The Most Important Factor When Buying A Woodburner
Many people consider buying a woodburner for aesthetic reasons, or to save on fuel bills, and cheerfully set about looking for a suitable model based on looks or cost. But actually the most important factor to get sorted out up front is heat output.
It’s easy to assume that simply opting for one that produces comfortably more heat than necessary would be the answer, but actually it’s better to go for one that is if anything slightly underpowered.
The reason is that wood burners are designed to run best when working at full capacity, otherwise they are much less efficient, which wastes fuel and costs money, they don’t look or feel so good due to smaller flames, and can build up soot and cause condensation problems in the flue.
The optimal way to use a wood burner is to run it flat out and if necessary store excess heat using an accumulator tank rather than try and “turn it down”.