Been awhile since I wrote to you last. With these hot New Jersey summers, it's hard to think about heating....yet, the busy season is just around the corner. A cool spring kept many of our customers using their stoves and fireplaces right into the middle of May. A small wood fire or a few minutes flame in a gas appliance was just enough to take the chill off without having to fire up the old central heating system.

That's a nice thing about the value of a stove or fireplace. You may only use your air conditioner from 1 month to three months of the year (at least here in NJ), but a stove or fireplace can get use for as many as 8 months of the year.

Here's some of the new and updated content on HearthNet, the premier Fireplace and Stove site on the Internet - Visit http://hearth.com for all your hearth needs.

New Products - see them at http://hearth.com/prod.html:

FLAME TECH An amazing digital audio player and speaker combination that gives your gas fireplace the crackling sound of a real wood fireplace.

The Earth Stove One of the original manufacturers of wood stoves in the 1970's, the Earth Stove has an updated line of Pellet, Wood and Gas Stoves.

Homesaver Chimney Liners Quality stainless steel chimney relining systems...you can find the names of local installers or do-it-yourself. Most masonry fireplace chimneys ARE too large and need to be lined for proper and safe operation.

New Pages:

A Current Affair: Pellet Stoves - Love 'em or leave 'em ? - This article discusses the history of Pellet stoves and their current status. Read it at http://hearth.com/what/current.html

Do's and Don't of Catalytic Stoves Do's and Don't of Non-Catalytic Stoves These articles are reprinted by permission of the EPA and are quite accurate as to the selection and operation of these products. On the specific info page at http://hearth.com/what/specific.html

Heat Values of Different Wood Species A chart detailing the BTU content of various species can also be found on the specific info page at http://hearth.com/what/specific.html

Interactive Areas

Our searchable database, with 537 Detailed Questions and Answers (and more added as we answer them!) has proven to be one of the most popular areas of HearthNet. Thousands of requests have been made since this database went "live" in May. Want to know about a rare brand of stove ? ask away... Most customers can find the answers they need at this source. If you have a Hearth related site, please feel free to link to our database. These answers can help your customers. http://chi.hearth.com/search.html

Our Fuel Cost and Room Heat Load Calculators have been very popular. These allow you to compare the cost of various fuels and to judge how many BTU's may be needed for a certain size room. On the specific info page at http://hearth.com/what/specific.html

HearthNet now contains well over 2000 files, and is growing on a weekly basis. Please let us know if there is any information you would like to be added to this site. After all, most of the information on this site is a result of questions and suggestions from you...our readers.

Thanks for helping...and have a nice summer.

Craig Issod webmaster@hearth.com