Multi-fuel vs Wood Only (and "Hybrids") when just burning wood...

[carbs for arbs]

Hi

 

Sorry to return so soon with another wood stove question... This time it's about multi-fuel (MF) vs wood only (WO) stoves. From the reading I've done, there seems to be mixed opinions on whether a WO stove performs better than a MF stove, when burning wood only.

 

Open Grate. One of our shortlist stoves is the ACR Earlswood III and Astwood II. Both are MF and have grates with permanently open slots. See:

 

 

The stoves tick a lot of boxes for us, but the grate puts us off. The manufacturer has said that it won't affect performance, so long as there's a good bed of ashes. But logic and the opinions of some on the net would perhaps suggest otherwise.

 

 

"Hybrid". I used the term "Hybrid" in the title to refer to stoves like the Clearviews and Woodwarm Fireviews (others too I'm sure), which have riddling grates which can be put into a closed position and provide a flat bed. But there's still gaps between the bars so it's not a truly solid bed. And whilst the primary air can be closed (at least I know it can on the Woodwarm), I'm not sure if that totally prevents air getting through. A Woodwarm Fireview Eco is a contender.

 

Wood Only. Another contender is the Dik Geurts Ivar 5. True wood only burner with vermiculite bricks on the bottom.

 

Any thoughts on the three types and how relevant or important the grate/base situation is for wood only, would be most appreciated. And just to add, I've read that a bonus of the MF and Hybrids is that the Primary Air coming in beneath the grate can be very helpful getting the fire going. Yet on the other hand, a WO without the grate and ashpan means a larger firebox.

 

Over to you guys!

 

Many thanks

 

 

[sandspider]

Can't speak for any of the specific stoves you mention, but I have a pure wood burner (Burley) and a multi fuel - Heta Inspire 45 (riddling grate). I slightly prefer the Burley. It burns more cleanly (only need to empty the ash once every month or two) and holds more ash too (deep bottom (hur) as it's a pure wood burner). To be fair, the Heta is 5kw and the Burley is 8kw, so not a direct comparison. Both are a bit tricky to light as I live in a valley with a strong down draught in both flues. The riddling grate on the Heta does allow a bit of extra adjustment to bottom air flow, but does very little for getting ash out - I scoop it out as I do for the Burley.

I think as a general rule if you're going to burn wood, it's generally better to have a pure wood burning stove. I got the Heta in case I wanted to burn coal or anything else - but I never have!

[gdh]

We've got a multi fuel (18kw Aarow) that we only burn wood on and it's done well for 20 years. The extra air flow means it's easy to light and adjust and if you're careful you can clean the ash without letting it go out which we do once a week.

[Eric42]

We have a Clearview Vision 500 that only every burns wood, so except for the annual chimney clean it always has a good bed of ash over the grid.

No problem with air control, when the spin wheel is closed the primary air is completely shut off.

Occasionally I poke a hole through the ash layer and use bottom air to get it going quickly, however most of the time I light the fire "top down", which is recommended nowadays to minimise start-up emissions (and is always fascinating to watch !)

 

[Muddy42]

I run both multi-fuel and wood only stoves with just wood and don't find there is much difference.  As you say its still possible to build up a bed of ash in the MF stoves anyway.  Many of them are also adjustable - the grate can be replaced with vermiculite if you change your mind.  I guess an iron grate might be slightly more robust and long lasting, vermiculite needs replacing occasionally.

 

Sorry to add another dimension to your selection, but I'd treat some of the newer eco design stoves with caution.  These are designed by scientists for maximum efficiency and minimum air pollution under perfect laboratory conditions (perfect draught, perfect weather, perfect flue, perfect modern house) and with little control over air flow and a large baffle to recirculate air.  In real life many of them can be tricky to light and/or smoke back into the room.

 

Yes older stoves such as Clearviews might be less efficient and send heat up the chimney, but I find them much more pleasant to operate!   Do some research.