what woodburner to get..?

February 15, 2010 8:05 AM

Hi, within planning to build an eco house within the UK, would it possible to get some recommendations for woodburners that have a good efficiency rating or a reputable brand that makes woodburners. (Also possibly considering over woodburners as well as standared ones.)
posted by sockpim to Technology (11 answers total)

There was a post about rocket mass heaters on cooltools which was removed but should eventually come back once it's finalized. You can learn about the technology here.
posted by ddaavviidd at 8:35 AM on February 15, 2010

In the U.S., the standard is set by the EPA. You'll find lots of good, though US-centric, advice here.
posted by theora55 at 9:49 AM on February 15, 2010

Consider some sort of masonry stove. They're permanent units that are super-efficient, more efficient than stand-alone wood burners.
posted by mareli at 10:33 AM on February 15, 2010

Another link.
posted by mareli at 10:35 AM on February 15, 2010

Ever see one of these traditional looking swedish tile ovens, now upgraded to also double as a water heater for your house (heating the water for radiators and/or bathwater). You can save a bundle on heating costs with these.
posted by dabitch at 11:34 AM on February 15, 2010

another example of this tile oven idea. There's also a company I recall called Eurofire that makes modern looking energy saving fireplaces and really old style looking water heating kitchen stoves but I'm failing to find any sites in English due to some bad techno hit song. ;)
posted by dabitch at 11:47 AM on February 15, 2010

My parents have just bought a ClearView wood burning stove, which is a) lovely and b) very clean burning: they claim to have some versions that can be installed in smoke-free zones and will pass all the emissions tests whilst happily burning ordinary logs!

I get the impression that the company is more interested in selling to the Aga set than the Greens though, so they might not be the cheapest option.
posted by pharm at 12:20 PM on February 15, 2010

Fyi, if it's a truly eco-house woodburning is really not the environmentally friendly option. Get natural gas instead, it's a gajillion times better for the environment. Apologies if this advice is unwanted.
posted by smoke at 2:39 PM on February 15, 2010

Consider some sort of masonry stove. They're permanent units that are super-efficient, more efficient than stand-alone wood burners.

seconding masonry stove, which must be built as an integral part of your house and really can't (successfully) be added on. my brother has one (in the US Midwest, so temperate to cold) and says it works really well, really efficiently and is easy to use and maintain.
posted by toodleydoodley at 8:28 PM on February 15, 2010

I recall seeing an article in my local (UK) paper about a chap setting up a wood stove company recently. If it helps, here is the article, the company is Kindle Stoves and they stock the Clearview stoves already mentioned.
posted by Ness at 3:32 AM on February 16, 2010

You might also consider ground source heat pumps, air source heat pumps and solar thermal. whichever of the renewable heat options you go with or consider the UK will be introducing a new subsidy called the Renewable Heat Incentive from April 2011 which will provide a substantial subsidy per estimated unt of heat energy that your technology produces, this looks likely to be fairly substantial, especially for houses that will have good energy efficiency measures in place. A similar mechanism, the Microgeneration Feed-in Tariff already exists for small renewabe electricity generation (eg solar cells, small wind and more) which also offers a chance for you to get your own renewable electricity.

While wood burning does produce local air pollution it does mean less carbon emissions, and local emissions can be minimsed by going with more efficient burners, probably going ofr pellets over logs.
posted by biffa at 3:36 PM on May 8, 2010