Top 10 ways to improve the efficiency of your wood-burning stove

Find out how you can boost wood-burning stove efficiency to make your woodburner more efficient.

Improving the efficiency of your wood-burning stove makes your woodburner cheaper to run, cleaner and easier to maintain. For those reason, it makes sense to do everything in your power to make your woodburner as efficient as possible.

Now, it's worth saying at the outset that, while these woodburner efficiency tips work on all stoves, it's a good idea to give yourself a head start by choosing a wood-burning stove that already has a high efficiency rating.

Once your wood-burning stove is installed, there are many things you can do to make sure your stove is burning cleanly, costing you as little as possible while also generating as much heat as possible.

Here are the top 10 ways of improving wood-burning stove efficiency.

1. Use dry kindling to light your stove

Using dry kindling and newspaper to light your woodburner gets the fire started quickly, which also heats the firebox and flue system quickly. You're essentially getting your stove heated up rapidly.

This means your logs ignite more easily and have less work to do. More of the energy they generate can then go directly towards heating your room. This reduces the number of logs needed to get your room up to the temperature you want.

2. Choose efficient wood to burn

Not all wood burns the same. Different types of wood have different burn rates. How quickly your logs burn and how much heat they give off both have a big impact on the performance of your stove.

Generally, hardwoods are the most efficient woods to burn. They are denser than softwood, which means they take longer to burn and give off more heat. Woods like ash, beech, apple, birch or hawthorn are a good starting point.

Similarly, if you’re able to collect free wood from fallen trees, you can reduce the cost of your fuel to absolutely nothing, which makes for a very cost-effective burn!

3. Burn only seasoned wood

Logs burn far more efficiently when they have been seasoned. Your firewood should either be bought seasoned or, if you're seasoning your own wood, chopped, split and left to dry for at least a year. Ideally, your logs will have less than 20% moisture content.

Don't be tempted to burn unseasoned logs or other fuels on your stove. Burning damp wood will lead to excess smoke, less heat and possibly the build-up of corrosive substances, such as creosote, within the chimney flue.

4. Open both air vents during lighting

It’s common sense really, but sometimes people forget their school science lessons when confronted with a new stove. Open both air vents on your stove when lighting the fire because the oxygen will help the fire to get going.

Similarly to using dry kindling, having both air vents open improves ignition and makes it easier for your logs to set alight.

5. Close the bottom air vent once the stove is going

Once the logs are burning well, close the bottom (primary) air vent. This stops the wood from disappearing too fast and gives a steadier burn.

Experiment with partially closing the top (secondary) air vent. Limiting the supply of oxygen slows down how quickly the fuel will burn. The longer the fuel lasts, the more efficient the burn will be. Just take care not to limit the air supply to the extent that the fire becomes a smouldering, inefficient burn or is completely extinguished.

This will produce an efficient, hot fire which burns off excess vapours rather than send them into the atmosphere. Larger fires, with the air vents open too wide, will cause your stove to overfire. This means it is operating at too high a temperature, which can damage the appliance. Using a stove thermometer enables you to check that your stove is operating at the optimum temperature for maximum stove efficiency. 

6. Wait for the logs to burn down before reloading

It’s nice to look at roaring flames, but as long as your logs are burning, they are still heating your stove, which is heating your room. Wait until the logs have been reduced to embers before adding more logs.

If you refuel too soon, you're only going to get through more logs than you need to.

7. Remove your ashes – but not all of them

A thin bed of ashes can help logs to burn well on a wood-burning stove. But too many ashes will block the flow of air and limit the efficiency of the stove. It is important to find the right balance to maximise woodburner efficiency.

8. Get your chimney swept

The draw of air up your woodburner flue is vital in ensuring your wood-burning stove efficiency. That's why regularly getting your chimney swept is so important.

Call upon the services of a chimney sweep at least once a year, or twice if you’re a prolific stove user, to ensure there are no blockages. Build-ups of creosote in your flue not only prevent the stove from working efficiently but also increase the risk of a chimney fire.

9. Improve the draw up your flue

The flow of air into your stove system and up the flue is at the very heart of how the woodburner works, and how efficiently it burns. For that reason, you need to ensure a strong draw up the flue.

If your property is in an exposed location, prone to windy conditions or relatively low, you might struggle to generate a strong enough draw. Some chimney cowls, such as anti-downdraught cowls, can address that situation and encourage a more efficient burn.

10. Improve your insulation

Away from the stove itself, improving the insulation in your home will help to keep all of the heat you're creating in your home. A better insulated home not only retains heat more effectively, it also needs fewer logs to get up to temperature in the first place.

The result is more efficient woodburner operation.

Make your woodburner more efficient

Following these very simple steps could help you to increase your wood-burning stove efficiency – and make some significant savings on your home heating costs in the process.

One way of checking that you're operating your wood-burning stove efficiently is to step outside and look at the top of your flue. If a large amount of smoke is being emitted, you're using your stove inefficiently. An efficient woodburner will only produce a slight wisp of smoke.

If you've not yet installed a logburner, make sure to pick a high-efficiency appliance when choosing a wood-burning stove. Since Ecodesign stoves have to reach strict efficiency standards to achieve accreditation, they are a useful starting point for anyone wanting an efficient woodburner.