Last Friday, the Firemizer team took part in Christmas Jumper Day, where we all put on our Festive Christmas Jumpers to raise money for TextSanta for the 3 amazing charities (Save the Children, Macmillan Cancer Support and Make-A-Wish UK). As a team we raised around £40. What a fantastic day we had – playing Christmas songs in the background, sipping on hot chocolate and eating delicious homemade mince pies (it definitely got us into the festive Christmas spirit!). We also had a vote on who had the most snazzy festive jumper on… the winner is revealed below! What a fantastic way to raise money for the charities!

Thank you to everyone involved and to TextSanta for organising such a fantastic event!

We are looking forward to supporting the charities again next year!

Congratulations!

The winner is Alex!

The candy canes and the colourful patterns certainly did stand out from the crowd!

Merry Christmas everyone!

Buying Christmas presents can be tough, especially for that one person who is hard to buy for because they say every year that they’ve already got everything they need.

Does this situation sound like yours?

You end up buying something for someone that may never get used just because you feel the need to get them something… well… it’s time to stop burning away your money this year and start thinking about Firemizer, a useful and a very practical item for someone who has a stove, fireplace or fire pit. Whether it is your grandparents, your mum or dad or a friend, Firemizer can make a very good present not only does it make the fire last longer, it can help the user save up to a third of their money too on fuel (it’s a win-win situation!).

Who doesn’t love a roaring fire, especially during the cold winter season? If you want to make it extra special and make it more personal, why not get a set of seasoned logs tie them up together with a thick red ribbon and place it on a log basket with a Firemizer on the side. When it is neatly wrapped together, it will look presentable and it shows a lot of thought have gone into it and shows how much you care about the other person. This is a great present for anyone with a fire because you want them to keep warm, you want them to save money and mostly you want them to enjoy the winter season. Buying seasoned logs will also make their lives easier because it can save them a job from having to go out into the cold to chop the firewood or take the time to season it because it will already be seasoned and chopped. Firemizer can also reduce the build-up of potentially dangerous soot in chimneys ensuring that the person you are buying will have a less of a chance of a chimney fire.

We hope the above has given you an idea of what to buy for someone who has a fire and is hard to buy for 🙂

We would love to hear what your ideas are too, please feel free to comment below:

Christmas is a busy time for everyone, you need to think about the food, the guests (if you are hosting the Christmas meal), the presents and the entertainment. Here are 5 steps you may wish to follow to help you prepare for Christmas:

Presents

Making a list of all the presents you want to purchase is key because you don’t want to end up going to the shopping centre last minute and picking presents out without an idea of what to get your children, friends or family because this usually means spending more money on things you didn’t want to get in the first place but bought any way due to pressure and time.

Once you have the list you can check online where you can get the best deals from. If you can get all the presents from the same shop then not only will it save you time, it will save you money too especially if you are buying the items online, you can pay for just one delivery charge. If you are physically going into the shop, you don’t have to spend time and unnecessary money on fuel going to 5 different shops when you know they are available all from one shop.

Once you have all your presents in place and have wrapped them all up, you can move onto the second stage…

Entertainment

Who doesn’t love going into a home with a glowing warm fire in the house. It is important to have your chimney swept as you will be more likely to use your fire more often when your family and friends are over particularly during the Christmas holidays when you are more likely to throw a party. You can make your fire last longer too with a Firemizer so you don’t have to worry about refuelling your fire as often when you are playing charades or a board game with the family. Or unwrapping Christmas presents…

Decorations

Christmas is slowly creeping in now, it is time to put the Christmas tree up and decorate your house and the most focal point of your home – the fireplace. Begin by decorating the Christmas tree with your favourite colours or have a theme. Then move onto the fireplace mantel, you can hang a ‘Merry Christmas’ bunting across the mantel or stockings filled with small gifts or put festive decorations on top of the mantel such as garlands or candles. Christmas is all about being with your loved ones and food of course, so why not decorate a gingerbread man house with your loved ones and make it your focal point if you haven’t got a fireplace, it’s fun and you get to be creative and if you’re feeling extra creative why not make the gingerbread house from scratch?

Top tip: Make sure it isn’t too low to avoid the decorations from catching fire!

