CHIMNEY sweeps across Scotland are being flooded with calls as families clamour to reopen blocked flues.
The move towards more cost-efficient, traditional forms of warmth has been further highlighted by a 40% rise in the sales of wood-burning stoves. Energy prices have risen by 38% during the same period.
The resurgence of the solid fuel market mea
ns that sweeps and heating firms already have long waiting lists, many of which stretch into next year.
Chimney sweep, Ian Paterson, said the spiralling cost of oil and gas had created an unexpected boom. "We have upped our staff to four people now, but we are still struggling to cope with the demand," he said. "In recent months, it has been getting ridiculous. On an average day we are getting between 15 and 25 calls. We can only manage to cope with about 10 jobs a day, but we don't like to let people down. We have a waiting list of between 800 and 1,000 people."
The 33-year-old, who is based near Banchory in Royal Deeside, was in no doubt that the revival was being fuelled by the gloomy economic climate.
"People are no longer willing to pay the extortionate prices. Wood is readily available so they are going for that instead."
Darren Robertson of Edinburgh-based stove supplier, the Hot Furniture Company, said there had been a huge switch towards people looking to install wood-burning stoves.
He said:
"The manufacturers are really struggling to keep up with supply and for some brands there can be a waiting list of up to 12 weeks."
Bill Stephen, of Aberdeen Chimney Linings, said: "One of our stoves suppliers has got a backlog of more than 5,000. They just can't make them fast enough. In April you could have got one within six weeks, but now it is more like five months."
Stephen said most people were looking to slash their bills by installing dual-fuel wood burners which heat water and fuel central heating.
"In the long term, it is a far cheaper option. Last year, in this area, people were paying £900 for their winter oil, while now they are looking at £1,800 to £2,000, whereas, people (with wood-burning stoves] can go out to the country and virtually help themselves to wood which is lying around."
Fellow sweep Ian Allen, who serves Glasgow and the west of Scotland, said his order book was packed.
"We are getting a lot of inquiries from people looking to convert their gas fires back to solid fuel again. Wood is relatively cheap just now, but I don't know if that will last too long at the rate people are buying up stoves."
Last week Aga, the kitchen cooker firm, said its orders had tumbled by 15% in recent weeks, although sales of its Rayburn wood-burning stoves were booming.
Country Kiln in Stewarton, Ayrshire, which specialises in selling wood stoves, said its sales demographic had shifted in recent months.
Owner Susan Bagan said: "Previously, our business was focused around rural areas, but now we are getting more and more orders from middle-class, urban areas like Milngavie and Hyndland in Glasgow.
"We ran an advertising campaign claiming that the stoves would pay for themselves by Christmas, but received a complaint from a woman who said it was well out. She claimed that it had paid for itself in a month."
The Solid Fuel Technology Institute said people looking to join the energy revolution should prepare for disappointment. "If you want a solid fuel heater, the chances are that you will have to wait two to three months," said spokesman Glyn Hughes. "One manufacturer I know of has doubled production, while others are building whole new assembly plants."
Hughes claimed fears that a return to solid fuel would result in the choking smogs of the 1950s and 1960s, was way off the mark.
"Hardly anyone noticed, but last year the EU introduced new continent-wide rules about emissions from solid fuel stoves."
The Solid Fuel Association was delighted by the boom. Spokesman Jim Lambeth said: "The demand for stoves is by far and away the biggest increase we have seen."
According to the UK Office for National Statistics, between August 2007 and August 2008, gas prices rose by 28.2%, heating oils by 58.4% and coal and smokeless fuels by only 17.8%. As a result coal and wood consumption has risen by 3%.
