Be Prepared When the Power Goes Out ! Living in Canada, we’ve all experienced a bad winter storm. Freezing temperatures, piles of snow and, every so often, the power goes out.  This begs the question: Is your home ready for a power outage? It’s important to be prepared for power outages. Besides the obvious (food), […]
Chimney fires are a frightening prospect for any homeowner who burns with wood (or pellet). Â Beyond damaging your chimney, chimney fires can spread to your home causing injury and death as well as extensive property damage. Â But chimney fires can be completely eliminated with a proper precautions. Understanding Chimney Fires There are two types of […]
As heating season comes along, its important to think about fireplace safety when it comes to children (and pets). Â Fireplaces (stoves) get hot. Â Although certain safety standards have improved over the years (such as mandatory screens on gas and propane fireplaces), there still remains a number of danger areas. Â Follow these five steps for a […]
The Farmers Almanac is predicting a cold cold winter….. Â Here’s how a new stove or fireplace can help! For many people, a fireplace helps to make their house feel more like a home by adding festive ambiance or creating a romantic setting. All year round a new fireplace is an attractive focal piece where family […]
There’s been much talk in the news lately on the safety of bristle BBQ brushes. Â According to many news sources (and Doctors), there’s been an increase in reported cases where the metal bristle of a BBQ brush has gotten lodged in a person’s throat. Yuck. Â Scary. While this is very serious – its important to […]
Growth in charcoal cooking these past few years has been dramatic. Whether it’s the taste in food or simply the versatility (from smoking to searing in one appliance), charcoal is back! One question often asked in our stores is: What’s the best Kamado charcoal BBQ?  Kamado refers to the ceramic charcoal BBQs – allowing increased […]
Its amazing that another full year has passed. Â Once again, we could not be more proud of the incredible accomplishments of our talented team. Â 2015 was another great year for Friendly Fires, and once again, we achieved some great achievements this year again. Â First and foremost, was the addition of some amazing new talent. Â We […]
As we enter the half way point of the fireplace season, its fair to summarize that the weather has not cooperated. Â Fireplace sales are weather driven – cold brings in customers (just like the winter tire or air conditioning industries). Â So one would assume that fireplace sales are down this year…. But, this is not […]
This week, Friendly Fires completed another installation for a popular home renovation show. Â This latest episode will be aired on Home and Garden Television (HGTV) as part of their Income Property / Vacation Property series. Â It’s not the first time that Friendly Fires was chosen to be the trusted fireplace contractor, nor the last (we […]
Yes its true – Friendly Fires is now open in the most cursed location in Carleton Place. Â How it came about is an interesting (we think) story. Â Although Friendly Fires gets asked to sell & service product across Ontario, we prefer to remain local (close to our service locations) and refer out of town business […]
What an amazing year for Friendly Fires! First – we were featured in Pools, Spas & Patio Magazine. Â Then, we were featured in Patio Hearth & Product Report for our opinions on the North American fireplace & BBQ market. Â One of our fireplaces was then chosen for the Colin & Justin Bunkie (two popular designers […]
When I joined the fireplace industry I was amazed as to how many Canadians primarily heat their homes with wood. Â Coming from the city I was used to the open brick fireplace that actually removes heat from a home – and I was not familiar with new efficient wood burning appliances. I soon learned that […]
A trend in the fireplace & BBQ industry is the infinite increase in choices (options) being offered by manufacturers.  Manufacturers call this giving consumers what they want.  We call this trend sku creation on steroids.  The fireplace & BBQ industries are not alone (I recently purchased a couch that had 4 different shades of red as […]
One nice thing about our industry is that we get to sell and promote products that are made in Canada. Â In fact, almost 80% of what Friendly Fires sells and installs is made in Canada. Â In our industry, Canadian-made product is simply better quality and often comes with superior after-sales support. Â Some of the best […]
A successful business nowadays must be best of breed in many categories including finding great employees (the most important), product (high quality), its processes (must be efficient), aware of rules and regulations (getting more complicated and onerous everyday), traditional marketing / branding – and now – social media. 5 years ago a marketing plan consisted of […]
Last Friday, the Hearth Patio & BBQ Association (HPBA) held their annual trade show and conference in Salt Lake City. Â The HPBA has thousands of members and is an association that represents retailers, distributors and manufacturers in the fireplace and BBQ industry. Â The annual conference has a trade show, education sessions, as well as an […]
According to the Government, hydro prices are rising 40%+ in the next 5 years. Â Can you image any company raising prices that amount? Â How abut paying $50,000 for a Honda Accord? $3 for a cup of Tim Hortons coffee? $1.50 for gasoline (forget that last example… Â we will probably be paying that amount anyways…). Unfortunately, […]
This video shows how to clean a HearthStone pellet stove. Although all pellet stoves are different, it is still very good in some of the information and steps it goes through.
When changing the batteries on a gas fireplace remote or Valor Remote Control (or other gas fireplace remote control), it is often required to initiative the remote and receiver. This video shows how to initiate a gas fireplace remote and receiver box.
This video shows the different operating modes available from the new Valor Fireplace remote control.