The Center of the Living Room

In many homes the center of the living room tends to be the TV. It is a natural choice because most of us like watching TV and movies for that matter. However, have you ever thought about hiding the TV in the cabinet? Or if there is the possibility, placing it in a separate entertainment room? I think each one of us should give it a thought and consider whether the TV should be the center of the room, and if not, then what other options we have.

I have noticed that in many people’s homes the center of the living room is the TV and every time the family gathers together they watch TV. The same goes when the guests arrive, too often the TV is on even then. I can’t believe it to be good for socializing. So, I have given this a thought for I want some real family time and interaction with the people I love, not the TV. I came across many good options for making the TV a secondary past time. My first step was to buy a cabinet where one could fit not only the TV but also the gaming centers and all the DVDs, which is quite handy. Almost every furniture store has this type of cabinets so I am sure everyone can find one that suits his or her interior design. The second step was a bit trickier because I needed something else as the focal point in the living room. I was thinking about some big flower vase, decorative lamp and many others, but none of these really inspired me. At last, while I was watching a movie, I got it (thanks to one scene in a movie): a Uunisepät fireplace! That would be the centerpiece of my living room. It works as an impressive centerpiece but at the same time it doesn’t take all the attention away from socializing. A perfect solution.

Now, one month later I have the cabinet for my TV that I can close when the TV is not in use and a beautiful white fireplace on its way. I absolutely can’t wait to spend some quality time with my family sipping on some hot chocolate in front of a flickering Uunisepät fireplace.

Home for a Fireplace

Have you been to a home that has an inviting living room with a cozy fireplace? Or have you awed at a fireplace scene in a Christmas movie where all of the family is gathered around a fireplace drinking some hot chocolate? Well, I have, and not just once. It is even funny how a fireplace can make such a difference to the atmosphere. I decided that in few months when I start to look for an apartment to buy, I will definitely choose one with a fireplace. It is just something that I have been dreaming of since I was a child.

Now that I am strongly of the opinion that my next home will have a fireplace, I have started to browse for different fireplace options and fireplace accessories. I want to know everything about fireplaces and what accessories one can get. I have been surfing on the net quite a lot, to be honest, and I have found amazing options and ideas. A website that I visit particularly often is www.uunisepat.fi. The reason for this is that they have more than thirty different fireplace models and you can stylize the chosen fireplace with desirable stone tiles and fireplace doors, to mention but a few.

In order to find out about the costs and the whole process I decided to call the store but as I was talking to one of the sales assistants at Uunisepät, I realized that it would be so much nicer to actually go to the store and see all the materials live. And so I went to one of the Uunisepät stores, which I am really happy about. It was a great and very informative experience. I was told about different outer-materials and accessory options. Also, the expert at Uunisepät showed me the mechanisms of Uunisepät fireplaces and I was happy to hear that the fireplaces are heat preserving and help to cut down the heating costs.

It definitely pays off to visit a store after some Internet research. I now know which fireplace exactly I want and what are the steps of acquiring it. I truly can’t wait to find the perfect home to fit my perfect fireplace-to-be.

Fireplace solutions

A fireplace is the kind of an element that is usually considered as the part of a living room. However, living room is not the only place where one can put a fireplace. New solutions and just rethinking the placement of a fireplace have convinced people to use other rooms of the house, too. Today’s rising trend is to place the fireplace in the bathroom. And when you really think about it, you do want to take a bath or be in the Jacuzzi in the warmth of a flickering fireplace.

Often the upgrading of the bathroom is limited to just painting the walls or changing the cabinets or the tiles. All those things might be even more laborious than installing a fireplace which is most often installed with the help of the experts, especially when friendly Uunisepät is in question. However, the things you have to keep in mind are whether there is a possibility for the fireplace to be installed and whether the bathroom has enough room for a fireplace. A good and practical solution would be to put the fireplace next to a Jacuzzi or a bathtub so that you can enjoy the warmth to the maximum and have something beautiful to look at while taking a bath. A fireplace is also a good place for some tall candles and if you like it romantic, you can put some rose petals in front of the fireplace. I have been searching for inspiration concerning how to make the fireplace even more like me and believe me, in addition to candles and roses, there are many other exciting options available.

So, if you want to make your bathroom more inviting and at the same time warmer, install a fireplace to upgrade the look and the feel. To find out more about the options you have concerning a fireplace in your bathroom, go to www.uunisepat.fi. There you can find the classics, the new arrivals, the trendy ones – anything to suit your bathroom. Contact the experts at Uunisepät to learn about your options. It surely helped me to decide whether or not a fireplace in the bathroom is an option for my family.

Is New Always Better?

My friend bought a house with her husband in order to start a family and have a home of their own to raise the children in. They were looking for the house for quite some time, for about two years. Finally they found a house not that far away from the city center, yet close to nature and the sea. The house was built in the 1980s and no inside renovation has been done after, so one can imagine that it wasn’t in a perfect condition. However, the price was more than suitable so my handy friends decided that they could fix the house up to make it perfect for themselves.

