Top 10 most popular wood-burning and multifuel stoves

[Muddy42]

2 hours ago, Stubby said:

The same applies to my non catalytic non ceramic stove . 

it does look good. The problem with my Esse1 is the door and air wash are too close to the top of the stove, causing it to smoke when first lit. Part of the new ecodesign nonesense. Whats the point of a stove that makes the outside air cleaner but causes indoor air pollution?

 

i’ll probably replace it when the right second hand 5 inch flue stove comes up.

[Stubby]

2 hours ago, Muddy42 said:

 

 

i’ll probably replace it when the right second hand 5 inch flue stove comes up.

That Burley has a 6" liner fitting into a 7" clay liner .It only has one control . The air slide at the bottom . A piece of piss to light . I keep the paper liners out of the air fryer . All that grease works a treat as a fire lighter .🙂

[Muddy42]

36 minutes ago, Stubby said:

That Burley has a 6" liner fitting into a 7" clay liner .It only has one control . The air slide at the bottom . A piece of piss to light . I keep the paper liners out of the air fryer . All that grease works a treat as a fire lighter .🙂

 

thanks.  Just to be clear on the liner, it sounds like you just have a short section of metal liner poked up the chimney and then its original clay liner thereafter to the top?  Is that right?  A friend has a stove like that and Ive helped them clean it.  It wasn't very dirty.  Its old school, and no doubt the safety police will jump up and down but seems to work ok.

 

That's my issue with modern stoves.  The old ones were simple fires in a box that would cope with a wide range of flue drafts and conditions.  Lots or air in/outflow would overcome any cold air in the flue very quickly.  Modern ecodesign stoves need the conditions of the flue to be just right - lined the whole way to the top, flue insulation, potentially an anti-downdraft cowl to correct for the stoves inadequacies at £300+VAT.  Its all great for the stove installing industry!

 

James at Clearview has written extensively on this topic and performed some side-by-side tests:

ECO DESIGN ISSUES AND FEEDBACK | Clearview Stoves

WWW.CLEARVIEWSTOVES.COM

 

 

[openspaceman]

1 hour ago, Muddy42 said:

Modern ecodesign stoves need the conditions of the flue to be just right - lined the whole way to the top, flue insulation,

Not so with mine, it exhausts into a concrete lined brick chimney, good draw and no noticeable smoke into room. The uninsulated chimney acts as a storage heater when the stove is lit all the time, radiating heat into the room and the upstairs one 24 hours a day.

[Stubby]

4 hours ago, Muddy42 said:

 

thanks.  Just to be clear on the liner, it sounds like you just have a short section of metal liner poked up the chimney and then its original clay liner thereafter to the top?  Is that right?  

 

 

Nope . The original 7" clay liner is still in place and the 6" stainless liner fits snugly inside that and goes all the way up to the stack with the cowl on top . So effectively double lined . Also any cavities as you come down and get near the register plate are filled with vermiculite beads .  

[Stubby]

34 minutes 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 time

 

 

Mine does not let smoke into the room . There is one hell of a draw on my chimney . It pulls like a train ! 😀

[Stubby]

3 hours ago, Gabriel82 said:

@Stubby looks too small that stove 

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

[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 November 13, 2025 by Muddy42

[Stubby]

6 hours ago, Gabriel82 said:

 

 

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

 

 

 

 

You presume .