@dnarcher : You can get a really good range of Defra approved stoves.
Fuel: A proper solid fuel merchant is always the best place to get your fuel. We have a local "fuel cash and carry" which is also linked to the main fuel (solid fuel, oil, gas) provider in the area. They only sell fuel which is "approved" for use in closed appliances (they have a range of fuels and if you tell them what your stove/fireplace is, they will advise on a good type of fuel). They also sell one type of "substitute" fuel for housecoal plus kiln-dried wood. (If you don't want to pay for the posh bags of wood all cut nicely to size, they do big nets of "offcuts" from the processing of said fuel for a very good price).
If you buy fuel from a garage/DIY place you need to know what you are getting. You may find a decent manufactured fuel e.g. Taybright, but maybe it's not right for your appliance/fireplace, and chances are it will cost more than from the fuel retailer. You must be careful with briquettes, as even if they are "smokeless" they may also be quite tarry and cause deposits in your flues if you are burning them in a different applicance/system to to what they are designed for. Wood and kindling can also be somewhat hit and miss from a garage or DIY place.
At this time of year, the local sweeps and stove fitters will be very busy, so you may have to wait for them to fit you in. But it's really important that you wait for them to check over the fireplace and chimney, they should sweep and test. You'll want a carbon monoxide alarm too, and you need to consider where the air comes in. I wouldn't trust what a previous house owner/occupier said about the fireplace/chimney.....
Something else about stoves and chimneys: the stove installer insisted we have the chimneys lined. I was slightly skeptical, but went with it. This was done at a relatively early stage of our refurb. Later on, we stripped the render off the outside and the plaster off the inside to let the walls dry out before the render was re-done as traditional lime-based roughcast and the walls were internally insulated. Turns out that the plaster was about the only thing keeping the chimney sealed inside, and the back of the chimney at the base was only one brick thick on the outside. Glad we have a liner..... also we were able to make the chimney sound inside and out and do some useful remedial work. But- this wasn't visible until we have the render and plaster stripped off. Turns out that the stove installer- who was local and had worked on a lot of similar houses- knew what he was on about.
[I'm no expert, just an interested user who over the past 3 years of a renovation project has learned a bit about getting old fireplaces up to a useful configuration, we also added 2 modern flues, one in each new extension bit].
GC
as we chose a stove with a large fire glass ‘window’. I believe that properly dried real logs are still allowed, you just need to keep them stored well.