When engaging in such a big project, it is good to keep in mind that it will most probably take weeks or even months, not days. So, once my friends were finishing up the interior renovation, they had to make some decisions on which items to maintain with little fixing and which ones to replace with new ones. One item that they were pondering on was the fireplace. The original fireplace was more of a Swedish stove type – it didn’t have anything special to it and it was producing quite thick smoke, too. After thinking about it for a while they decided to tear down the fireplace and replace it with a new more environmentally friendly and economical fireplace.

It was actually me who advised them to go to www.uunisepat.fi website to see what kind of fireplaces are out there. They were excited to find out that there are so many options to choose from but at the same time a bit worried about the process and how time consuming it might be. Despite their concerns they decided to call Uunisepät and in two days they had an expert from Uunisepät coming over to their house to examine what kind of a fireplace could be installed and how much time it would take.

In about one month, my friends threw a house-warming party with cool drinks in the warmth of their fireplace. Sometimes new really is better than old.

Bringing The Family Together

In today’s world everyone is so busy with work, hobbies and friends, which is nice except that all this time is taken from family time. How many of us eat dinner every day with their family? Or have mutual hobbies? Often we see each other maybe in the morning when we go off to work or school and then randomly in the evening. A friend of mine wanted to put a stop to this and bring not only one family back together but many families. She came up with this great idea of organizing Marshmallow Grill Parties. At first, when I got the invitation (yes, she is a very detail loving person) I was a bit doubtful but I still convinced my family to go there.

At the Marshmallow Grill Party there were all in all three families: Laura’s (the organizer), mine and our mutual friend’s family. We gathered in the living room which was full of marshmallow bowls, tubes of caramel and chocolate sauce and chocolate fondue in which you could dip the marshmallows, and of course, on the stove she had real thick chocolate melted for the hot chocolates. Even the teenagers were impressed.

The thing was to grill the marshmallows in the fireplace which they had ordered from Uunisepät already a decade ago but which still looked brand-new. And oh boy, they turned out delicious! I think each one of us ate about thirty marshmallows dipped in chocolate and topped with whipped cream. The whole night was filled with joyful laughter and lively chat in front of the fireplace. Once it was time to go, our 15-year-old and 7-year-old said that we should do this kind of things more often – I couldn’t help smiling.

Looking back I am very grateful to Laura for this idea of gathering around the fireplace with marshmallows and hot chocolate to spend some family time with family and also friends. Since the party, we have consulted the experts at Uunisepät about different options of installing a fireplace in our house. We got some great pieces of advice and next week a salesperson from Uunisepät will come to our house to see what kind of a family fireplace we could install in our home. Can’t wait!.

Fireplace Accessories

A week ago I moved into a new apartment. So far it has been great although quite time-consuming and energy draining. I can’t wait to get all the furniture and my belongings in the right places so I can actually start living in my new apartment instead of trying to figure out how the furniture pieces are put together and stressing about whether or not the neighbors are angry at me for hammering the nails into the wall at 8pm. What I am really looking forward to is inviting friends over for a housewarming party. However, the list of guests is the only thing that is ready concerning the housewarming. I still have no idea what to cook and where to go to continue the night. Now that most furniture is assembled and some decorative elements are in place, I have started to answer my friends’, and my own, questions about the housewarming.

Once everything was somewhat in order I went online to have a look at the recipe websites, which are surprisingly quite many. Luckily, I managed to find recipes for all kinds of small snacks, such as spring rolls and caramelized popcorn. I also decided on a nice, intimate wine bar where we could all go after 10pm, since from 10pm onwards no noise is welcomed in our building, which is of course understandable.

After all this my friends still had one question: what would I prefer as a housewarming gift. That I didn’t have to think about long because I didn’t want anything useless or pointless so I knew the answer for this question. I wrote my friends that their company is the best gift but if they insist on bringing something I would like to have accessories for my fireplace – and I have never had a fireplace until I moved into this apartment. My friends were a bit clueless where to buy such things so I directed them to Uunisepät. I wasn’t scared to make them go to Uunisepät as newbies without any prior knowledge about fireplace accessories because I myself got excellent service there when I went there to ask how to take care of the fireplace - and I went there as a newbie myself.

Bringing The Family Together

In today’s world everyone is so busy with work, hobbies and friends, which is nice except that all this time is taken from family time. How many of us eat dinner every day with their family? Or have mutual hobbies? Often we see each other maybe in the morning when we go off to work or school and then randomly in the evening. A friend of mine wanted to put a stop to this and bring not only one family back together but many families. She came up with this great idea of organizing Marshmallow Grill Parties. At first, when I got the invitation (yes, she is a very detail loving person) I was a bit doubtful but I still convinced my family to go there.

At the Marshmallow Grill Party there were all in all three families: Laura’s (the organizer), mine and our mutual friend’s family. We gathered in the living room which was full of marshmallow bowls, tubes of caramel and chocolate sauce and chocolate fondue in which you could dip the marshmallows, and of course, on the stove she had real thick chocolate melted for the hot chocolates. Even the teenagers were impressed.

