you need they can install.
We have some exciting new displays arriving in the showroom in the next couple of weeks including the Dru Circo freestanding Balance flue gas stove. It has sleek clean modern lines and is very high efficiency.
The balance flue means it can be installed in a wide range of situations and it doesn't even require a hearth!
Due on display in the next 2 weeks so why not pop in and see this beautiful gas stove in action.
- Published: 13 June 2012
User Rating: 4 / 5
We are now up and running in our new showroom in Abingdon. We love it!
We are on Dunmore Court just opposite Mallams. We have been in for 2 weeks now and the showroom is almost complete. We have also welcomed a new member of staff on to our office team. All exciting changes for us but we still offer the same friendly advice and good service.
Our new location affords us loads of free parking and good access from both Oxford and Abingdon. We still serve the whole county and beyond. Check out our Find us page for directions from where you are.
We would love to see you so pop along for a chat and a coffee.
- Published: 10 March 2012
User Rating: 5 / 5
The first thing to say is that there are many ways to do this. If you have your own tried and trusted method that's fine. If you are new to this then here are a few pointers to give you confidence.
There is a difference between multi fuel stoves and wood burners:
- A multi fuel stove will be using coal as well as wood. Coal needs a free flow of air from under the grate so the stove will need to be regularly cleaned out so that ash does not build up or it will “drown” the coal.
- Wood however burns happily on it's bed of ash so needs to be cleaned out less often.
- Published: 11 April 2012
User Rating: 3 / 5
The most common problem that we see when customers say to us that the glass on their stove is getting black is that the wood that they are burning is too wet.
Every log that you put on your fire has an energy value known as Calorific value (a maximum amount of energy that burning that log will produce). Wet logs have just as much potential as dry logs but most of the energy created by burning a wet log is wasted. The energy is used to heat the water in to steam which goes up the chimney rather than radiated heat that heats your room.