Is it 'green' to want to buy a stove? We don't want to be blue with the cold 

Open fires and stoves aren't banned: but there are heavy restrictions on what you can burn in them

One flue over the home-owner's nest?

Q. Hi Brigid, We have been lucky enough to just be able to buy our first home: it’s two-storey, about 1,000 sq ft, is old, and it’s cold but it’s ours and we love it. It has an open fire that throws out good heat but of course half it goes up the chimney. We haven’t the money for a serious retrofit after buying it but would like to make it even a bit more efficient.

We are thinking of putting in a stove, wood-burning or multi-fuel, but this seems seem to be ‘swimming against the tide’ of what others seem to be doing. It might cost us €2,500 to €3,500 with flue etc and have access to affordable timber. We also thought of linking it with a back boiler into an existing central heating system but a friend a plumber said he knows people with back boilers getting rid of them as they think smokeless fuel doesn’t give enough heat.