The thing was to grill the marshmallows in the fireplace which they had ordered from Uunisepät already a decade ago but which still looked brand-new. And oh boy, they turned out delicious! I think each one of us ate about thirty marshmallows dipped in chocolate and topped with whipped cream. The whole night was filled with joyful laughter and lively chat in front of the fireplace. Once it was time to go, our 15-year-old and 7-year-old said that we should do this kind of things more often – I couldn’t help smiling.

Looking back I am very grateful to Laura for this idea of gathering around the fireplace with marshmallows and hot chocolate to spend some family time with family and also friends. Since the party, we have consulted the experts at Uunisepät about different options of installing a fireplace in our house. We got some great pieces of advice and next week a salesperson from Uunisepät will come to our house to see what kind of a family fireplace we could install in our home. Can’t wait!

The New Trend of Decorative Fireplaces

Today I visited a large department store. I was browsing the home section because I just moved into a new apartment and I have to decorate it from the scratch. It is very enjoyable to look for things that will make your home feel cozy, welcoming and at the same time stylish, too. For me the most important things is to make home feel and look like me so that my home reflects and portrays my personality. I found amazing blankets and decorative pillows – those really big ones that you can even throw on the floor and sit on while eating Japanese style dinner. Also, good lighting system is really important for coziness and comfort. I was lucky to find a floor lamp which reaches over the couch and then few smaller ones to put on the shelves and tables. While I was filling the basket with different things I bumped into decorative fireplaces – never seen those before! There were few models but all of them were quite small, the biggest one was about 100 cm wide and 50 centimeters high.

Intrigued, I asked the salesperson about these decorative fireplaces. Apparently they work on gas and do not provide any heat. So they really are purely for decorative purpose only. They could be a good solution if you have little space in your home. However, when I asked about the price I was quite surprised for the price for this little non-heating decorative element was only half of what I paid for the Uunisepät authentic stone fireplace that was recently installed in my new apartment. Of course, you can’t get a real fireplace from your local department store but when you get the fireplace from Uunisepät you can be sure to receive the best customer service and a fireplace that will serve you and your family for decades.

I left the store a bit bedazzled but happy about the fact that I can go and enjoy the beautiful fireplace that is not only there for decorative purpose but also keeps me and my family warm.

Unforgettable Childhood Moments

One of the most memorable childhood memories of mine revolves around the time when I was little and I was always looking forward to going to our cottage located in the central part of Finland. It was so much fun there and there were always so many things to do. However, the best part was that at the cottage all of the family was gathered together. We were spending time not like at home but truly together without the distraction of TV or computers. It was great to go swimming in the lake, after that enjoy the moist heat of the sauna, and then once it started to get dark go inside and gather together in the living room to play some board games. My favorite moment was when we laid down the Monopoly board on this low coffee table of ours, made some hot chocolate with marshmallows and started playing in front of this flickering fire and in the warmth that our fireplace provided.

I have decided that I want to offer my family the same kind of memories that I have. And I love it that it is not about spending thousands or just buying material things in order to get these wonderful memories. To be able to provide these memories for my family, I decided to act and start building the future based on my experiences as a child. Our current cottage is quite developed as in it is not as rural as my childhood cottage was. In order to bring the rural feel to it, I decided to find out about the options of building a separate sauna and installing a fireplace. Building a sauna was trickier and I am still trying to figure out the details of how to execute it, but with the fireplace everything turned out to be easier.

When I started looking for a fireplace, our family friend mentioned Uunisepät because they had gotten great service there. So, I went straight there and truly got very friendly and knowledgeable service. In no time, I had been shown about thirty fireplace options and got a lot of useful information on how to actually do it and how the whole process is going to proceed. I am so happy to start going through the different fireplace models with my partner. Thank you experts at Uunisepät!

Buying an Apartment, Buying a Home

For the last six months, I have been looking for an apartment to buy. The main reason for this is that it does pay off and in the end you are investing in yourself, not just pointlessly paying the rent money to someone else.

However, finding a suitable property to buy is definitely not easy. After surviving the jungle of tens and tens of apartments, I found the one. It actually was my cousin’s apartment that he and his wife wanted to sell in order to buy a bigger one. The apartment is in no way big – it is a one bedroom with an open concept kitchen combined with the living room in need of some renovations.

Before getting into any serious apartment buying, I decided to figure out things with the bank and take a look at different options of how I could raise the value of the apartment with some minor changes. So, when I was in the bank discussing the loan, we also covered the possible renovation expenses. I’m on a budget so I wasn’t looking for any big changes such as redoing the kitchen or the bathroom. We decided on a fresh coat of paint, some feature walls, a new cooker hood, a modular wardrobe and then on redoing the fireplace which at the moment was a very simple Swedish stove. I was first a bit dubious about the costs of installing a new fireplace. I went to different stores but got the best service at Uunisepät and after going through some facts about installing a fireplace, I was surprised to find out that the cost and quality ratio of fireplaces is more than attractive. By paying a bit more for my renovation, I would get a heart to my home and at the same time raise the value of the apartment.

Now I’m discussing the mortgage with my bank and deciding whether or not I’m ready to commit myself to buying my own apartment. The idea of it is so appealing but I do realize that it is a huge thing to buy your first apartment. However, I’m happy to know that if I do decide on buying the apartment, I have the right tools and elements to make it my home – thanks to Uunisepät.

