Top 10 most popular wood-burning and multifuel stoves

[Muddy42]

I've always thought one of these would be fun.  You light a fire under a stone floor, once going the smoke and heat travels through a system of tunnels under the floor to a chimney on the far side.  You can have one burn in the morning and the house stays warm all day.  Its a more efficient version of the roman Hypocaust, still in use and called a gloria in Spain.

 

[Muddy42]

18 hours ago, Gabriel82 said:

I can't believe a wood stove could let smoke in the room... 

 

A natural draft chimney must have a draft at all times.

 

And only regulate it by closing the ash or firebox doors... 

 

At least this is what I have... 

 

And I clean the chimney  every spring or autumn...

 

Never failed me so far, not even at minus 18-20 Celcius or in a snow blizzard that almost buried/blocked  me in the house...

 

I did kept the fire lit all that time/few days of unknown weather ...

 

 

 

Gabriel,

You'd be amazed but yes my Esse stove smokes back into the room when lighting, refilling or when the stove is dying down.  I have tried every trick in the book over three years, but its not really helped.

 

Its an old drafty house with a cold flue and flue downdraft problems.  Older non ecodesign stoves have massive air intakes and quickly send masses of heat up the chimney and continue to send lots of heat up the chimney (so called "inefficiency") so that this is never an issue.

 

Defra, Hetas and european test standards have designed Ecodesign for a more "efficient" burn, better air quality but a lower flue temperature.  But this only works in perfect lab conditions or a modern house that is warm anyway. Its a great business for stove installers with the need for more scafolding, insulation beads and anti downdraft cowls.

 

But I also think the stove design doesn't help.  It doesn't have enough potential air intake and the airwash and door are too close to the top of the stove.  Its far too easy for smoke to spill out during lighting.

 

I'm going to replace the stove soon.

 

 

 

Edited 5 hours ago by Muddy42

[Gabriel82]

5 hours ago, Stubby said:

Any bigger and and it would be way too hot in our house . I want a stove not a wardrobe ! 😀

 

Probably.

But you don't understand how big mass stoves work. 

 

Because they have big ceramic mass(the tiles on exterior and the 32 mm thick chamotte bricks on the inside , you can burn a small amount of wood and the whole stove barely feels warm. Not HOT. 

 

Yet ,the whole house is just warm not hot for about 10-12 hours.

 

Burn more wood stove heats up some more. 

 

But still you won't feel discomfort. 

 

I had a smaller cast iron stove many years ago(think it was 25 years or more). 

 

Got thrown in the street in spring for who wants it after a winter.

 

Because it was giving either too much heat or too little. 

 

Reloading in the middle of night is not "fun"...

 

And if I remember right it also burned more wood. 

 

never again stoves like that 🙄

 

 

Edited 4 hours ago by Gabriel82

[Gabriel82]

5 hours ago, Stubby said:

Any bigger and and it would be way too hot in our house . I want a stove not a wardrobe ! 😀

I also have another one built through the walls of two big rooms. 

Basically heats up half a house. 

 

And is double compared to what you see in this photo.

Also burns more wood  because... I like it hot 😁

 

In very cold winter nights I used to load it with coal  briquettes around 19:00 PM and will burn untill morning. 

 

A true beauty luxury putting me to sleep  😁

 

And is silent , no need for electricity , fans, pumps, electronic controls or heating liquid(like in central gas heating where its got copper plumbing...)

[Gabriel82]

1 hour ago, Muddy42 said:

 

Gabriel,

You'd be amazed but yes my Esse stove smokes back into the room when lighting, refilling or when the stove is dying down.  I have tried every trick in the book over three years, but its not really helped.

 

Its an old drafty house with a cold flue and flue downdraft problems.  Older non ecodesign stoves have massive air intakes and quickly send masses of heat up the chimney and continue to send lots of heat up the chimney (so called "inefficiency") so that this is never an issue.

 

Defra, Hetas and european test standards have designed Ecodesign for a more "efficient" burn, better air quality but a lower flue temperature.  But this only works in perfect lab conditions or a modern house that is warm anyway. Its a great business for stove installers with the need for more scafolding, insulation beads and anti downdraft cowls.

 

But I also think the stove design doesn't help.  It doesn't have enough potential air intake and the airwash and door are too close to the top of the stove.  Its far too easy for smoke to spill out during lighting.

 

I'm going to replace the stove soon.

 

 

 

 

Build yourself a ceramic tile stove 😎

 

With a chimney shut off plate. 

 

After everything has burned ,you've removed all ash and nothing is in the stove , air up the room ,close the chimney and the stove will heat up even more but uniformly up to and including the corners. 

 

Stays like that for at least 12 hours. 

 

This chimney shut off plate is good for stormy periods/nights. 

 

Helps keep the stove hot since natural  draft is always present but winter storms increase the draft. 

 

This is one solution ,second one is having doors wich close hermetically with the help of a heat resistant ceramic fiber packing(usually square white or black). 

 

Only on the smaller stove shown in photo I have installed this chimney plate valve. 

 

[Gabriel82]

Here's an example using that kind of square packing. 

 

This one is a 40mm thick steel door to a stove  that burns almost anything and survive 😁 

 

I once got it red cherry hot because of... too much coal. 

 

Also the walls are from chamotte brick 64 mm thick 120mm wide and about 230mm long. 

 

Basically the walls of the stove are 120mm thick ,its all built out of 1200 degrees Celcius resistant chamotte bricks. 

 

I think it weighs about 1 ton.

 

😁🙄. 

 

Took me a whole summer to build and it was expensive.

 

By the way : don't mind me too much.

 

I'm a hydrocarbons fan and pyromaniac 

 

I make my coffee on a gasoline Shmel-2 burner stove 

🥳

 

Shmel is also a russian thermobaric rocket . 

Not to be confused 

 

Edited 3 hours ago by Gabriel82