Best Wood Burning Stoves for 2021

When it’s dark, wet and cold outside (typical UK weather!), there’s nothing better than coming inside to the welcoming sight of a roaring fire. Wood burning stoves have made this a reality for UK homeowners, whether you live in a 2-up 2-down terrace in the city, or a 5-bedroom cottage in the countryside. Providing you do your research to make sure the stove you choose is the best wood burner for you and your home, relaxing in front of the flames, warm and cosy, is only a mouse-click away from becoming a reality. 

Best Pick Wood Burning Stove

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Whether you want a sleek, state of the art design, or a more traditional look, there’s a huge range of models for you to choose from and, not only do they look great, but they can also save you some serious money!! These days, wood burning stoves are designed to burn fuel efficiently and, in the current economic climate when the cost of fuel seems to be constantly rising, this can potentially make a huge difference to your monthly outgoings! 

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Style

The three main categories of wood burning stoves are: 

• Traditional
• Modern 
• Inset 

Within these categories, there are numerous sizes, models, colours and designs so, whatever your taste and preferred style, there’s guaranteed to be a wood burning stove out there which is perfectly suited to your requirements. 

Traditional 

• Creates a feeling of warmth and adds character to a room 
• Rustic in appearance but with all the mod-cons of a contemporary wood burner 
• Energy efficient – expect a noticeable drop in your next electricity energy bill

Modern

• Clean and sleek designs; a statement piece 
• Provides all the warmth, character and visual appeal of a traditional wood burner, but with a stylish, fashionable twist. 

Inset

• integrated style 
• Only the viewing glass can be seen 
• Fuel efficient
• Compact 

Size 

When it comes to choosing the wood burning stove that’s best for you and your home, the size of stove you choose will be determined by the size of the area you want it to heat, and how well your home is insulated. 

If your home is well insulated, it’s likely that you’ll get away with a smaller stove, which will cost less and use less wood, whilst still effectively heating a room or small area. You’ll find the majority of wood burning stoves have an output of between  3kW-15kW. 

To determine approximately what heat output you’ll need, for every 14 cubic metres of space you want to heat, you’ll need around 1kW of heat output.

It’s worth bearing in mind that every home is different; there are other factors which may affect the type and size of wood burning stove you need: from the size of your home; the number of windows; the quality of insulation; even the type of chimney you have. 

Types of wood burning stoves

There are two main types of wood burning stoves available on the market, those which burn logs and other wooden matter, and those which burn bi-wood pellets. 

Log burners

• Readily available 
• Best for heating a small/moderately sized room or open-plan area
• Leaves a smaller carbon footprint than a pellet stove
• Range of styles available – traditional, modern or inset
• Requires less professional maintenance than a pellet stove
• Unlike a pellet stove, does not require an external power source
• The cost-effective option – less expensive than a pellet stove and cheaper to fuel 

Pellet stoves

• Pellets are likely to be harder to source than logs
• Best for heating large living spaces or whole buildings
• Leaves a greater carbon footprint than a log burner due do to the pellet manufacturing process 
• Larger and more modern looking than a log burner
• Pellets burn more efficiently than logs & so produce less ash 
• Less space required for fuel storage 
• Requires yearly/half-yearly professional maintenance

Fuel 

Unless you plan to forage and season the logs for your wood burning stove yourself, you’ll need to budget for fuel costs. 

The cost of logs depends on where you live; the amount you’re buying; the shape of the logs; whether they’re seasoned or kiln-dried; hard or softwood; and if delivery is included.

How much wood you get through will depend on the size of the area you intend on heating; how often and for how long it’s used; and how well insulated the space you’re heating is.  

If you want the cheapest option when it comes to buying wood fuel which is ready to use, buying a large amount of irregularly-shaped, seasoned, hardwood logs shouldn’t cost the earth, but will offer a decent burn time and heat your home efficiently, costing a lot less than what you’d pay to heat the space with alternative fuels such as electricity or oil. 

Particularly if you’re buying in bulk, you’ll need to think about where you plan on storing your logs. The area needs to be dry and accessible, both for the logs to be delivered to and for you to bring logs in from the store. Ideally, logs should be stored inside or under cover e.g. in a garage; purpose-built log store; or shed. If the wood has to be stored outside, make sure it is well covered.

Best Budget Wood Burning Stove – Reinventing Wheels Mini Wood Burner

Last update on 2024-12-13 / Images from Amazon Product Advertising API / As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases

Wood burning stoves and the environment 

Heating your home using a wood burning stove, particularly a log burner, not only reduces heating bills but helps the environment too. Burning wood is a low-carbon alternative to heating your home using electricity, as electricity is generated by the burning of fossil fuels and this unavoidably produces carbon emissions, which are harmful to the environment. If you live ‘off the grid’ and normally rely on oil or LPG to heat your home, both of which are costly, you’re likely to notice even more of a reduction to your monthly outgoings as the burning of wood should be considerably more cost-effective than either gas or oil. 

