Out with the old and in with the new

The old wood-burning stove with heat proof walls on either side © Ricky Yates

When I had the kitchen in my home completely refurbished, back in January 2018, other than the tiled floor and an overhead florescent light, the only other thing that was retained from the previous kitchen, was the wood-burning stove, because it was the only source of heating for the whole house. As part of the refurbishment, two heatproof walls were built, either side of the stove, in order to protect the newly installed neighbouring kitchen units.

Once the stove has been alight for a couple of hours, it does heat the house quite well. But the associated oven takes a very long time to heat up and it is very difficult to judge what should be the correct cooking time for anything one puts in it. Therefore since the kitchen refurbishment, I haven’t used the stove to cook at all, as I now have a very effective electric oven and hob.

Over the past year, I have toyed with the idea of replacing the old wood-burning stove with something both more visually attractive, as well as more heat efficient. My two concerns have been the cost of a new stove, together with the practicalities of getting the old one successfully removed and a new one installed.

Last week I bit the bullet. I visited the Mountfield store in Decín, from where I previously purchased both my lawnmower and chain saw, and ordered a new wood-burning stove. The one I ordered was in their sale, at half its normal price. So I felt I was getting a bargain.

The two staff members who I dealt with, both had some English. One of them was the one who had been most helpful to me when I purchased my lawnmower back in the summer of 2017. I showed them the photo above of the old stove, seeking confirmation that, as part of the deal, they would take the old one away when delivering the new one. They seemed to assure me, more than once, that they would.

I was also aware that I would need some new sections of metal chimney, as the smoke outlet on the old stove is on the right-hand side, whereas on the new stove, it is in the centre. Aided by the photo, the two staff worked out that I needed two new chimney sections which I duly purchased.

New metal chimney sections © Ricky Yates

At 07.03 on the morning of Monday 30^th September, I got a text message saying that my new stove would be delivered that morning and that the driver would phone me about thirty minutes in advance of his arrival. But when the truck did arrive, it was one man on his own, working for the Czech branch of the German logistics company, Gebrüder Weiss. He duly unloaded a wooden crate containing my new stove, but deposited it on my front path. No, he couldn’t take it up the steps into my house and neither could he take my old stove away.

The new wood-burning stove, sitting before the steps leading to my front door © Ricky Yates

A year ago, at an event in Decín, I met a fluent English-speaking Czech lady called Mirka. She runs a weekly English conversation class and invited me, as a native English-speaker, to help her with her class. It is something I’ve enjoyed doing this past year, and has occupied me for an hour on Monday afternoons, during term time. In turn, Mirka has twice bailed me out with Czech language problems, for which I’ve been most grateful.

Last Monday morning, I made a cri de coeur to Mirka, asking if she knew anybody who could help me out by coming and getting my new stove into the house and the old one out. Over the past few days she has been absolutely brilliant.

She first visited the Mountfield store to ascertain whether they would take the old stove away & install the new one. The outcome was that I had misunderstood what I thought I had been told at the time of the sale – it is a service they don’t provide.

Then, following an exchange of text messages, emails with photographs, and phone calls, this morning, two men with their van, arrived to sort out my problem. Fortunately, the younger of the two guys had quite good English which greatly aided communication.

Firstly, the the two guys successfully moved the old stove out of the house, down the front path to the side of their van. Then they dismantled the wooden crate, to enable them to move the new stove into the house. They discovered that the new stove was actually bolted onto the crate and it took a selection of their tools and mine, to get it disconnected.

The new wood-burning stove, duly fitted © Ricky Yates

But they eventually succeeded, and here it is in situ. And the two new sections of metal chimney that the Mountfield staff got me to purchase, were exactly what was required.

Amazingly, the two guys wanted no payment for their labours. As the old stove still works, they would be able to sell it on. I did press 500kc into the young man’s hand as some ‘beer money’, for which he was most grateful. And I certainly need to find a way of rewarding Mirka, and not just by helping with her conversation class which resumes next Monday, after the summer break.