From the Idea to the Realization

The winter is knocking on our doors and we tend to seek for warmth and comfort. How about spending a Friday night relaxing with your family members in front of a fireplace having a cup of hot chocolate and maybe even grilling some marshmallows in the fireplace? If you enjoy these kinds of moments and the relaxing touch that a fireplace brings, don’t deny yourself the pleasure.

Uunisepät fireplaces are easy to realize and install once you get inspired with the idea of having a fireplace in your home. If you are not sure whether your home is suitable for a fireplace check if you have a fireplace flue, or a throat, which makes it possible for the smoke to exit. Once you have established that you have the flue, you can either visit a Uunisepät store or schedule a Uunisepät expert to come to your home and see what type of a fireplace would suit your home. The visit can easily be scheduled through the internet site (www.uunisepat.com/support/contact) and it is free of charge.

Some of the concerns when getting a fireplace might concern the design and whether or not there is a fireplace that will suit the current wallpaper, floor and the interior design in general. Uunisepät has given this a good thought and offer a wide selection of different materials and designs. Whether you have a bright and minimalistic interior design or a luscious and cozy country-style home, you will find a suitable fireplace. The great thing is that you can design the fireplace from the scratch and have exactly the kind of a fireplace that you and your family want. You can decide on the stone, the surface material, the fireplace doors – you can even choose 24 carat gold-plated doors if you like. Even when it comes to the fireplace flue, you have two options to choose from. If you are not sure what you should choose or what design to go for, the experts at Uunisepät will guide you through every step making sure every aspect of the project is planned well and the result is the best it can be.

So, do not hesitate to contact the experts at Uunisepät and make sure that you and your family spend this winter in the comfort and warmth of your own fireplace.

The Element That Makes the Home

I have visited quite many homes, as probably most us have. In some homes you really feel like at home, in some not so much. What is it that makes this difference in atmosphere? Some of it can be assigned to the owners and how they greet and welcome you to their home. Then of course there is the factor of cleanliness, orderliness and interior design. Some homes make you awe.

The most impressive homes I have been to are located in Switzerland. One home that made a great impression on me was this 800-square-meter house which was located on the Geneva lake. It had an inside pool that continued outside, its own recording studio, a gym and probably 10 bedrooms. However, the room I personally liked the most was the lounge room where the family often spend time together reading, playing board games and enjoying each other’s company. The element that made the room so attractive was the fireplace which was located in such a way that the whole room and interior design was built around it. The fireplace was built to be the heart and soul of the room and no matter how big the rest of the house was, this was the place where you wanted to spend your time doing miscellaneous things.

About a week ago I went to a house-warming party. It was a 40-square-meter apartment in Helsinki, so a small one bedroom home with a kitchen and a living room. I stepped in and experienced the same kind of warmth and coziness I felt when visiting the 20 times bigger home near Geneva. Alike, all of the guests celebrating the new home were gathered around a fireplace chatting casually and laughing together. Yet, the fireplace was not only the heating element in the room, it was also a part of the interior design.

I truly hope the next home I will be living in will have a fire place so I can have the same kind of warmth and coziness that I have experienced in these two homes. And I am so pleased that I have found so many lovely options on the Uunisepät website so that I can design my very own fireplace with my touch in design.

The Charm of a Fireplace

To own a fireplace means much more than just having it for heat purposes. In today’s world fireplaces are also a design factor in your home. Uunisepät fireplaces add the style and coziness in addition to the soft heat they produce.

Everyone probably knows what a difference a fireplace adds to a home. It is the heat, the smell of forest when the wood is burning, the crackling sound and, of course, the hypnotizing flames dancing. All these things make a fireplace a perfect addition to your home, not forgetting about the prestige and allure a Uunisepät fireplace gives your home. Uunisepät is the Finnish expert on quality fireplaces that make home really feel like home and gather family members around the fireplace to enjoy a cup of hot chocolate.

However, when investing in a fireplace, it is utterly important to choose a fireplace that is made of durable quality materials which won’t decay or wear out. Uunisepät uses only the best of materials that will serve you and your family for years to come showing off the natural beauty of the stone. Also the design of the flue, or the throat of the fireplace, has been given a serious thought and it has been designed to be not only safe but also heat preserving.

The best thing is that you can design the fireplace to your liking. There are several options for stones, tiles and clinkers that you can choose from, not forgetting about the details like fireplace doors. Uunisepät cares about their customers, which means that you will be helped from the very beginning of having the idea of a fireplace until the fireplace is installed in your home. All you have to know is what type of a fireplace pleases your eyes.

So, once you got the idea of having a fireplace in your home, you can either visit a Uunisepät store or reserve a time through the internet in order to have a Uunisepät specialist come and visit your home and see about your options to have a fireplace installed. It really is that easy!

