From the Fireside – The Designer Fireplace Blog

Welcome to the Designer Fireplace South Africa Blog! This part of our site is dedicated to informing you our client (or potential clients) about what makes a Designer Fireplace so different from all of the other heating options available in the country. To learn more about us as a company please feel free to go the About Us page on this site. Alternatively you can Request a FREE Assessment of your house to find out how a Designer Fireplace can best enhance your home.

Choosing the right Fireplace for a Restaurant

by Alex on May 27, 2014 in Heating Requirements with No comments

Choosing the Right Fireplace for Your Restaurant

Face it: There’s nothing better after a wet and windy day than sitting near a roaring fire with a glass of something warm and feeling the warmth seep back into your bones.

In winter restaurants with beautiful wood-burning fireplaces become favourite spots for patrons looking for good food and a warm place to relax. But choosing the right fireplace for a restaurant isn’t as easy as people think! Before investing in a quality fireplace you need to think about the following aspects: heat, fuel, safety and visual appeal.

Enjoy theWarmth From the Hearth Without Losing Valuable Space for Tables

A single fire in a Designer Fireplace can heat a 30m² to 200m² restaurant by using a unique ceramic refractory system that absorbs heat from the fire and radiates it for a 12 hour period. The heat is generated through a distributed system that creates long term warmth – making it perfect for restaurants where the fire is lit early in the evening and then continues to warm your guests all night.

This constant refractory warmth means that unlike traditional fireplaces that cause you to lose out on seating space because they are too hot to sit near, Designer Fireplaces allows guests to sit within a meter of it without feeling uncomfortable.

Our fireplaces retain heat for many hours after a conventional fireplace has cooled down already, thus making them a more cost effective heating solution than traditional fireplaces or electric heating systems.

Maintenance Free and Virtually Ash-less

Old school fireplaces are inefficient devices that constantly need to be fed and burn only a fraction of the wood, leaving masses of ashes that need to be removed –  increasing your staff’s responsibilities. Designer Fireplaces’ burn at a higher combustion temperature creating less ash. This process is that efficient only 1% of the wood’s volume remains as ash. This means that your staff will only have to clean out your Designer Fireplace once or twice a year – now that is low maintenance!

Safe to the Touch

Our Designer Fireplaces all have heat resistant glass doors that are designed to ensure that no smoke, soot or stray sparks can escape into your restaurant. Thanks to their ceramic heat retention systems and radiating heat, these fireplaces have virtually no risk of injury should a patron brush up or touch them.

Our Designer Fireplaces Match your Decor!

Not only are our Designer Fireplaces beautiful, but we custom design and build every fireplace that we install to ensure that they will match your restaurant’s decor and design. Our special design software allows us use virtual fires to calculate exactly what size and shape fireplace is needed to heat your restaurant so that you get the most elegant and efficient fireplace. Once we have designed a fireplace with you, our expert technicians get to work to make your dream fireplace a reality.

Request a consultation from  Designer Fireplaces and get the most efficient and beautiful heating solution for your restaurant.

 

Why Architects and Interior Designers may want to work with us

by Alex on May 19, 2014 in An Architects Dream with No comments

It is always easier said than done and I suppose everyone offering services around the building and interiors industry wants to become a trusted partner of architects. At Designer Fireplaces we believe that we can add significant value to any building project for some key reasons.

First and foremost our product aims to provide a sensible and serious heating solution. Through the use of our unique flue passages built out of ceramic refractory bricks the heat is stored for many hours making it a serious contender to underfloor heating. The sensibility comes in the form of the highest efficiency levels of all wood burning fireplaces (88%) and the complete combustion due to the high burning temperatures. This means ash only has to be removed once at the end of the heating season.

Furthermore a Designer Fireplace is convenient to handle with one firing generally sufficing for a 24 hour period. As mentioned the ceramic structure stores the heat and then radiates it gradually for many hours to come after the fireplace’s flames are gone. It is possible to build structures covering two storeys or multiple rooms.

Besides architects and interior designers wanting to provide their clients with top solutions against the cold of winter, the design aspect remains ever so important. As a BioFire is uniquely engineered and then constructed on site, almost all designs are possible. We collaborate closely with your requirements and provide 3D drawings to match your presentation requirements.

