We Are Nearing the End of This Year's Heating Season...

...but the work is just beginning at Dansville Town & Country.  It has been a long, cold winter this year and we are all feeling the pain from the cold, the pellet shortages, and the wish for spring to finally show itself.

While most of us would love to finally switch off those heating appliances and put the heating season behind us, we here at the Fireside Gallery are just getting warmed up.

We have been hard at work trying to plan ahead for next year and get the pellet situation under control.  Changes are being made and new opportunities are being taken advantage of.  We plan on making sure we have plenty of pellets for next winter.  We are also getting prepared for cleaning season, which we like to start in late spring.  We know it is the last thing on everyone's mind when spring finally shows, but getting those hearth systems cleaned and checked early on helps avoid the rush and congestion of waiting till fall.  We always get swamped later in the summer and during the fall. Don't be left waiting for weeks - call to schedule now!

Our annual service of your hearth system helps to keep it running in top shape and take care of any issues before they become big problems.  We service most kinds of pellet, wood, gas, and coal stoves and fireplaces.  Here is a rundown of what our annual service covers (keep in mind not everything is applicable to every unit/situation):

- Cleaning out the firebox (checking for broken firebricks, clean gas burners, clean pellet burn pots)
- Cleaning blowers/motors (dust, lint, and pet hair constantly build up in these parts)
- Inspecting/sweeping the venting system (sweeping chimneys and pellet vents, looking for insect nests in gas vent)
- Cleaning and checking sensors/snap discs (almost every unit has some sort of sensor and we make sure they are clean and functioning)
- Checking unit operation (making sure pellet and gas units operate properly and respond to controls)
- Test burning the unit (gas and pellet units are fired up to be sure of proper operation and air adjustment)

Our schedule fills up very quickly and some people were left waiting several weeks for their cleaning last year.  You can help us avoid the congestion and keep your wait time to a minimum by scheduling early.

We hope you have a safe and wonderful spring and summer, but don't forget that winter is coming (again)!

New Harman P68 Install

Today Jim and Bryan installed a new Harman P68 pellet stove in Canaseraga.  It sits on a commercial hearth board and the room temperature sensor was extended to an ajoining room.

Photo Showcase

One of the primary purposes of this blog is to showcase our work.  Here are some photographs of jobs we have done before this blog was started.  While we wont post every one of the hundreds of stoves we have sold, here are a few.

One of the many services we can provide is to breathe a little new life into an old unit.  This Lopi Endeavor wood stove got an overhaul at our shop, we think the results speak for themselves.

This unit received new firebrick, a full cleaning and new gaskets, a fresh coat of paint, and some polishing on the gold trim.

This Lopi Endeavor replaced an older unit and was vented into an existing chimney.

This was a brand new installation, we installed a Lopi Endeavor on a commercial hearth pad and installed a new class A chimney.

Here is a photo during a large job where Jim and Bryan relined two flues and installed two Lopi wood inserts.

A Lopi Greenfield gas unit installed through the wall as part of a remodeling project.  It is the largest of the Lopi freestanding gas units and has glass on both sides as well as the front.

This Lopi Northfield gas unit is installed on a commercial hearth pad set into a riser we custom built for the customer.  After the photo we painted the vent pipe to match the stove.

As part of a family room remodeling project we were hired to install this Lopi 616 gas insert into an existing masonry fireplace.  This included a chimney relining and a new hearth extension was added to cover the old brick (this is why there is space under the insert, so it would be level with the new hearth).

This Harman P68 pellet stove was installed on a hearth built by the customer.  This is the largest freestanding pellet unit in Harmans lineup and will likely heat most of this customers house by itself.

Harmans XXV pellet unit is made of cast iron and is installed here on a commercial hearth pad and vented through the wall.  Notice the close clearance to combustibles making some pellet units a good choice for tighter spaces.

This pellet insert is Harmans new Accentra 52i.  Installed here in an existing fireplace with a relined flue, it can also be installed in a zero-clearance box mounted in a cabinet or chase to get that fireplace feel without the need of an existing fireplace.

These two photos are from a large job that took several days.  First we had to demolish existing walls and the hearth and then frame in and install this double sided see-thru gas fireplace.  This also included a reline of the chimney.

Use the electrical outlet on the wall as a reference when looking at these two photos. The 2 sides of this fireplace allow 2 rooms to enjoy a fireplace with different decor using only one unit.

This garage has been turned into a bar/hangout by the homeowner and a nice fireplace was just the thing to add some ambiance as well as heat in the winter.  We installed a new vertical gas venting system and framed in a new cabinet to house the unit.  Below you can see the finished result.

