Wood Burning vs Multi-Fuel Stoves - Pros & Cons

Choosing between a wood-burning stove and a multi-fuel stove is one of the key decisions when buying a stove. Both wood-burning stoves and multi-fuel stoves have benefits, so picking the right option for your home will depend on your heating needs, lifestyle and the fuel you want or have readily available to burn.

In this guide, we’ll weigh up wood-burning stoves vs multi-fuel stoves to help you choose the stove that’s best-suited to you and your home.

What is a Wood Burning Stove?

A wood burning stove is an enclosed, solid-fuel heating appliance. Wood-burning stoves feature an insulated firebox, usually made from cast iron or steel, where the fuel can be burnt. 

Wood-burning stoves are made to burn only wood. Since logs burn best on a shallow bed of ashes, wood-burning stoves typically have a flat grate and no ashpan.

People generally choose a wood-burning stove when they want to or can only burn logs. A wood-burning stove offers better wood combustion and often slightly higher efficiency when burning logs.

What is a Multi Fuel Stove?

A multi fuel stove is also an enclosed, solid-fuel heating appliance usually made from cast iron or steel. It also has an insulated firebox where fuel is burnt. Unlike wood-burning stoves, multi-fuel stoves can be used to burn a variety of solid fuels, including wood, smokeless coal and other approved smokeless fuels.

Multi fuel stoves usually have a raised internal grate with an ashpan below it. The bars of the grate can often be adjusted so that they’re closed when burning logs and open when burning smokeless fuels, which burn better with air flowing from beneath.

People generally choose a multi-fuel stove for the flexibility of being able to burn different fuels at different times.

Key Differences Between Wood Burning and Multi Fuel Stoves

While wood burning stoves and multi fuel stoves provide many of the same benefits, there are some key differences between the two options. Some of the main differences between woodburners and multi-fuel stoves include:

Pros and Cons of Wood Burning Stoves

Given the differences between wood burning stoves and multi fuel stoves, there are advantages and disadvantages of both options. Here are the key pros and cons of wood burning stoves.

Pros of Wood Burning Stoves

Better wood combustion – Wood burning stoves are designed specifically to burn logs, which results in slightly better wood combustion than you get with a wood-burning stove. This is mainly due to the flat, fixed grate.

• High efficiency – Again, since wood burning stoves are made solely to burn logs, they typically deliver a more efficient burn than multi fuel stoves.
• Low emissions – Burning properly seasoned or kiln-dried logs in a modern wood burning stove generally results in lower carbon emissions than burning smokeless fuels.
• Fewer moving parts – Given the lack of a movable grate, a wood burning stove is a simpler appliance with fewer moving parts. This simpler construction means there’s less chance of experiencing any mechanical problems.
• Sensational flame views – Wood-only fires typically create a spectacular flame. Given that seasoned wood burns very clean, these views remain on show.
• Low ash production – Wood burns cleanly, leaving very few ashes in comparison to smokeless coals. This can mean less dust and less frequent cleaning of ashes.

Cons of Wood Burning Stoves

• Limited flexibility – Wood burning stoves can burn only wood, meaning you don’t have the option to switch to other fuels when it would be convenient to do so.
• Shorter burn time – Wood burns more quickly than smokeless coals. This results in a shortened burn team and the need to refuel a wood burning stove more frequently.

Pros and Cons of Multi Fuel Stoves

Just like wood burning stoves, multi-fuel stoves have their advantages and disadvantages. Let’s explore some of the main pros and cons of multi fuel stoves.

Pros of Multi Fuel Stoves

• Flexible fuel options – Multi fuel stoves give the option of choosing between log, smokeless coal and other approved fuels. This creates the opportunity of choosing the right fuel for the right occasion.
• Longer burn times – Smokeless fuels generally offer longer burn times than wood burning stoves. This means you don’t have to refill the firebox as regularly.
• Easier backup options – The fuel flexibility of a multi fuel stove gives you the option to switch between different fuels if you run out or there is a shortage of a particular fuel type.
• Greater heat control – With multiple air vents and slower-burning fuels, multi fuel stoves tend to offer slightly more heat control than wood burning stoves.