It is of the highest importance to us that you feel comfortable to work with us. For this reason we are always willing to come to your offices or meet elsewhere in order to discuss the details of what and how we do it. Furthermore you are welcome to get in contact with as many existing Designer Fireplaces customers as you wish, to find out about their experiences with our highly qualified building teams, the product and also the consultation process. We operate in the greater Johannesburg and Cape Town Areas and are confident that no other company can offer a product like ours when looking at heating ability, convenience, design and green living.

Call me on 079 223 3349 (Alex) or send an e-mail to [email protected] for any questions or to arrange an appointment

Firewood in South Africa

by Alex on May 12, 2014 in Firewood with No comments

In South Africa firewood is readily available thanks to the fact that it is naturally abundant and because of the initiative of many roadside informal vendors. But when you stop to buy a load of wood on the side of the road (or even purchase it from a reputable outlet) what should you look for to ensure you get the best firewood? What makes good firewood? The truth is the best wood to burn is always well seasoned wood. This is even more so if you prefer to burn hardwoods. Well seasoned wood creates less creosote build-up and makes for a better cleaning cycle. In fireplaces that require very little cleaning, such as a Designer fireplace, well seasoned wood means that the fireplace will only ever have to be cleaned at the end of every heating season in South Africa.This is because both a BioFire fireplace and good seasoned wood burn hot and clean!

Firewood in South Africa

Did you know? It is the moisture in wood which causes creosote to build up at an accelerated rate! Well seasoned wood is therefore always best to burn.

Can you buy well seasoned wood in South Africa? The fact is, most wood sold in South Africa is fairly “fresh” and can do with a fair amount of seasoning time. This means that if possible one should buy your firewood before the winter season to ensure that your wood is ready to burn come the first cold snap. If you want to check to see if your wood is seasoned before you burn it you will need to check for the following:

  • Seasoned wood must always look dark, or gray when compared to green wood
  • If you split a piece of seasoned wood it should always be WHITE on the inside
  • Well seasoned split firewood should always be reasonably brittle and have cracks running through it
  • There should also be a lot of little cracks on the inner rings

Try our wood seasoning tip! When storing wood for seasoning NEVER cover it with a tarpaulin or canvas. This prevents proper evaporation and hinders the wood seasoning process.

Next week we will provide you with a list of some provider that we have had good experiences with in the past!

BioFire Building Features – Paint

by Rozanne on July 31, 2013 in BioFire Building Features with No comments

A BioFire Fireplace painted with special mineral paint

To add a bit of colour to our BioFire Fireplaces we use a special mineral based pain. Keim Paints supplies this universal, easy to use,interior, mineral, silicate based paint. Keim Paint is environmentally safe and harmless to the decorator. It has an anti–condensation coating and does not give off chemical fumes as normal paint would. This paint can withstand high temperates and will not crack when the surface gets hot.

Keim Paint South Africa

Here are a few important facts about Keim Paint:

Envirometally friendly: it is water based,no plasticiser or biocicides, no solvents and contains mineral ingredients.

Comfortable room climate: it is non flamable, breathable and prevents mould and algal growth.

Practical and cost effective: it is economical, ready to use, longlife and colorfast.

A BioFire fireplace is not only a heating solution, but also an economically friendly fireplace. By using this special mineral base paint, we are adding the extra “green” touch.

BioFire Building Features – Plaster

by Rozanne on July 17, 2013 in BioFire Building Features with No comments

A BioFire Fireplaces plastered

After the outer layer of a BioFire fireplace has been completed, it is then plastered with a special heat resistant plaster. This plaster is certified and tested in regards to the absence of any harmful chemicals. This is important as the surface area of a “Masonry Heater” or “Kachelofen” such as a BioFire fireplace reaches a temperature of 60 Degrees Celsius. It is the plastered surface that provides heat for many hours after the fire is gone.

Here are a few facts about the plaster we use:

• 100% biological
• Heat and crack resistant
• Comes out as a pure white
• Plastered in two layers, first rough and then fine
• Does not require painting, but can be painted with mineral based paint.