Process of ordering a fireplace

We're in the process of ordering a fireplace to our holiday apartment. We've just started to build the apartment, so thought it might be a good idea to get the fireplace in at already in the building stage. The builders said it is better and often cheaper, but they asked where I'd be getting it. I have been contemplating Uunisepät, as I would get a guy to fix it in for us as well so I don't need to hire anyone separately. They have some ok fireplaces, but does anyone have any experiences with them?

I was reading on some forum that people had been complaining about their service, but I could find similar threads on other suppliers as well. At least Uunisepät has a relatively wide selection of the fireplaces, and they fill the CE standards as well. This is important to me, if we get the fireplace in the building stage I don't want to have the regulations changing on us and us needing to replace the fireplace with something else. As this is the first thing we build from the scratch I'll rather be overly cautious than having to spend a lot of money later.

So anyone have any experiences with Uunisepät? Also I'd like to hear if you know how the other fireplace suppliers are, my mind is not yet set on Uunisepät to be honest. I just haven't come across the perfect fireplace for me. Yeah sure, there is some quite decent ones, but none of them is like the really perfect one so far. But I'll have to keep on looking! Any tips and experiences you have I'd love to hear about them. I am sure I am not paying attention to the right things anyway.

Oh one more thing, Uunisepät is saying they use olivine stone. How does this differer from other stones in look and use? I mean they write on the webpage that the fireplaces are more durable and easier to clean etc because of the material they're made of, but if you'd have any personal experiences let me know! You know, companies would speak only good of their products anyway, heh. Thanks!

Questions and Confusions Related Uunisepät Fireplaces

I was thinking about getting a nice fireplace, but I am confused by the information on several sites. Uunisepät fireplaces have the CE mark (what does it really mean anyway?), and others I have checked don't have it. So what's the big difference? Based on Uunisepät who want to promote their fireplaces of course the CE mark makes the fireplaces less toxic (huh?) and more safe. I don't get the less toxic part, are they talking about smoke getting in or something? More safe sure, but would any of the suppliers sell unsafe fireplaces really? If anyone can answer these questions I'd be grateful!

Also what I've been thinking about is that I'll have the fireplace in the summer cottage. Is there anything I need to specifically take into account? The cottage is not on an island, but the road there is not really that good. Also the cottage is already there, can I get just any kind of a fireplace to a already build building?

I thought it would be nice to have a Uunisepät fireplace on even in the summer, like for grilling and maybe even cooking, but will it make the cottage too hot? Of course I'd not have it on if it was really nice and sunny, but on a cold and rainy day the fireplace would be really nice.

Uunisepät web page said that the fireplaces need a chimney sweeper quite often, was it like once a year. But if we're not using the fireplace that much, do you know if we need to get the chimney cleaned less often or (gulp!) more often? Where I like the chimney sweepers cost a lot, so I really hope it does not need to be cleaned that often.

We have a fireplace at our winter home, but it is not from Uunisepät. The fireplaces they have on the site look really nice, but I think they are a bit more expansive than the rest. But they do have the CE mark, so if that makes a huge difference then we will need to cough up the money I suppose.

Anyway, if you have any information or answers please reply here! Thanks in advance!

Uunisepät fireplace for summer cottages

The fireplaces of Uunisepät are built according to the newest standards. This means that they are safe to use even on the summer cottages. In summer cottages the fireplaces have usually quite different needs to those on houses lived in all year round. Our ideology at Uunisepät is that every summer cottage needs a fireplace! Nothing beats sitting down by the fire in a cold and rainy summer day, just listening to the drops of water drumming on the roof. Natural wood fire soothes and entertains besides of just offering warmth and comfort.

Some practicalities should be taken in to account when choosing a fireplace to the summer cottage. The summer cottage is usuallsy situated in some hard to access area, away from the roads, or on an island. This needs to be taken in to account when choosing the fireplace to the summer cottage. The fireplace should be lightweight and easily transportable. The fireplace at the summer cottage needs to warm up quickly. If the fireplace you fancy is not one of the models that heat up quickly then you might want to consider buying a separate piece to heat up the fireplace quickly. Convection fireplaces heat up quickly, but the box from Uunisepät will allow any fireplace to imitate the convenience of a convection fireplace.

If you are buying a fireplace for a summer cottage you should take into consideration the differences in outside temperature and moisture in the yearly cycle. In the winter the summer cottage will be cold. Uunisepät uses olivine stone which does not “cry” like many other stones used in the fireplaces thus it heats up quicker and the fireplace endures even the big changes in the temperature. If you get a CE marked fireplace it means that the fireplace burns the wood without too much side-products and it stays warm until the next morning. They are also safe even after years of use.

At the summer cottages you can also use the fireplace as a grill. You can grill the after sauna sausages, or make your favourite casserole in it while you enjoy the outdoors life! So easy and fun!

Chineys from Uunisepät

The fire safety of chimneys has been on the news again due to recent fires started by unprofessionally installed chimneys. These problems often arise in the houses where the chimney has been fitted in after the initial construction. The best protection against potential future problems is to make sure that both the fireplace and the chimney have CE mark. Even the older models of Uunisepät fireplaces and chimneys fill the criteria for CE mark, and the professional installers will make sure the fireplace and chimney will be fitted correctly.

