How To Choose The Right Woodburning Stove For Your Home

Choosing the right wood burning stove for your home can be a rewarding process—but one that demands thought and research. Whether you’re after a cosy focal point for a snug living room or a more substantial appliance to heat an open-plan space, our solid wood burner buying guide will help you get it right.

As you explore all the ranges of wood burning stoves on the market you’ll find they bring both practical heating performance and aesthetic appeal.

We’ve consulted with some experts – David and Sarah Hardingham of Dinghams Direct in Wiltshire – who’ve been in the woodburner business for more than 40 years, to come up with some great advice to help you shop with confidence for the best wood burning stove to suit your home.

1. Why choose a wood-burner?

Wood-burning stoves offer a number of advantages as a supplementary heating source in a domestic setting.

A woodburning stove costs about a third of the price of electric heating and 13% less than gas.
A modern stove will use less than a third of the amount of fuel compared to an open fire.
Then there’s the fact that wood is renewable and sustainable and can be locally sourced, so it is an environmentally friendly way to warm your home.

2. Types of stoves: wood only vs multi-fuel

A major decision to make when buying a wood burner is to consider fuel flexibility. There are two main categories:

• Wood-burner (wood only)
  These are designed primarily for burning seasoned logs. They tend to have fixed beds (rather than grates) and are optimised for wood combustion. They are clean burning, offer good window views of the fire, and efficient heat output.
• Multi-fuel stove
  These stoves are designed to burn logs and other fuels such as smokeless coal, peat briquettes or solid mineral fuels. The key mechanical difference is that multi-fuel stoves typically have a raised grate and an ash-pan beneath, enabling air to come up from below (which you don’t need for just wood).

3. Style, size and room compatibility

• Sizing for the room

One of the most important practical considerations when buying a woodburner is to match the stove’s output to your room size. A stove that’s too large will over-heat the room, while one too small won’t deliver enough heat. Choose appropriately from all the available sizes from around 4 kW (suitable for smaller rooms) up to 18 kW (for large open-plan or older uninsulated homes).

• Style and placement

Woodburning stoves come in many styles: traditional cast-iron, contemporary clean-lines, inset models (fitting within a fireplace opening), and freestanding models with their own flue.
Choose a style that suits both your interior décor and your functional needs (e.g. freestanding gives you more placement flexibility while inset stoves fit in existing chimney alcoves).
Don’t forget to consider the hearth requirements, clearance distances, flue system and installation constraints. It’s preferable to get professional advice when making your choice.

• Brands and quality

Good quality stoves from reputable makers will typically offer better durability, more consistent performance, and often better emissions compliance. Pick the best brand you can afford. When you’re investing in a woodburner it’s worth paying for proven performance, good customer support and warranty coverage.

4. Regulatory & environmental considerations

If you’re installing a new woodburning stove you’ll need to keep a few regulatory and emission items in mind.

• Ecodesign / low-emission stoves

Modern stove regulations require higher efficiency and lower particulate emissions (Ecodesign standards). Make sure any stove you are considering is ECO-DESIGN approved – meaning they adhere to European directives on Air Pollution. Choosing a compliant stove is not just about protecting the environment—it ensures your stove meets current standards and is future-proofed.

• Smoke control zones and DEFRA approved stoves

If your home is within a designated smoke control zone (which many UK towns and cities now are), you must use a stove that is certified for use in such an area. These are often called DEFRA approved stoves (a reference to Department for Environment, Food & Rural Affairs regulations). You should always check that the stove you choose is explicitly approved for smoke control zones, unless you’re outside such an area.

• Flue, chimney and installation

All woodburning stoves are fitted with a flue which vents harmful exhaust gases, smoke and byproducts from the stove safely outside the home. If you have an existing chimney this will need to have a liner installed. If the stove is freestanding it will need a flue, in the form of a pipe, to carry the smoke and emissions from the stove to the outdoors. Proper installation by a qualified HETAS registered installer is required to validate warranties and comply with insurance requirements.

5. Practical tips for buying and living with a stove

• Check local fuel availability and wood quality: You’ll need a supply of seasoned logs (moisture content under 20%) to burn in your stove to ensure a clean burn, maximum heat output and operational safety
• Think long-term maintenance: A well maintained woodburner can last over 20 years. Annual chimney sweeps and servicing are essential.
• Visit a showroom: Seeing stoves in real-life helps you assess size, style, build quality and installation constraints.
• Consider output margin: If you have an insulated home you may need less output; oversized stoves can cause over-heating and short fire-runs.
• Clearances & hearth: Follow the manufacturer’s clearance requirements and ensure your hearth size is adequate (e.g., at least 300 mm in front of the stove door).
• Smoke control zone compliance: Check whether you are in a zone and choose a stove accordingly.
• Professional installation: Even if you are handy, you’ll likely still need a qualified HETAS (Heating Equipment Testing and Approvals Scheme) installer for the flue and certification of compliance with Building Regulations.

If you’re based in Wiltshire and would like expert, local advice, one-stop supply and showroom access, then the team at Dinghams Direct are well placed to help. They have been operating their fireplace and stove business since 1982, with a woodburner stove showroom in Salisbury where you can view stoves in person, speak to experienced staff, and explore your options with confidence.