A BioFire – The most efficient fireplace in Cape Town

by Rozanne on July 12, 2013 in Environment with No comments

BioFire fireplaces are ahead of the times and already far undercut the strict limits for fine dust emissions that come into effect in Europe in 2014. This “green effect” is achieved through the extremely efficient burning process that ensures that up to 88% of the energy produced by a BioFire fireplace is used to heat your room.

Circluation of Wood

Wood combustion in a BioFire Fireplace only releases the same amount of CO2 as wood that decomposes in a natural way. This not only makes the burning of wood cleaner, but also insures that you stay independent of energy sources such as oil and gas and therefore improve your Carbon Footprint and help to keep your home or business “green friendly”.

BioFire Building Features – Ceramic Refractory Bricks

by Rozanne on June 26, 2013 in BioFire Building Features with No comments

Ceramic Refractory Bricks

Each BioFire fireplace is built using high quality ceramic refractory bricks . These store the heat for long after the flames are gone and gradually radiate heat to keep your home nice and warm.

A BioFire fireplace weighs anything between 800 and over 2.500kg. The weight very much depends on the amount of ceramic refractory bricks needed to store sufficient energy in order to radiate heat for an extended period of time. While some other fireplaces might have additional weight added to their metal fireboxes in the form of ceramics it is still not possible to provide sufficient radiant heat from a structure weighing in at 250kg.

Ceramic Refractory Brick

The patented BioFire refractory brick possesses several unique properties you will not find in any other masonry heater:

High pressure moulded and burned at 1.450° C

The added surface area facilitates long heat retention

The composition allows some moisture from wood to be absorbed

Integrated tongue and groove system ensures perfect adhesion

A BioFire refractory brick will look like new after 10 years of continuous use. Built once to last a lifetime

Firewood in South Africa

by Rozanne on June 19, 2013 in Firewood with No comments

Firewood in South Africa

Firewood in South Africa

Did you know that in most countries bulk firewood is sold by a measurement called a cord? The measurement is defined as:

1 cord = 128 cubic feet of wood neatly stacked in a row

This means that a standard cord of wood would be 8 feet long by 4 feet wide by 4 feet high.

1 cord = 128 cubic feet of wood neatly stacked in a row

The definition of firewood

In South Africa firewood can be defined as any kindling logs, timber, wooden boards or other types of wood that is used as a fuel source. However, when purchased it is best to buy a cord of logs that are pre-split otherwise you will have to split them yourself.

Firewood in South Africa can be purchased seasoned (dried) or fresh-cut, but it must be remembered that when buying green or fresh cut wood it will need to be dried for a period of 8-12 months to get the most out of it as a fuel source.

Know your wood seller

It is a good idea to get to know your wood seller. Get a single supplier who you trust to service you regularly and you will normally get a better quality wood from him at a good price. Also always stack the wood yourself, or be there when the supplier stacks it at your home to ensure that you get what you pay for.

Safety first this winter! BioFire is a child friendly fireplace

by Rozanne on May 27, 2013 in Safe Fireplace with No comments

Don’t you often wish you could leave your kids unsupervised by the fireplace?

Well, this winter you can!

Due to the fact that the fire in a BioFire fireplace is contained behind a glass door there is no risk of ignition outside of the fireplace. Additionally the burn time is limited compared to all other fireplaces. All the BioFire fireplace designs and chimney systems adhere to very strict German fire safety requirements.

A BioFire is a child friendly fireplace

A BioFire fireplace is safe for children because the surface temperature of the entire fireplace radiates a comfortable radiant heat that cannot burn or injure a person on touch. This makes a BioFire fireplace one of the most child friendly heating options available in South Africa and is perfect for families with children of all ages.

Moms and dads, you can relax next to a BioFire Fireplace this winter, knowing that you dont have to keep a constant eye on the kids!

What are Tunnel Fireplaces?

by Rozanne on May 15, 2013 in Biofire Fireplace with No comments

Double sided BioFire fireplaces

A BioFire fireplace can be built between two separate rooms. With a BioFire the heating output can be ideally matched for each of the rooms. See how a tunnel fireplace with two doors was built in the new Club House of Erinvale Golf Estate. Continue reading →

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