Should I Buy A Wood-Burning Stove?

Here are a few points you should consider when deciding if you should buy a wood-burning stove:

Required Heat Output – When you buy a wood burner stove, you should know the required heat output that is right for your room. A stove which is too small will fail to heat a room, where one that is too big will overheat a room, both situations far from ideal!

Required heat outputs can vary to a large extent, below are a few examples of quite how much this variance can be, using a set formula. As a general rule, to make a room 21°C when it’s 1°C outside, you will need 1kW of heat output for every 14 cubic metres of space.

Room Size (medium sized lounge) – w. 18ft – h. 7ft – l. 12ft
New Build – 2Kw
Uninsulated – 4.4Kw

Room Size (large lounge) – w. 25ft – h. 8ft – l. 20ft
New Build – 3.8Kw
Uninsulated – 11.6Kw

Room Size (very large lounge) – w. 30ft – h. 8ft – l. 40ft 
New Build – 9.1Kw
Uninsulated – 27.8Kw

Wood Burning or Multi Fuel Stove – Although you maybe be looking at buying a wood-burning stove, have you also considered a multi-fuel stove as a possible alternative? A multi-fuel stove has a grate, which the fuel burns on, and an air inlet to allow air to enter from the grate below. A multi-fuel stove enables you to burn both wood and smokeless coal, whereas a wood burner only facilitates the burning of wood.

Airwash – Some wood-burning stoves have an air wash system. All Charlton & Jenrick stoves have this design feature as standard. An Airwash system helps keep the glass window clean, allowing you an uninterrupted view of the fire, with far less tar or deposits to worry about. Airwash happens by taking air from above the stove window and passing, or washing it over the surface of the window when the fire is in operation. This does not require any additional power and is cleverly designed as part of the stove operation.

Heating Just One Room? – A wood burner stove can be used to heat just one room typically. However, it can also be used to heat other rooms as part of the central heating system, and by opening internal doors to allow the heat to circulate.

Smoke Controlled Zone? – Do you know if you live in a smoke controlled zone? Some towns and cities have a smoke controlled zone, in which case you will need to get a DEFRA exempt stove or only burn smokeless materials such as anthracite on a multi-fuel stove. You should check the DEFRA website here for more info on this.

Space for Fuel – A wood burner stove will require logs (no surprise there!) to operate. If you are only using the wood burner for occasional use, then you probably won’t need a large reserve of logs. However, if you intend to use your wood burner stove for regular heating in your home, you will need adequate storage for the logs. Internet suppliers now make available kiln dried logs for home delivery adding extra flexibility and great convenience to fuel supply management.

Building Regulations – All stoves must meet UK building regulations. There are a number of things you need to consider here, such as the size of the hearth, and distance from combustibles plus more. The exact regulations can be fully outlined during a site survey, to make sure a stove is a viable option for you.

Advantages to a Wood Burner Stove:

An Independent Power Source – It’s an independent source of power. This is very useful if your area suffers a power-cut and you need to stay warm. Also if you live in a very rural area, a wood burner stove is a hassle-free option as opposed to getting connected to the mains.

Avoid Rising Fuel Costs – With a wood burner stove, you can avoid the rising costs for electricity and gas that are stipulated by the corporate energy giants. Once you have a supply of logs, your energy for a given time is covered, and when you need to buy more logs, you know how much you are paying upfront, without any fuel bill surprises.

Selection of Fuels – A multi-fuel stove has the option to burn a range of different fuels, which has financial and convenience benefits. Should you just be burning wood, then there is a range of different suppliers, retailers and private sellers where bartering for the best price is sometimes an option.

If you are still asking the question – should I buy a wood-burning stove? and have read this far, there is a good chance you are serious about buying one. Join the growing group of people who are starting to realise the benefits of burning wood – view our range of eBrochures here.