A cultured stone veneer and hearth as well as a custom mantel finished this installation beautifully.

Meet your Techs

As an introduction, here are short bios on our two Hearth Systems Technicians.

Bryan Buckel

Bryan has been working for Dansville Town & Country since 2003.  The stove business at Dansville Town & Country used to be a seasonal one-man operation handled by one of the companies owners, Ed.  Eventually business picked up and Bryan started to assist Ed and began to learn the trade hands-on.  The stove business continued to grow and eventually Bryan became the primary technician while Ed concentrated on sales.  The stove season began to get longer and busier, and with that Bryan was spending more and more time with stoves and less at the store.  With the addition of a new line of stoves Dansville Town & Country began to shift into a full hearth dealership which included the need for a higher level of professionalism.  

Over the next few years Bryan sought certifications from the National Fireplace Institute which included much study, travelling, examinations, and has now achieved the highest level of certification becoming an NFI Certified Master Hearth Professional.  This credential includes certifications in woodburning, gas, and wood pellet systems and is one of the highest nationally recognized credentials in the hearth industry.  Following this he traveled to the CSIA educational headquarters in Indiana for an intensive hands on training school and after passing examinations achieved certification as a CSIA Certified Chimney Sweep, another nationally recognized credential.

Along with these credentials Bryan has also received factory training from several of our product manufacturers giving him expert knowledge on these products and increasing his ability to efficiently troubleshoot and diagnose issues in the field.

Bryan now works in the full range of hearth services from selling and installing to chimney sweeping and relining, to repair work and cleaning.  He continues his education taking classes online and around the country to maintain his certifications and be the best he can be.  

Jim George

A self-employed contractor, Jim began contracting with Dansville Town & Country to install new stoves and fireplaces.  As the stove business grew, so did the number of new stoves being installed.  Eventually there was so much work that in 2011 Jim accepted a full time position with the company.  

Jim primarily worked on installation jobs with Bryan and performed other duties at the store such as deliveries and used his contracting skills for store maintenance in between installs and during slower seasons.  As business picked up and stove season became longer, the need for a second technician became apparent and Jim was a logical choice being already familiar with the hearth products.  Working side by side with Bryan and learning on the job, Jim soon became a second tech to help reduce the job congestion during the busy stove season.  Jim was the first of our techs to go to Indiana for the CSIA training school and became our first CSIA certified chimney sweep.  With his new nationally recognized credential Jim became our go-to tech for chimney sweeps and wood stove service.  With our new ability to inspect and clean chimneys we began getting more work in relining damaged flues.  This new business added to our existing work load and stove season continued to lengthen and become busier.  

Jim has recently traveled to the Harman Stoves factory in Halifax, PA to complete factory training on Harmans line of hearth appliances.

Jim has excelled as a chimney sweep and installation contractor and is now seeking to obtain certifications from the National Fireplace Institute.  Once complete Jim will also be an NFI Certified Master Hearth Professional and start to work more with our pellet and gas lines of products.  Jim continues to take classes to maintain his certification and keep up with the evolving hearth industry.

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Once Jim has achieved this NFI milestone, he and Bryan, along with the companies membership with national organizations like Nation Chimney Sweep Guild and Northeast Hearth, Patio, and Barbecue Association will make Dansville Town & Country one of the best credentialed hearth dealerships in the state.  We continue to grow and "stove season" is no longer an appropriate term as Bryan and Jim are working year round installing new stoves, fireplaces, and inserts, re-lining chimneys, cleaning and repairing all manner of hearth systems, and continuing their hearth education on top of it all.  

We are striving to be the best hearth dealer for our customers and provide the highest level of customer service.  As we work through our growing pains we hope to come out on top and be a moving force in the hearth industry.  We are already working year-round in over seven counties with no slow down in sight.  We hope that you, our customers, will stand with us and help us to become the best we can be.  Your feedback, suggestions, and loyalty are appreciated and an important part of this business.

An Introduction

The Fireside Gallery at Dansville Town and Country is a full service hearth dealer in Dansville, NY.  We sell, install, and service all types of home heating appliances including wood pellet, gas, coal, and woodburning stoves and fireplaces.

We also provide chimney sweeping, inspection and repair services.  Our two technicians are trained and certified and we pride ourselves on our customer service.

This blog is meant to showcase some of our work and provide insight and education into many of the common issues we run into every day.

Education is also an important part of our business and we believe that a well educated customer is better able to make informed decisions and be happier with the products and services they have chosen.  We will include some educational posts on this blog to help consumers understand their systems and possible issues they need to be aware of.