Despite the fact burning wood produces fewer carbon emissions than the burning of oil and gas, and the generating process of electricity, it does still produce some potentially harmful emissions. As a result, some parts of the UK are classified as ‘smoke-controlled’ areas and this may mean you are restricted in terms of the type of stove you can have in your home and the fuel you’re able to burn. Your local council should be able to advise you of any restrictions that are in place in your town, village or city if you aren’t sure.  If you find you do live in a smoke control area, don’t let this put you off a log or pellet burner as it’s not necessarily ‘game over’; you may still be able to potentially use a Defra-approved wood burning stove.

The future of wood burning stoves 

• In 2019, Defra released a new Clean Air Strategy outlining their recommendations on the future of wood burning stoves
• By 2022, all new wood burning stoves will need to have higher efficiency levels in accordance with EU law
• The SIA (Stove Industry Alliance) is already working with manufacturers to produce stoves that meet the 2002 emission criteria
• Wood burning stoves which meet the 2022 emission criteria are/will be referred to as ‘Ecodesign Ready’

Output efficiency 

The minimum efficiency rating for wood burning stoves, according to current UK building regulations, is 65% although you’ll find the best wood burning stoves will go beyond this and have an efficiency rating of between 70%-80%.

This efficiency rating is a measure of how effective the stove is at converting energy into heat; the higher the efficiency, the more efficient the stove. 

Summary 

• The higher the percentage, the more efficient the stove is at converting energy to heat 

• A high-efficiency rating means you’ll only be burning the minimum when it comes to fuel – your logs or pellets will last longer offering better value for money 

• Watch out for stoves that come with the ‘cleanburn’ technology feature; this allows the stove to work with greater efficiency as it increases the amount of airflow entering the stove 

Improving the efficiency of your wood burning stove 

Strategy	How to go about it
Use dry kindling	Lighting your fire with super-dry kindling makes the temperature inside your stove rise quickly; you want to get it as hot as possible as quickly as possible, so your logs have less work to do.
Use seasoned wood	Wood burns far more efficiently when it has been seasoned (dried out for at least 12 months).
Collect your own wood	By collecting and seasoning your own wood you effectively cut out the middleman when it comes to fuel supply, meaning your saving some serious cash!
Use hardwood	Hardwood burns much more efficiently than softwood.
Open the vents when lighting	Fully open the air vent(s) on your wood burning stove when lighting to increase the flow of oxygen into the fire chamber.
Close the primary vent once the stove is going	Once the fire is going, close the primary vent. This will make your logs last longer and encourage a steadier burn.
Don’t get giddy with the logs	Wait for the logs already in the fire chamber to fully burn down before adding more.
Leave some ashes	A thin bed of ashes can help your stove to burn well. Not too much though otherwise, you run the risk of blocking the airflow.
Get your chimney swept	Have your chimney swept at least once every 12 months; every 6 months if you use your stove regularly and/or for prolonged periods.
Increase or improve your insulation	You don’t want all the heat generated from your wood burning stove escaping through poorly insulated walls or draughty windows. The aim is to keep as much as possible!

Stove safety

How do I know a wood burning stove is safe?

You should only consider buying a wood burning stove that displays a genuine CE mark – the symbol applied to products to indicate that they conform with relevant EU directives regarding health and safety or environmental protection. A wood burning stove with a CE plate confirms that the stove has passed a basic quality benchmark and is safe to use.

Currently in the UK only imported wood burning stoves are required to have the CE mark, however any UK wood burning stove manufacturers worth their salt will have had their range of stoves tested and should still display the safety mark, regardless of the fact it isn’t legally enforceable. If the mark isn’t visible, ask yourself ‘Why?’ You’’ very quickly reach the conclusion that playing Russian Roulette with your’s and your family’s safety really isn’t worth it. .

What is tested?

• The efficiency and heat output of the stove
• The standard of construction standards
• How safe it is to operate e.g. the temperature of the door handle after a period of prolonged use
• The suitability of the instruction manual
• The distance the stove needs to be kept from potential combustibles  

Finally, the stove is tested in a ‘worst-case scenario’ situation and over-fired to assess how its construction and safety precaution features would fair in such extreme circumstances. 

Accessories

There is a range of accessories available to complement your wood burning stove, some fun, some functional! 

Whether it’s a stovetop fan to generate maximum airflow, or a bacon press to cook your Sunday breakfast, you’ll find what you’re looking for online. Who ever said a wood burning stove is just for keeping warm??!!!

• Stovetop fans
• Log holders/baskets
• Fire tools
• Ash caddies
• Coal buckets
• Stove gloves
• Fire screens
• Match holders
• Carbon monoxide detectors
• Wood moisture metre
• Stovepipe thermometer
• Cast iron cookware (e.g. panini presses and potato cookers)

Best of the Rest

Last update on 2024-12-13 / Images from Amazon Product Advertising API / As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases

Last update on 2024-12-13 / Images from Amazon Product Advertising API / As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases

Last update on 2024-12-13 / Images from Amazon Product Advertising API / As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases

Frequently Asked Questions