T600 marked CE approved chimneys fit all Uunisepät fireplaces. At the start of year 2012 CE marking of fireplaces will become mandatory in Finland. You can use either a chimney made of metal or tiles. Metal chimney is light and small, and they come in multiple different colours. Tile chimney is a reliable and long-lasting choice and you can attach the fireplace to the chimney from the back, bottom or behind. The fire safety distance of metal chimney is 50 mm. Tile chimney safety distance depends on its classification; it can be as short as 20 mm or the same 50 mm as on metal chimneys. Uunisepät supplies the fireplace, a suitable chimney and the fitting by professionals that take utmost care about the fire safety of the house.

Other reason for many fires originating from the owners using the fireplace against the instructions. The instructions of use need to be followed to the letter. The chimneys need to be cleaned once a year if it is used regularly. In holiday cottages and other houses where the fireplace would not see as much use the chimneys need to be swept at least once every third year. The chimney sweeper will also check the condition and fire safety of the chimney and alert the owners to potential problems.

All Uunisepät fireplaces come with clear instructions and user guides. Before using the fireplace the owner should read carefully these instructions. Remember to burn only clean and dry wood in the fireplace and do not exceed the maximum capacity of wood as stated in the instructions. The fireplace is not meant to burn trash.

Economical and Ecological Uunisepät

A well-build fireplace from Uunisepät can ensure a warm home even at the middle of the winter. Many new homes will have fireplaces fitted already at the building stage to provide more economical and ecological method of heating the house.

At the start of year 2012 CE marking of fireplaces will become mandatory in Finland. Originally fireplaces could be CE tested since the start of 2008, and Uunisepät fireplaces have had the mark since. To pass the CE certificate the fireplace needs to emit less than 0,3 % carbon monoxide from 13 % oxygen. Also the fireplace needs to retain at least 50 % of its top heat for over 6 hours. The better the figures are the more ecological and economical the fireplace is. Even the older Uunisepät fireplaces fill the requirements with a good margin. The new testing laboratory and co-operation with VTT ensures that the development of the fireplaces will continue in the future.

Uunisepät fireplaces are, besides of being beautiful decoration pieces, excellent as a reserve heating system. A good fireplace raises the value of the property significantly. It can provide safety in case of an electric shortage to provide additional warmth as the modern house heating is often based solely on the electricity. Besides of additional heat the fireplaces can be used for cooking. Even without an emergency electric shortage the fireplace evens out the electric consumption and lowers the spikes in the overall electric usage. The goal of Uunisepät is to have every home fitted with a fireplace to work as a reserve heating system.

Most fireplaces are fitted to new homes, but it is possible to install a fireplace to your old house. All you need to do is to pick a fireplace you like the most from Uunisepät selection of fireplaces, the model designs raging from traditional to trendy. All the chimneys on the selection fit any Uunisepät fireplace. As a customer you do not need to worry about fitting the fireplace and the chimney. The experts of Uunisepät will do the necessary adjustments taking fire safety and energy efficiency into account.

Uunisepät CE mark

Uunisepät is a Finnish fireplace manufacturer. In Finland fireplaces got their own EN-standard at 2007 and this enabled them to be CE certified since the start of 2008. From the start of 2012 it is mandatory for all fireplaces to have the CE mark in Finland. Biggest hurdle in gaining the CE mark approval is to lower the carbon monoxide residue when using the fireplace. Even the older models of Uunisepät fireplaces will easily fill the requirements.

The standard measures also how quickly the fireplaces cool down. In Finland the limit of gaining the CE-certification requires that the fireplace retains 50 % of the maximum surface heat after 6 hours. Uunisepät uses olivine stone which is known for its excellent heat storing capabilities. That is the reason why Uunisepät fireplaces stay warm even up to two days after the initial heating. Thus the fireplaces also surpass the criteria for the CE mark without any trouble, the Uunisepät fireplaces stay over 50 % of maximum surface heat for over 12 hours.

Uunisepät also has its own testing laboratory. It is kitted with the most modern equipment to sample and analyze smoke from the fireplaces. With the specialized laboratory equipment Uunisepät is able to analyze the factors that affect clean burning in the long-term tests on their fireplaces. Continuous testing will help to lower the carbon monoxide emissions and increase the eco-friendliness of the fireplaces in now and in the future. Low emissions help the eco friendliness and provide cleaner indoor air for the fireplace owners.

Uunisepät fireplaces with the CE mark are tested to have low emissions, they store and distribute evenly the warmth after the fire has burned out, and they are overall a good solution for heating your home without increased risk in fire safety. But the users themselves can dramatically change the emissions based on the substance they burn in the fireplaces. Most important is that the wood used in the fireplace is dry and they are placed correctly to the fireplace without overfilling the oven. The fuel needs to be added in small doses so that the wood will burn evenly. You can easily find more information about the Uunisepät fireplaces at www.uunisepat.com

Fireplace and the feeling of home

Since the dawn of mankind, the fireplace has meant home, company, and rest – at least this is the picture the fireplace manufacturers like Uunisepät want to give to us. But one has to agree, that the moments in front of the fireplace symbolize relaxation and peace for us. In our imagination – and in movies - we rest, read, talk about things that happened during the day, take a nap, and spend quality time alone or with other family members around the fireplace.