Food

It’s time to go food shopping for all the necessities e.g turkey, mulled wine, mince pies, vegetables, Christmas pudding etc… if you decide to buy the food a week before, make sure you keep the food refrigerated to preserve longer.

Preparing More Entertainment

Download all your favourite Christmas tunes so you can have some festive music in the background when your guests arrive or if you have time, learn a few Christmas songs you have always wanted to play on a musical instrument and impress your family and/or friends.

These are just some of our ideas to help you prepare for Christmas. We would love to hear how you prepare for in readiness for Christmas.  

Winter is fast approaching, the air is much cooler and the nights are getting darker much sooner.

It is very tempting to put the heater on – after all, you only need to flick a switch, but needless to say this is not the only way to keep warm, there are other practical and low cost ways to keep warm. With energy bills rising even switching energy suppliers may not help much.

So, here are my top 7 money saving tips to help you keep warm and save some pennies this winter.

Heat the Most Used Rooms

Heating the whole house up even the rooms that are not being used is a waste of energy and money. Using a thermostat can help you keep your heating bills down, and your efficiency high. If you set the temperature between about 18-21 degrees in your main living room and about 16 degrees in the other rooms you use, can help you save costs and prevent you and your family from getting too cold or risk of falling ill.

 Drink Hot Beverages and Eat Hot Foods

What is better than having a cup of hot chocolate with melted marshmallows on top on a long cold winter day? Not a big fan of hot chocolate? What about a cup of tea or coffee? Drinking hot drinks can help warm your body up, or if you are feeling hungry, eating stews or having soup also help fight the cold off (it can be quite healthy too!)

Exercise 

Quick bursts of exercise can help heat your body up quite rapidly. Jumping and moving around with your family will keep your family fit and healthy (it can also be great fun too!) Save money by turning the heat down, go outside for a run or do something active like a game of football with your family, before you know it you will be glad to come back to a house that is not steaming hot! No time for exercise? Doing household chores can help you keep warm too! Some say having a tidy house can clear the mind, so doing housework could be a win-win situation for you – tidy house, less stress, not spending money and keeping warm!

Layer Up 

Wearing lots of layers can keep you really warm, start off with a thin vest or top and keep adding on more layers then top it off with a big jumper. Wear socks, and long sleeved tops and bottoms also helps if wearing a big jumper is too warm. At night, wear long sleeved pyjamas and thick socks (you will feel cosy and warm!)… still cold? Wear a scarf around your neck – it helps!

Keep Curtains Shut 

Once the sun goes down, shutting the curtains will give you two benefits. One advantage is, it prevents heat loss and the other advantage is, it helps block the coldness out like a barrier. If the location of your house is in a geographically cold area, consider investing in thermal curtains especially for the main rooms you use. Thermal curtains are thick fabric that provides high levels of insulation, which aids in preventing some of the warmth from escaping. They are not that expensive, but if you prefer to use what you have got at home, you may choose to use sheets or hang curtains over doors to add that extra bit of insulation for extra warmth at night.

Blankets, Quilts & Duvets

Doubling up two thin duvets inside one duvet cover can be a simple solution to keep you warm in bed. If you are in the living room feeling cold, grab a blanket, quilt or a fleeced throw to keep warm. You can invest in some reasonable priced ones from the high street. Covering yourself up with a blanket is cosy especially, when you are snuggled up watching a movie with family or friends.

Wood-burners & Fireplaces

Lighting a fire can be romantic and provide a lot of heat in the room. If your wood-burner or fireplace is what you use as your main source of heat and you use up a lot of quality firewood then you may consider using Firemizer. Firemizer has been proved by independent tests to reduce fuel consumption by up to a third, it is a great money saving device. Don’t use your fireplace enough? If you have an open fireplace which is unused it might be worth installing a chimney balloon to prevent heat loss, the savings on heating costs could be significant and if you change your mind, you can have it removed.

Remember: each individual have different heat senses, some people get warm quicker than others or some people feel the cold much easier than others. It is important to make sure you and your family are comfortable at the right temperatures.

These are just some of our tips for keeping warm. What are your tricks for keeping warm?