Wood burning stove is growing in popularity as carbon-lean heating solutions because customers aim for a more eco-friendly outlook for their homes. The importance of buying a suitable appliance for your home is imperative. Looking beyond the aesthetics of a modern heat stove, following are the criterion you should keep in mind when shopping for your next stove.
Heat Output
Stoves are designed to provide heat to different sized spaces. A stove with 4-5kW rating will be able to heat an average room whereas a stove with 8kW rating is designed for a much larger space. Other factors influencing the heat output are the age of the house and any energy saving measures that are in place.
Efficiency of Stoves
The efficiency of a stove is measured by the ability of an appliance to extract the available heat in the fuel and deliver it to the room as useful heat. The heat efficiencies can be quoted either on a net or gross basis depending on how the initial heat content of the fuel is calculated. The building regulations in the UK have set minimum efficiency levels for all the new heating appliances.
Frequency of refuelling
Stoves are classified as ‘continuous’ and ‘intermittent’ stoves depending on the frequency of refuelling the log burning stoves. ‘Continuous operation’ stoves demonstrate a minimum refuelling interval at full rated output of not less than 4 hours for solid mineral fuel or 1.5 hours for wood burning. These appliances are used more as a primary source of heat.
‘Intermittent’ stoves have refuelling intervals of 45 minutes or more to get the rated heat output on wood, or 1 hour or more to get the rated heat output on solid mineral fuel. These stoves are suitable for those who want a secondary heat source to supplement their main system.
