5 Questions to Ask Yourself When Choosing a Wood Burning Stove

Wood burning and multi-fuel stoves come in a range of shapes, sizes and styles. If you’re in the market for purchasing a wood burning stove, sometimes the amount of choice available can be overwhelming and it can often be difficult trying to work out where you need to start.

Here at Stove Supermarket, we are often contacted by customers for advice on what stove is right for them. Often, the questions they ask are the same. That’s why we put together a list of key questions you need to ask yourself when choosing what stove is right for you, for your home and for your budget.

What style stove do you want?

One of the most important factors when picking your stove is the design – after all, this is the part that you have to look. This might seem like the easiest decision to make, but with the range of different styles and materials available, there’s more choice than you may think!

Traditional stoves are a popular choice in many country homes and period properties, and often add the finishing touch to a cosy living room setting. Esse, Carron, Hunter and Broseley all boast a great selection of traditional style wood burning and multi fuel stoves, with prices starting from £445.

However, if you are planning on placing a stove in an open plan living area or a modern living room, you may want to opt for a more contemporary stove style. Often, contemporary stoves take more of a streamlined shape and have large viewing windows for you to enjoy the roaring fire burning inside. Scandinavian brands such as Morso and Westfire are known for their technologically advanced stoves categorised by their design simplicity.

Finally, do you want a freestanding or inset stove? Inset stoves are perfect to create the illusion of a fireplace in your room, whereas freestanding stoves can be adapted to your space easily. We stock a range of both styles here at Stove Supermarket, to ensure that you find something that is perfect for your space.

Do you live in a smoke controlled zone?

The second most important question you need to ask yourself when buying a wood burning or multi-fuel stove is if you live within a smoke-controlled zone in the UK. If you don’t, then you don’t have to worry about this question so much.

However, if you do live in a smoke-controlled area of the UK it is crucial that you only purchase a DEFRA approved stove. Stoves that have been approved by DEFRA are cleared to burn authorised fuels in smoked controlled areas across the UK. Smoke-controlled zones in the UK are usually limited to urban, town and city areas but it is always important to ensure your area is not included. You can contact your council directly to inquire about this, or you can enter your postcode here to find out.

What fuel do you want to burn?

Linked to the question above, the stove you select is influenced by the type of fuel you are looking to burn. Not all stoves will burn solid fuels, and some may only have the capacity to burn correctly seasoned wood. It is important to understand that wood burning stoves will only burn wood, whereas multi-fuel stoves provide a bit more flexibility for the user.

Our wood burning stove range starts from £445 and covers a range of styles and finishes, including the Hunter Compact 5 Wood Burning Stove which is perfect for small and cosy rooms.

Multi-fuel stoves are capable of burning more than just wood, they also are able to burn solid fuels and can burn smokeless fuels like coal, peat and anthracite making them perfect for homes located in smoke controlled zones. At Stove Supermarket we stock a large range of multi-fuel stoves from leading manufacturers, including Villager and AGA.

How much of your house do you want to heat?

It’s important to purchase a stove that has the correct heat output, or ‘Kw’, for the room you are placing it in. Smaller rooms require smaller Kw to heat, and knowing exactly what room you plan on putting your stove in is key to determining how much heat your stove needs to produce. If your stove produces too much heat your room could overheat, or if it produces too little heat you’ll go through more fuel and your stove will not burn to its maximum efficiency.

For small to medium-sized living spaces, your stove should be no more than 5Kw in heat output. Any medium to large rooms will benefit from stoves anywhere between 5Kw and 8Kw depending on the side of the room.

Anyone who is wanting to heat their entire home, or contribute towards boiler and central heating power should consider buying a stove that is 8Kw and above.

To find out what size stove you would need for your living space simply measure the length, width and height of your room and multiply the three figures together. Once you have a figure, divide this by 14 and you will have the correct heat output required from your stove.

How much are you prepared to spend?

Once you’ve considered all of the questions above the final deciding factor is your budget. This includes the amount you are prepared to spend on your stove body, the amount you are prepared to spend on fuel and the amount you are prepared to spend on the upkeep of your stove and any spare parts you might require.

Our wood burning and multi fuel stove range starts from £455 with the Esse 1 SE Wood Burning Stove and stretches to the Broseley Snowdon 26 Wood Burning Boiler Stove at £2,770. We continue to update our stove selection to ensure there’s a stove to match everyone’s budget

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