FLAM D’ART is an active participant in the sustainable development process.
Just what is sustainable development?
Sustainable development is development which meets our current needs without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their needs.
In view of the increasing number of ecological, sanitary and industrial catastrophes facing us, sustainable development attempts to modify the behaviour and actions of all sectors of society.
We must learn to save and share natural resources in a fair manner, and take account of the limited ability of our planet to absorb waste and pollution.
Comfort without waste
Households consume 47 % of the energy produced in France for domestic purposes.
Each and every individual can make a real difference by modifying our behaviour and investment decisions, and reducing our energy consumption: changing habits and careful spending without making any difference to the level of comfort enjoyed can substantially improve energy efficiency in the home and reduce bills.
Source: CEREN, Key figures in the construction industry, Edition 2006, ADEME.
Fuel
The efficiency of your heating device depends heavily on the characteristics of the fuel you use. Beech or spruce, dry or wet wood, it all makes a difference for the performance of your boiler or the clogging up of your fireplace.
Wood essences are classified into two main types, depending on their density:
• hard deciduous (oak, beech, ash tree, chestnut, hornbeam, walnut tree, fruit tree, etc.) ;
• softwood and soft deciduous (spruce, fir, pine, larch, poplar, willow, etc.).
hard deciduous wood is optimal for domestic heating requirements, with the exception of the chestnut tree, which explodes when it burns. Soft deciduous and softwood burn more quickly. If incorrectly stored, they lose their properties rapidly. Softwood is however appreciated for its rapid rise in temperature.
It is not recommended to burn wet wood:
• for environmental reasons: the combustion of "green" wood releases many pollutants;
• for economic reasons: wet wood provides approximately half as much energy as dry wood;
• for practical reasons: quality appliances will not provide their nominal power with fresh wood. The equipment will clog up rapidly and may be damaged.
Important: danger!
The combustion of low quality wood releases many pollutants. This applies to "contaminated" wood recovered from demolition sites, old furniture, seaside washup, etc. which contains toxic and/or corrosive products: treatment, varnish, paint, etc.
How powerful a fireplace do you need?
The theory is shown below: in practice, it all depends on the type of construction, the quality of insulation and ceiling heights!
Approximate values:
– 8 kW for 200 m3;
– 9 kw for 350 m3;
– 10 kw for 420 m3;
– 16 kw for 600 m3.
Example: 2.70 m x 80 m2 = + or - 220 m3 generating power = 9 kW at 1000 m.
It is often said that, if in doubt, opt for a more powerful fireplace, although this is not necessarily true.
To begin with, you may find that the air is too hot when the fireplace is set to maximum.
Secondly, if you only add a few logs, the temperature in the combustor may not rise enough and unburnt smoke will blacken the glass.
In addition, performance must be considered (tax benefits for fireplaces are generally dependent on performance). This basically covers efficiency (>70% which implies that combustion is equal to 70% or more, and unburnt material consists of ash and particles which are evacuated with the smoke).
The benefits of a FLAM D'ART faience fireplace are clearly evident. By choosing the right power, you use the fireplace in an optimal manner and the faience will retain the heat for a longer period. The inertia of the faience fireplace captures and redistributes this heat in the surrounding area for several hours. One or two strong burnups are adequate for one day with a faience fireplace of the right size if you use the right wood (see previous paragraph).
FLAM D’ART is therefore more economic to use and more environmentally friendly.
