Wood Burning Stoves

There is nothing more relaxing or comforting than the warm, welcoming glow of a real fire from a wood burning stove.
 
Broseley Fires wood burning stoves have over thirty five years design and development behind them. Wood burning stoves are an ecologically friendly method of home heating, the design features of the Broseley wood burning stoves offer great efficiency and beauty.

Broseley Fires have become a household name in the wood burning stove industry. Originally proving our expertise by developing fires for other manufacturers. We have used this renowned experience to launch our own ranges of wood burning stoves.

Also take a look at our wood burning cooker range.

Wood-burning stoves - information for buyers

There is nothing quite like a real fire to give that enduring warmth to your home and our wood burning and multi fuel stoves do just that. Ultra efficient and incorporating the latest and best clean-burn technologies these stoves not only look great but will heat your home in a very efficient manner. Wood is a renewable fuel, and therefore the environmental benefits of using a wood burner to heat your house are considerable. With high prices of oil and gas, burning wood and solid fuel to heat your home also makes great economic sense.

A growing awareness of the environmental impact of fossil fuels such as natural gas, oil and coal, along with the desire to be more energy independent, have encouraged a renewed interest in heating with wood.

Beyond their romantic glow and homely crackle, a Broseley woodburning stove produces low-cost heat and burns cleanly and efficiently, producing minimal ash and smoke.

When fossil fuels are taken out of the earth and burned, they produce an overload of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere. Once burned, fossil fuels are gone forever. Wood is different. As all plants grow, they absorb carbon dioxide from the air and convert it to fibre. The carbon dioxide is released after they die, whether they are burned or simply left to rot in the forest. This process is part of nature’s cycle.

Wood-burning stoves today offer a great variety of looks and designs to suit any home style, from a retro Victorian house to minimalist loft-style apartment. Painted black, brushed steel or even red, with stovepipe to match, wood-burning stoves with generous glass doors allow you to admire the dancing flames during the winter.

Wood-burning stoves can be installed in any room of your house, but most often they are placed in living or dining rooms. While traditional fireplaces generally work as a piece of decor, free-standing wood-burning stoves are generally used for more practical purposes, namely, for heating. Thanks to new designs, your wood-burning stove will look attractive and still remain perfectly functional. Because it isn’t attached to the wall, a wood-burning stove will radiate more heat throughout a small or large room.

When choosing a new wood-burning stove, keep in mind that the size should be determined by the size of the space that needs to be heated. The fire of the stove should be substantial enough to please the eye as well as heat the room.

When picking a place to put your new stove, avoid areas near doors. A stove surrounded by windows may be a good solution. The fire chamber door on your wood-burning stove should face the room. Don’t forget stovepipe requirements, making sure they are in compliance with your local building codes.

Conventional wood-burning stoves vary in heat efficiency because their construction can be very different, too. The efficiency of a wood-burning stove depends on how much of its combustion energy turns to heat, which in its turn depends on how well it burns wood. Even the best wood-burning stoves don’t burn all wood completely. The smoke is actually composed of unburned wood particles. Another factor that impacts the wood-burning stove’s efficiency is how much heat escapes through the chimney.

To improve the efficiency of your wood-burning stove, consider having your chimney swept. This should be done by a professional. If you notice that a lot of smoke is produced during the wood burning, you may need to alter the size of your stove opening, or reconfigure the existing fire chamber. If you notice that a lot of hot air escapes through the chimney, you should consider replacing the fire basket – the metal rack that supports the burning logs. The Broseley Fires designs of fire baskets greatly improves air circulation and heat efficiency.

10 steps to maximum wood-burning efficiency

1. Burn seasoned wood in your wood-burning stove, as this burns hotter and more efficiently, helps decrease the amount of creosote build-up in your stovepipe, and saves you money.
2. Make your fires small and hot. This burns volatile gases more quickly, producing fewer safety hazards and air quality problems than a fire that is over-damped. Smaller, hotter fires mean slightly more frequent loading and tending of your wood burning stove.
3. Install a stack thermometer on the wood burning stove’s flue. This will help you monitor the temperature of the gases as they leave the stove. Optimum range for most efficiency and least pollution: about 300 to 400ºF.
4. Remove excess ashes. Too much can clog your woodburning stove's air-intake vents and cut down on the amount of oxygen needed for wood-burning.
5. Tighten up your house. Insulation, weather stripping, storm windows and caulking can all reduce the amount of wood required to heat your home with your woodburning stove, which in turn helps decrease the amount of air pollution.
6. Check your smokestack. Burn your stove at different rates, then go outside and check the emissions. The absence of smoke indicates that your stove is burning cleanly and effectively.
7. Inspect your stove. Once or twice a year, depending on how often it’s used, your entire stove and chimney should be inspected. Look for warping, check the baffle to make sure there are no gaps and check for creosote.
8. Choose the proper size stove. A properly sized wood stove will do its job efficiently even on the coldest days. One that’s too big needs to be damped down, which increases creosote production.
9. Buy the most efficient design you can afford. It’ll pay for itself in the long run. Broseley Fires has made great strides in designing fireboxes, drafts, catalytic combustors and other devices that improve combustion and reduce smoke.
10. Burn only the fuel your stove was designed for. Don’t burn coal in a wood stove, for example, unless your stove was designed to handle both wood and coal. Rubbish shouldn’t be burned in your stove either. As well as increasing the chance of starting a chimney fire, some plastics and other rubbish emit harmful gases.

Wood-burning stoves bring romance and warmth to your home – and are kinder to the environment.

Best Wood for burning in Woodburning Stoves, (Woodburners)

Wood needs to be well seasoned before it is burnt in a stove, irrespective if you have a woodburning stove or a multifuel stove. Different woods take varying amounts of time to season but, as a guide before being used in a stove, wood should be cut, split and stacked under cover with the sides open to the air for at least a year. It is then good practice to have it in the log basket, inside the house, for a few days before it is actually used in your woodburning stove.

If you have your wood delivered 'ready to burn', stress to your supplier that the wood must be well seasoned, as it is being burnt in a stove and, as a way of checking, most woods tend to get splits across the grain on the ends of the log when it is dry.

Conifer wood tends to be rather resinous and is best used as kindling. Old skip wood / builders timber is ideal as kindling.

If you do a fair bit of slow woodburning, it is good practice to burn a good, hot stove a couple of times a week to keep your chimney dry and prevent the build up of tar. It is important to use your woodburning stove regularly for to get the best results.

Don’t be tempted to burn unseasoned wood in your wood-burning stove.

Chimney Liner for woodburning stoves

It is always good practice to line a chimney when fitting any stove, whether it is a woodburning stove or a multi-fuel stove, (their greater efficiency means colder flue gasses, leading to a build up of tar in the chimney). If you are planning to do any amount of woodburning, lining and insulating the chimney is a must.

Best results from your woodburning stove

If you have a woodburning stove then let the ash build up to a reasonable thickness on the base of the firebox around 25-50mm. This doesn’t have to be exact - become familiar with your woodburning stove and how it works best. Remove excess ash when it gets too high, but do not completely empty it out.

If you have a multifuel stove, but will be burning wood for long periods then let the ash build up on the grate so you have a layer covering the grate up. If you wish to burn coal in your multi-fuel stove, make sure to empty all the wood-ash out or it will not work well and you may damage the stove parts.