5 reasons why a woodburner is better than an open fire

1. A woodburner is more efficient than an open fire

The biggest advantage of a wood-burning stove over an open fire is that it will save you money. The open front and chimney of a regular fireplace make it hugely inefficient. In fact, around 80 per cent of the energy released from your fuel disappears straight up the chimney without so much as warming your room.

A woodburner, on the other hand, can lose as little as 20 per cent of the heat (depending on what is being burnt and how the stove is being operated). The result is that you need less fuel in order to heat your home and, as a consequence, the stove is cheaper to operate.

2. A woodburner is more environmentally friendly

When we talk about energy from your fuel escaping up the chimney, as we did above, that is unspent flammable gases being released into the atmosphere. It is far better for the environment for those gases to be burnt before they leave your home.

Not only are stoves more efficient than open fires in terms of the percentage of energy wasted, they also include systems, such as the baffle and secondary or tertiary air supply, to prevent flammable gases from leaving the stove before being burnt.

3. A woodburner give you more control than an open fire

With an open fire, once it’s lit you have few options beyond keeping it lit or waiting for it to go out. A wood-burning stove comes with controls, so you can alter the air supply to the fuel and have greater power over the heat being produced and how quickly the fire goes out.

4. A woodburner creates less draught than an open fire

More obvious reasons, rooms are usually less draughty with a sealed chimney, narrow flue pipe and wood-burning stove with a door on it than they are with open fireplaces and chimneys.

5. A woodburner leaves more heat in the room

All chimneys pull air up them in order to function correctly. But when your room has a large open chimney, it is likely to suck up lots of the warm air that your fire has generated so that the heat is lost.

That’s less of a problem when you have a wood-burning stove.