Dinghams Fireplaces What’s hot in fireplaces and cookers? We’re stoked that you asked…
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ne of the best things about winter is snuggling up by a fire. Who cares if bitter, cruel winds are howling outside on a long, dark night as long as you’re ensconced near a gently crackling fire? If you’re wistfully sighing at the thought of a roaring fire on a winter’s eve now is the time to think about getting one and we know just the people in Salisbury and Winchester to talk to – the Hardingham family. Don’t know the name? How about if I said Dinghams? ‘Ah yes,’ you cry, ‘the cookware shop…’ and you’d be right. Everyone in Salisbury knows the name Dinghams. It’s hard to miss the excellent cookware shop in Salisbury’s Market Square but what you might not know is that family who run Dinghams are also the city’s experts when it comes to fireplaces and cookers. A visit to Dinghams Fireplaces in Salisbury is a revelation. Tucked away in the Churchfields Industrial Estate, the large showroom is an Aladdin’s den of fireplace and cooker wonders where there are more than 70 fireplaces, woodburning stoves and multi-fuel stoves beautifully displayed to show how they’d look in your home. Who knew there was so much to consider 62 I SALISBURY LIFE I www.mediaclash.co.uk
when buying a fireplace? From the decorative – whether to choose a stone, wood or cast iron surround – to the practical such as how large is your fireplace opening and is your chimney brick or clay-lined? But what if you don’t have a chimney; can you still have a fire? Yes! Either an electric fire or Dinghams can install a balanced flue gas fire. Happily, Dave and the team can custom-make most fireplaces to suit any home – from historic farm to modern apartment.
HEARTH AND HOME
It all started in about 34 years ago in 1982. When Guy and Ann Hardingham immigrated to the UK from South Africa with their five children, they were surprised to find that people in England were still using fires that lost 90 per cent of their heat up the chimney. Back in South Africa, they’d had a Jetmaster, a South African convection heating design that threw out three to five times more heat than normal brick fireplaces. “We knew how good Jetmasters were,” says Dave Hardingham, one of Guy and Ann’s three sons. “We’d been farming in South Africa where it would get bitterly cold. Here in England, people just had open fires and most of the heat would be lost up the chimney.”
Clockwise from left: Dave Hardingham in the Salisbury fireplaces showroom; the many colours of Esse cookers; classic wood-burner; a stand-alone wood-burner Scandinavian style; even fireplaces like to accessorise; more food-for-thought showroom fireplace options; what it says on the tin
Choosing the best fireplace for your home 1. How old is your home? If your house was built, say, in the 1900s, the chimney will probably be brick and the opening will be large enough to fit most fireplaces but if your house was built in, say, the 1980s, the chimney will probably be clay-lined and the opening may not fit a lot of burners. So installing a freestanding wood-burner in a 1980s property is not as straightforward as in an older property. 2. Have you got a chimney? Properties without chimneys can still have fireplaces but you’ll need to either install a flue system or go with an electric fire. 3. Any special considerations? For example, a thatched roof, which would need particularly expert handling. 4. Are you on a budget? Then an electric fire is the most costeffective. A wood-burner is more expensive and would also require lining the chimney. Ongoing maintenance such as annual sweeping needs to be considered as well as things like where you would store wood.