There might be something truly primitive in our love for fireplaces. At ancient times, the fire had a straight connection with food and safety. Fire was used for cooking food, and it kept the wild animals away. It was the fireplace where people gathered, ate their food and got their shelter. The fire provided the essential needs for humans, food, warmth and safety. The same words are linked closely to our idea of home – so the image of the fireplace that is related to home, company and rest might not be so imaginary after all.

Today we live in elementary houses heated with electricity and oil, and we have all the electrical equipments needed for preparing the food. Still almost all ready-made, electrically heated new houses in Finland have a fireplace in it. A romantic person would tend to think that it is because of the atmosphere – for what it might as well serve – but there are practical reasons for putting the fireplace in new home. It is, once again, for the safety and warmth.

Even though the fireplace is not used as the only source of heating, it provides excellent secondary and a substitute source of heat. Although rarely in the industrial countries, electricity breaks do happen, and during the cold winter time those kinds of accidents can be fatal in Northern countries. And of course the electricity breaks up North are most likely to happen during the winter, when the electricity system is heavily used. The possibility of electricity breaks caused by overload is likely to happen, when the usage of the system increases dramatically, usually because of sudden temperature drops. For emergency moments like this, the manufacturers of new houses have decided to add the fireplace to their houses – and in addition, we get the atmosphere the fireplace can give.

Burn wood correctly

Wood is an excellent and ecological source of heat. However, burning wood should be done the right way in order to avoid the release of harmful emissions into the air. Here are some tips to burn wood correctly, originally published by Finnish fireplace manufacturer Uunisepät.

Burn only dry wood that has been cut down more than a year ago. The wood that is meant to be burned should be brought indoors 1-2 days earlier, so that the surface moisture evaporates. This helps the lighting process significantly.

Set the fire always from the top. Put the smallest items on the top of the pile, and light them up with the help of tinder. The reason for this is based on the fact that when catching the fire the wood produces gas, and when the fire is set from the top all this gas will burn and no harmful releases will get into the air. Do not add more wood until there is only embers from the previous wood pile left.

Burn only wood. Small amounts of newspaper or cardboard can be burned together with wood, but plastic coated cardboards, such as milk and juice cartons should not be burned. Most of the problems with the fireplaces are followed by burning something other than pure wood in the fireplace. For example building boards burn at higher temperatures than real wood, which can damage the fireplace materials and structures.

Check out the fireplace ignition and burning instructions. There are differences on how the wood should be piled, depending on how the furnace has been designed. Reserving fireplaces should be heated up slowly in order to avoid cracks, where as stove type fireplaces need to be heated constantly in order to keep warmth. Using a new fireplace should be started slowly, and too high temperatures should be avoided. There are also differences on the heat resistance of the chimney – too much heating may add the probability of fire outbreaks in the constructions.

Instructions should be followed in order to keep the fireplace functional and working in an optimal way. The fireplace is an expensive purchase that is made to last long. Using it correctly is safe, economical and ecological action.

Fast and long lasting heat for summer cottages

It is getting more common in Finland and other Nordic countries to spend some time at the summer cottage during the winter time also. However, heating the summer cottage on cold winter days has been problematic. The cottage owner has had a possibility to choose either a reserving fireplace, which keeps the heat for long but is slow to warm up, or a stove style fireplace, which is fast to warm up but the fire must be kept burning all the time in order to preserve the heat.

The fireplace manufacturers like Uunisepät have realized this need; the new half heat reserving fireplaces are well suited for cottage warming. These new fireplace models warm up quickly but they retain the heat also. The idea is that there is an iron furnace in the fireplace, from where the flue gas is discharged directly into the chimney. Flue gases are not stored to the fireplace like in the traditional heat reserving fireplaces, which allows rapid heating without the danger of cracking the fireplace. 

 

The rapid heating of the cottage space is made by releasing the heat directly to the room air. This has been made in slightly different ways from manufacturer to manufacturer, but the principle is the same. In addition, half of the radiant heat is reserved for fireplaces rock mass, which gives the heat as the traditional heat reserving fireplace.

As opposed to traditional reserving fireplaces, this new kind of fireplace makes it possible to burn wood in a row, so the fireplace is a fast and efficient for warming up a cold cottage. The rock mass around the fireplace gives the heat differently than stove style fireplace, so the heat feels more comfortable and gives the warmth more smoothly around. 

Installing the half reserving fireplace is easy. When the fireplace is ordered from the manufacturer like Uunisepät, all necessary elements are included in the delivery. Modern fireplaces are build up from elements, which are attached by the bricklayer in the location. The installation takes less than one working day. The material can be soapstone or olivine stone; the last one needs to be coated with other material, for example with tiles.

The half reserved fireplace can be used almost immediately after the installation. Of course, the heating of the new fireplace must be always start gently. Check out the fireplace ignition and burning instructions first. For example, the recommended way of stacking wood will vary depending on how the furnace has been designed. Instructions should be followed in order to make the fireplace function in an optimal way.