Cons of Multi Fuel Stoves

• Lower wood-burning efficiency – When burning logs, multi fuel stoves are sometimes slightly less efficient than wood burning stoves that have been designed solely to burn logs.
• More components – Multi fuel stoves have raised grates, riddling mechanisms and ash pans. More moving parts and consumables might increase your maintenance workload and costs slightly.
• Increased ash production – Smokeless fuels create more ashes than logs. This means the ashpan needs to be emptied regularly, and might result in slightly more dust being created by the stove.

Cost Comparison of Wood Burning vs Multi Fuel Stoves

The cost of buying a wood burning stove and multi fuel stove is roughly the same, so there are no huge savings to be made by buying one or the other. In terms of running costs, this will largely be dictated by the availability and cost of different fuels in your area.

For example, if you have access to a large quantity of free wood, running a wood burning stove will be far cheaper than buying smokeless fuel for a multi fuel stove.

Both seasoned firewood and a variety of smokeless coals are widely available in the UK. Given that a higher percentage of smokeless fuel materials are imported than wood, there is an argument that smokeless fuel availability could more easily be impacted by geopolitical and economic events.

Assuming you will be buying your fuel, logs are far cheaper to buy than smokeless coal by weight. But smokeless fuels give off far more energy than the same weight in logs would.

For that reason, when comparing the price of wood burning vs multi fuel stoves, or comparing the cost of home heating in general, it makes sense to look at the cost per kilowatt hour (kWh). In other words, how much does it cost to generate one kilowatt of heat for one hour?

At the time of writing, heating your home with wood costs around 10.39 pence per kWh, while smokeless fuels cost around 13.39 pence per kWh. On that basis, it’s slightly cheaper to heat your home with a wood burning stove than a multi fuel stove.

However, since smokeless fuels deliver a longer burn, require less refuelling and give off heat for longer, some multi fuel stove owners may perceive this as giving better overall value.

Which Stove is Right for Your Home?

Deciding whether a wood burning stove or a multi fuel stove is best for your home depends on your situation. 

If you have access to a free supply of logs, prefer the cleaner burn or better flames of burning wood, or you like the idea of an appliance with simpler mechanisms, a wood burning stove is the right option for you.

Some of the best options to consider include the Arada Lagom 4kW Wood Burning Stove and the ACR Neo 3F Wood Burning Stove.

If you want the flexibility to be able to choose different types of fuel according to preference, availability or price, or if you like the idea of refuelling less frequently and having greater control over the heat from your fire, a multi fuel stove is the way to go.

Among our recommended multi fuel stoves are the Mazona Kingsmere 5kW Multi Fuel Stove and the Mazona Ripley 8kW Multi Fuel Stove.

FAQs

Is a wood burning stove better than a multi fuel stove?

Whether a wood burning stove is better than a multi fuel stove depends on what you want from your stove. A wood burning stove is better at burning wood efficiently and cleanly, creates more spectacular flames and is slightly simpler to operate than a multi fuel stove.

Can you burn wood in a multi fuel stove?

Yes, you can burn wood in a multi fuel stove. The wood should always be seasoned or kiln-dried. Although you can burn wood or smokeless fuel in a multi-fuel stove, you should burn one or the other and not both at the same time.

Are multi fuel stoves more efficient than wood burners?

Whether multi fuel stoves are more efficient than wood burners depends on which fuel you’re burning. Multi fuel stoves tend to be less efficient than wood burners when burning logs, since wood burners are designed specifically for that purpose. 

The best Ecodesign multi fuel stoves are highly efficient when burning smokeless fuels. But there is no comparative efficiency with wood burning stoves since you can’t burn smokeless fuels on a wood burner.

What fuel is cheapest for a stove in the UK?

Based on the cost per kilowatt hour of heat generated, seasoned logs are the cheapest fuel for a stove in the UK. It currently costs around 10.39 pence per kWh to heat your home with a stove, with smokeless fuels costing around 13.39 pence per kWh. If you’re able to source free wood or season logs at home, the running cost drops even lower.

Why Choose Gr8fires for Your Stove?

We’ve been selling both wood burning stoves and multi fuel stoves to customers across the UK for decades. We offer a wide range of stoves, and we are committed to helping customers choose the right stove for their needs and their home. Our customer support team is on hand to share our expertise, talk you through the options and help you make the right decision.

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