Wood heating at home – fireplaces, stoves and fireplaces bring extra heat to the home

In homes and cottages, you should use fireplaces, stoves and other fireplaces for heating. Wood heating can reduce the amount of heating energy you have to buy. Electric heaters in particular benefit from regular small-scale wood burning, as direct electric heating reacts quickly to other heat sources.

With the right size fireplace, it is possible to provide up to a third of the heating needs of a small house. The best results are achieved with storage fireplaces, where the heat stored in the structure is transferred to the rooms at low power over a long period of time. Energy-efficient storage fireplaces have an efficiency of up to 80-85%.

It is particularly useful to burn wood during periods of severe frost, when the heating demand is high and the heat produced by the fireplace does not cause the indoor temperature to rise.

How to burn wood at home efficiently and cleanly?

• Use only dry and clean wood. If possible, bring the firewood inside beforehand to warm it up, so that any moisture that condenses quickly from the indoor air can evaporate from its surface.
• Wet, painted or impregnated wood and debris are not included in the fireplace.
• Burn only the necessary amount of wood at a time.
• Lower the temperature of the actual heating system before lighting a fire in the fireplace or oven. Make sure the air source heat pump does not have an automatic cooling function.
• Open the doors to all rooms so that the heat spreads evenly throughout the home.
• Light the fireplace correctly.
  • Before loading firewood, check that ash does not cover the grate, empty the ash trap and open the smoke dampers fully.
  • Fill the firebox so that the free space is at least one third of the height of the firebox.

• If the fireplace does not draw well at low pressure, turn off the forced ventilation or extractor fan while the fireplace is lit and try opening the windows.
• Burn wood in the heater also before the absence period and before lowering the heat, as this slows down the indoor temperature during the absence.

What is good firewood?

• Wood is burned in logs or clumps.
• The wood must be dried before use.
• A suitable moisture content for wood burning in a fireplace is 15-20%.
• The quality of firewood has a significant impact on the amount of energy it produces, the emissions it produces and its safety. Using clean, dry wood avoids unnecessary particulate emissions. Painted and impregnated wood can release toxic gases during combustion. The moisture content of wood can be controlled by proper drying and storage.
• Trees that have been dried outdoors in the sun should be moved to the shed before the autumn rains. If trees have to be stored outside, they should be covered. Inside, in a wooden box or rack, it is best to bring in a few days’ worth of mottled wood to allow for some drying.
• Woodpiles may not be stacked on the wall of a building and no clapboards may be stored in a carport or garage. The safe storage distance from a residential building is defined as eight metres. The safety distance for wood storage may be reduced by fire compartmentation. In the event of fire, improperly stored trees may reduce the insurance cover.

What kind of fireplace or hearth should you choose?

• The most important factor in choosing a fireplace is how you want to use it.
• In a storage fireplace, there is a lot of mass to store heat. The mass releases heat slowly and evenly by radiation. A storage fireplace is usually heated once a day, so it heats its surroundings around the clock. In the case of a fireplace, several litres of wood can be burnt at a time, subject to the maximum quantities specified in the instructions for use of the fireplace.
• A recirculating fireplace circulates the air in the room and releases heat quickly. The heat is then efficiently distributed over a wide area and also heats different surfaces. Recirculating air fireplaces are much lighter than storage fireplaces, making them better suited for instant heating and creating a cosy atmosphere. Some models of recirculating fireplaces also have a reservoir mass.
• A pellet fireplace is an automatically working circulating air fireplace. Inside the fireplace there is a pellet tank that can hold enough pellets to last a few days. The fireplace lights the pellets it has been fed into the grate and feeds more pellets until the thermostat or hourly programming tells it to stop and burns the pellets out. The pellet fireplace uses electricity for automatic functions.
• When choosing a fireplace, it is a good idea to contact several suppliers and ask them about the different options.
• Correct sizing of the fireplace is important. A fireplace that is undersized may need to be overheated, which can damage the structure of the fireplace and, at worst, pose a safety risk.
• The fireplace is placed in a spacious location in the living areas. It is also important to ensure that there is an adequate supply of replacement air.

Fireplace structure