Warmth and atmosphere in a cottage with the fireplace

Wood is an excellent and ecological source of heat in the cottage. In addition to sauna, wood burns well in the fireplace. The new half heat reserved fireplaces are well suited for use in the cottage, as they warm up quickly, retain the heat and look stylish (see, for example, the collections of Uunisepät).

Finns love their cottages. The cottage is the summer home and the place for spending long holidays. It is the place for escape and relax, getaway from the city and place to be without restrictions from the social pressure. Nowadays is getting more common to visit the cottage at winter times also; however, most cottages have been furnished only to be summer homes, and the vital elements like heating are missing from the cottages.

Choosing the right fireplace to the cottage has not been easy. Options have been mainly restricted to two possibilities: either stove type of fireplace or heat reserved fireplace. Both options have their pros and cons. The stove type of fireplace provides the heat almost instantly and cold cottage warms up quickly. Heat maintaining is however poor, unless the fire is kept all the times in the fireplace. Reserved fireplace maintain the heat, but a big mass of the fireplace must be heated slowly and carefully in order to avoid cracking, so for the fast and short-term heating the reserved fireplace is not suitable.

There is a need for fireplaces suitable for the demands of cottage heating and this has been noticed by fireplace manufacturers. New half reserved fireplaces have been introduced to market lately. They give heat quickly, such as light stove type fireplaces, but also reserve the warmth of the fireplace like true reserved fireplaces. This type of fireplace is suitable for cottage heating, which typically is during autumn to spring times and only on weekends.

A fireplace makes the real home

Snowy cold winters have got builders to think about heating solutions for their houses. The price of electricity is still on the rise and the share of the heating of the house energy bill is substantial. Cheaper and more energy and environment friendly options are in high demand currently.

Traditionally, the fireplace is purchased by the private renovator of the house. In this case, the heating methods of the house are carefully considered and planned. Most renovators use the products from reliable manufacturers like Uunisepät; few people choose to make the fireplace from the scratch, because it takes longer, and arket is flooded with affordable choices.

In the delivery of brand new homes, a fireplace is usually included. House manufacturers choose their partners carefully, since the completion of the house is on a tight schedule and changes often confuse the entire construction schedule and cause further delays. It is also important that the subcontractor is able to deliver finished materials, where the parts fit and functionality is secured.

Uunisepät has been the preferred partner for many house manufacturers for long. The delivery includes the fireplace chimney and pipe together with the actual fireplace. For every house the most suitable fireplace has been chosen carefully. The buyer can naturally change the fireplace in the limits of the heated surface area and chimney regulations. An fireplace expert is involved in the whole construction process, and making sure that all the steps related to the fireplace in the house building process are proceed smoothly.

The fireplace safety should be tested according to the local regulations and most commonly used materials. In Finland, the 600 millimeters thick intermediate base is typical roof structure, so the fireplace chimney should be suitable with this material. The compatibility of the fireplace and the chimney is of utmost importance. The T600 standardized chimney takes the hottest temperature, so that should be used in saunas and fireplaces providing hot temperatures. For smaller fireplaces used occasionally this chimney might be too heavy a choice: then for example T400 marked chimneys can be used.

Regulations for fireplaces

In Finland, all factory-made fireplaces manufactured must be CE marked according to EN-standards. This regulation will be legal from the beginning of 2012. These fireplace standards are product standards, which mean that they can be affixed to equipment on the basis of the CE mark. These standards must be followed all the big European manufacturers like Uunisepät.

All fireplaces must pass standardization tests in future. In the test, concentration of carbon monoxide or carbon monoxide emissions is being measured. The level of carbon monoxide emissions must be under 0.3% and the efficiency of the fireplace must be over 70%. The fireplace according to the CE standards cannot cool down too quickly from the surface. In Finland, this threshold is set at 6 hours, ie the surface of the fireplace must not be less than 6 hours, which means that the fireplace cannot cool to 50% of the surface temperature at this peak.

Factory-made chimneys have their own EN standards and CE marking, depending on the type of chimney. Chimneys have been divided according to the categories of heat, from which T600 is the highest. Safety distances are changing longer when the temperature class grows. For example for fireplaces from Uunisepät the T400-class chimney is recommended for at least. Sauna fireplaces are prescribed T600-class chimney. It is the task of the fireplace manufacturer to determine which temperature and size the chimney is compatible with the fireplace.

The chimney is designed and dimensioned being suitable for the fireplace and so that it will achieve a sufficient traction, fire safety (safety distances), life and strength. Chimney sizing information and selection criteria will be based on the chimney CE marking. Chimney and fireplace from the same manufacturer is usually the best option, as they are tested and working together flawlessly. Uunisepät gives their fireplaces 3-year warranty, and for the fireplaces’ frame the warranty of 10 years.

As demand grows, and the customer requirements and preferences change, it is important that the manufacturer of the fireplace is closely involved in the product development. Safety, functionality and suitability must be kept at the days’ level. Product design and full service are important factors in choosing the fireplace, but CE markings and extensive testing should be valued the most. Reliable testing is, above all, necessity for the environment, and also became a place in the user's interests.