Choosing A Woodburning Stove For Your Home
If you are considering a woodburning stove, first make sure that your home is suitable, so that you know the installation cost.
You need to have a chimney in a good state of repair, and this may need re-lining with a suitable flue liner so do consult a specialist to check what will be involved.
If you don’t have an existing chimney, you will need to install a stainless steel flue liner, to enable the waste gases to pass out of the home safely. If a new external flue is required, you may need to check with your local authority/city hall to see if permission is required.
The first consideration is if you will have a good reliable supply of seasoned wood to keep your woodburning stove running. The burners can burn seasoned logs (that is, logs that have been left to dry out thoroughly, often up to a year), woodchips which are a buy product of forestry work and wood pellets, which are a compressed form of sawdust. Prices and availability of each will differ from area to area, so make sure you know what’s easily available in your area. You may also want to consider a multifuel burner, to give you the added flexibility of using coal, smokeless fuel or peat as an alternative.
Stoves are available in traditional cast iron or steel, and as they are manufactured in many different countries, you need to ensure you purchase one that is certified and approved for use in your country of residence. Your supplier will be able to advise on this.
When looking at stoves, do consider the efficiency rating of each one. Stoves will have been tested, to see how efficient they are and given a rating. Airtight stoves tend to be more fuel efficient than traditional box stoves, and offer a greater degree of heat control.
