Traditional Inset Stoves

This will depend entirely on the size of the room, the location of the stove within the house and how well the house is insulated. There is a guideline calculation to help you find this out: measure the room (length x width x height) and multiply these figures. Divide this figure by 14 and this will give you the nominal heat output. If your room is poorly insulated or without double glazed windows, divide the figure by 10. Similarly, if your house is new-build and the room is very well insulated, divide the figure by 25 to achieve your nominal output. Be aware that many stove manufacturers offer a ‘nominal’ output, and this will have an output range (for example, if you have a 5kW nominal output stove, it will have a range of about 3-7kW, depending on the amount of fuel used and the positioning of the air controls). You will also find that there are often different sized stoves with the same nominal output. This is due to the size of the firebox inside the stove and the amount of fuel used to measure the output. If the same amount of fuel is used to measure the output but in different sized fireboxes, there will inevitably be the same output. Be aware of this when choosing your stove, as having a stove with a large firebox but only loading it with a small amount of fuel will cause problems during the combustion process and will result in the air wash not working properly. Similarly, if you buy a small stove and fill it to the brim with fuel, you will cause problems due to overfiring, which will result in damage to your stove, baffle and/ or flue system as well as the potential risk of a chimney fire. There are also limitations regarding the positioning of the stove, either freestanding in a room or in an opening. These are known as ‘distances to combustibles and non-combustibles’ and will vary with each manufacturer. As a general rule, there should be a minimum of 100-150mm to non-combustible materials, such as brick. This is to ensure good airflow around the stove, allowing heat to radiate out into the room. If this is not achieved, brickwork and plaster around the stove can crack due to excessive heat, and most of the heat will be lost up the chimney. If you are in any doubt and need help choosing the right size stove for your room, come and talk to us at Firebox Stoves and can provide you with friendly, expert advice.

Absolutely! Although if you are planning on having a stove installed in a new-build or passive house, do not follow the guidelines for sizing a stove for use in a regular home. Due to increased insulation and lack of natural draughts, a stove with a significantly lower output would be recommended so as not to produce too much heat. In a new build or passive house, air flow is significantly restricted from the external to the internal and so choosing a stove with a direct air supply option is a must. This will ensure the air used for combustion is taken directly from outside as opposed from in the room where the appliance (and occupants) are located. This will also reduce the risk of carbon monoxide poisoning as the fire burns out as the combustion air is not being recycled in the room. Not every stove is direct air compatible, so it is important to check with your supplier and select the right stove whilst also ensuring the building is able to have the pipe venting directly through an external wall.

An inset stove (sometimes called an insert stove) can be of the wood or multifuel variety and is designed to be inserted into a chimney breast or false wall. These types of stove are designed to have stainless-steel casing surrounding the appliance to protect the internal of the wall from radiating heat and to prevent heat escaping from the appliance into the surrounding wall. Freestanding stoves, as the name implies, are designed to be freestanding in a room or chimney breast and radiate and/or convect heat from all angles of the appliance. Both inset stoves and freestanding stoves work the same way internally and have the same design of firebricks and baffles, air-wash system and combustion technologies. Both types of stove are also available in modern and contemporary designs and with different outputs.

Inset stoves tend to be convection stoves, in that they draw cold air in, heat the air in the firebox and dispel it around the room. A more evenly distributed heat source is achieved during this method as heat is forced out of the appliance. Whereas freestanding stoves can be of the convection or radiating variety (sometimes both) and although they can dispel heat through convection too, it is inevitable that some of the heat will be lost up the chimney or through the walls surrounding the appliance. Because of this, and the level of insulation in the appliance and in the area surrounding the appliance, inset stoves do tend to be slightly more efficient compared to their freestanding equivalents- although this is frequently debated and is usually down to the installation, location within the room and contributing factors such as insulation in the house and natural draughts.