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There is nothing quite like warming yourself in front of a real flame. It’s an elemental feeling that links back to a time when fire was our only source of heat. While the world has moved on, the attraction of a real fire has not.
The wood burning stove is the ideal way to enjoy a real fire with less cleaning and more heat. That isn’t the only reason your home needs a wood burning stove though.
Here are just a few of the many reasons every home should have a wood burning stove! All images supplied by Sussex Eco Solutions.
Lovely ambience
What better feeling to come home to when it’s cold outside than a toasty warm room with logs burning merrily in the burner? It’s warm, comforting and the perfect antidote to British spring, autumn and winter.
Wood burners make rooms look and feel cosy. Close the curtains, light the fire and leave the world and the weather outside!
Amazing wood burner designs
While you can stick to the tried and tested black iron boxes if you want to, you don’t have to. There is a huge range of log burners covering every design style. From Victorian to modern, heritage to contemporary. There is a style of wood burner ideal for every room type or interior design scheme.
They can be free standing, integrated into a hearth, be suspended from a ceiling or fixed to a wall. If you choose the right wood burner, you can make it work with any room design.
Adds a focal point to any room
Who needs a huge TV or feature wall as a conversation piece when you have a wood burning stove? Get the right stove for the right situation and you have the perfect focal point for any room.
A conversation piece, hypnotic entertainment watching the flames, something that encourages relaxation and conversation, what other focal point can do all that?
Renewable energy
If you choose the right fuel, you’re using renewable energy to warm your home. Responsibly sourced wood is renewable, pellets and briquettes are renewable and all are readily available.
In an age where a lot of energy is sourced from fossil fuels, using wood from sustainable forests means you’re getting all the benefit of wood without the downsides.
Less pollution than gas
If you use gas central heating, you’re generating around 0.198kg per kWh in CO2. Compare that with a wood burner at 0.008kg of CO2. Even using standard wood, a wood burning stove is far less polluting than gas central heating.
Newer stoves that conform to the Ecodesign European directive are even lower emission. It’s estimated that new stoves will emit less than standard stoves when you use the right fuel.
High efficiency heating
Some wood burners can be up to 80% efficient, meaning you extract maximum heat from every log you burn. That’s far more efficient than gas central heating.
Older wood burners are less efficient than newer ones so choose carefully when you’re shopping!
You don’t need a chimney
Newer homes aren’t built with chimneys and haven’t been for years. That limits your options when looking at alternative forms of heating. Fortunately, a wood burning stove can have a flue fitted to almost any external wall, offering the flexibility you’re looking for.
You can install a log burner in any room of the house as long as there is adequate ventilation and access to an outside wall. The flue can be installed quickly and easily and can even be camouflaged so it doesn’t stand out.
Zoned heating
If you live in a large property, why pay to heat it all when you only use a small proportion of it? A wood burner will heat the room it’s in while radiating small amounts of heat further afield. That’s the definition of zoned heating.
You could turn the thermostat down in the rest of the house and use a log burner in your main rooms. Or turn the heating off completely and feed the flue through your bedroom too!
Reliable energy on your terms
A big draw for wood burners is energy independence. While we have reliable supplies in the United Kingdom, prices only ever seem to go one way, up. Plus, we have no say on where our gas or electricity comes from unless you choose very specific providers.
A wood burner is independent of all that. Source the wood locally from a sustainable forest, keep your wood store stacked and it doesn’t matter what happens in the wider world, you will always be able to keep warm.
Can be used in Smoke Control and Conservation Areas
Don’t let living in a Smoke Control Area or Conservation Area put you off a log burner. Choose the right stove, make sure it’s DEFRA-approved, use the correct fuel and you still comply with Smoke Control regulations.
Even if you live in London, any new changes to the Clean Air Act shouldn’t include DEFRA stoves.
Conservation areas are the same. Get your log burner installed by a HETAS installer and you don’t need planning permission or sign off from building control. It might be wise to check with the planners first though!