Warm home, honest numbers
Warm home, honest numbers. Independent UK guides and calculators for wood-burning and multi-fuel stoves: what size you need, how many logs you'll burn, whether they're dry, and what it all costs next to your other heating. Every sum is shown, and every figure is yours to change.
Calculators by topic
Choosing a stove
Ecodesign and exempt appliance explainer
Example: 3 things to check for England
Stove chooser quiz
Example: Your shortlist: Freestanding wood-only stove (wood burner) and 1 more
Stove size calculator
Example: Rule of thumb: about 3.4 kW for 48.0 m³. A starting point for your installer, not a design
Firewood and logs
Firewood calculator
Example: Heat needed: 2,080 kWh from the stove over the season
Kiln-dried vs seasoned value
Example: The kiln-dried logs are drier, so they give more heat per kg. Add the load weights and prices to compare value
Log moisture checker
Example: Ready to burn: average 19.0%
Seasoning time estimator
Example: Stacked in March: measure before you burn, and burn once a meter reads 20% or below
Burning well
CO alarm checklist
Example: 3 of 4 checks done: 1 thing to do
Guides by topic
Choosing a stove
Size, type, Ecodesign and buying guides: how to choose a wood burner or multi-fuel stove that suits your room.
The rules explained
Smoke control areas, Ecodesign, Ready to Burn, HETAS installers and CO alarms, explained in plain English with links to the official pages.
Firewood and logs
How much firewood you need, how to tell if logs are dry, seasoning, species and buying logs, with the sums shown.
Log storage
Log store sizes, stacking, kindling and deliveries: how to keep a winter's logs dry and handy.
Running costs
What a wood burner costs to run, compared honestly with gas, oil, electricity and heat pumps, using your own prices.
Burning well
Lighting, air controls, thermometers, glass and refuelling: how to get a clean, hot fire from your stove.
Maintenance and safety
Chimney sweeping, CO alarms, rope seals, firebricks and getting your stove ready for winter.
Kit and buying guides
Moisture meters, stove fans, thermometers, CO alarms and log stores, compared on makers' specs. Not tested.
Glossary
Stove and firewood terms explained: kW output, Ecodesign, smoke control areas, flue liners, moisture content and more.
Honest numbers
Stove output and efficiency come off your stove's spec plate, and prices come from you: we never fill them in. Rules of thumb are labelled as rules of thumb, and rules are linked to the official pages for each nation. Installing a stove is a job for a HETAS-registered installer. See how we calculate.