Wood Stoves

Choosing a wood stove

Size down, not up

Work from firebox volume and the manufacturer's heating area, then take the honest view of your house. Those square-footage figures assume reasonable insulation and a layout that lets heat move; a closed floor plan, a draughty older house or a stove tucked in a corner all cut the real number considerably. A stove heats the room it is in far better than the rooms beyond it. When you are between two sizes, take the smaller one and burn it hot — that is how these appliances are designed to run, and it is cleaner, brighter and produces less creosote than a big stove held back all winter.

The hearth pad and clearances decide where it can go

A freestanding stove needs floor protection underneath and specified clearances to combustible walls on every side, and together these often need more room than people expect. The hearth pad has a required size and, on many models, a required insulating value — a sheet of tile laid straight onto floorboards may not satisfy it. Clearances can usually be reduced with the manufacturer's own heat shields or an approved wall shield with an air gap behind it. Measure the space with the pad and the clearances drawn in before you choose a model, not after.

Two different kinds of pipe

The run from the stove to the ceiling is connector pipe, single or double wall, and it is part of the room. The run from there through the ceiling, the floors above and out through the roof is class A insulated chimney, and it is a different, more expensive product. Single-wall connector needs considerably more clearance to combustibles than double-wall — often in the region of 18 inches — so a tight installation is frequently the reason to pay for double-wall. Your model's manual gives the figures that apply. Budget the full stack, because on a two-storey house it can rival the stove itself.

Draft is what makes a stove work

Most stoves here want around 15 feet of chimney measured from the stove top, and the flue should be the diameter the manual specifies — 6" on essentially everything in this collection. Oversizing the flue is a real mistake: exhaust cools, draft weakens, and you get smoke in the room and creosote in the pipe. An interior chimney drafts better than one strapped to an outside wall because it stays warm. If the house is tightly sealed, an outside air kit stops the stove competing with the bath fans and the range hood.

EPA 2020 is the current standard

The EPA's 2020 particulate limit is what new wood stoves are built to, and certified models are meaningfully cleaner and more efficient than anything from a generation ago. The models here that publish a figure emit between about 1.26 and 1.7 grams per hour and run efficiencies in the region of 70 to 77%. Check the individual model rather than assuming, and check your local rules too — some air-quality districts require certified appliances, and some offer change-out rebates for replacing an old stove.

Catalytic or non-catalytic

Nearly everything here is non-catalytic: baffles and secondary air burn off the smoke, there is nothing to replace, maintenance is simpler and the fire is livelier to watch. A catalytic stove routes exhaust through a coated combustor that burns smoke at a lower temperature, which buys longer and steadier low-output burns at the cost of a part that needs monitoring and eventual replacement. If you want to load at bedtime and still have coals at breakfast, catalytic is worth the upkeep. Otherwise non-catalytic is the easier stove to live with.

Legs or pedestal, and the blower

Many models are offered on cast iron legs or on a pedestal, and it is not only a styling choice. Legs give a lighter, more traditional look and often an ash drawer; a pedestal is more contemporary, and the two can require different floor protection and fresh-air kits. A blower will not increase the heat a stove produces, but it moves that heat away from the stove and into the room, which makes a real difference in a larger or awkwardly shaped space. It needs an outlet nearby and it stops working in a power cut — though the stove itself carries on regardless, which is much of the point of wood heat.

If you want to cook on it

Two models here are proper wood-fired cookstoves with a baking oven rather than heating stoves with a warm top plate. They are a different proposition: the firebox is arranged for controllable cooking heat, and the oven works from the same fire that warms the room. If cooking or baking matters — whether for off-grid living, a cabin or resilience in an outage — buy a cookstove rather than hoping to manage on a stove top.

Wood stove FAQs

What size wood stove do I need?

Go by firebox volume. Under 1.6 cubic feet suits a cabin, a single room or a well-insulated modern house; 1.6 to 2.4 covers the main living space of an average home and is the size most buyers should choose; 2.4 to 3.5 suits a large or draughty house, or anyone who wants a long overnight burn. Temper the manufacturer's square footage with your insulation and layout, and when in doubt choose the smaller stove, because an oversized one has to be run throttled down and that burns dirty.

Do wood stoves need a chimney?

Yes, and it is not optional or improvised. You need connector pipe from the stove to the ceiling and class A insulated chimney from there out through the roof, sized to the diameter in the manual — 6" on essentially every model here. Roughly 15 feet of total height is a common minimum for adequate draft. An existing masonry chimney can sometimes be used with a correctly sized stainless liner.

What is an EPA 2020 certified wood stove?

It is a stove that meets the EPA's current particulate emission limit, which is the standard new appliances are built to. In practice certification means secondary combustion that burns off the smoke an older stove would send up the flue, so you get more heat from the same wood and far less pollution. Some air-quality districts require certified appliances, and some offer rebates for replacing an uncertified stove.

Can a wood stove heat a whole house?

A large one can come close in the right house, but it depends far more on the building than the stove. An open plan with the stove central, good insulation and a way for warm air to move will heat remarkably well. A closed floor plan, long corridors or rooms on the other side of the house will stay cooler no matter how large the stove, and buying a bigger one to compensate makes the room with the stove uncomfortable rather than warming the rest. Fans and vents help; layout decides.

Does a wood stove need a hearth pad?

Yes. Floor protection is required under and in front of every freestanding stove, in a size the manual specifies, and many models also require a minimum insulating value rather than just a non-combustible surface. That means tile laid directly on a wooden floor may not be enough on its own. Get the required dimensions and R-value from the manual for the exact model before you buy the materials.

How long will a wood stove burn on one load?

Among the models here that publish a figure, six to ten hours, with the larger fireboxes at the top of that range. Real burn time depends on the wood as much as the stove: seasoned hardwood at around 20% moisture burns far longer than softwood or damp wood. If an overnight burn matters, look at firebox volume first and at catalytic models second, since they hold a low steady output better.

What is the difference between a wood stove and a wood insert?

A stove stands free in the room on a hearth pad, radiating from every surface, and needs its own chimney. An insert is built to slide into an existing masonry fireplace and uses that chimney with a stainless liner, taking no floor space. If you have a masonry fireplace you no longer use, the insert is cheaper to install and the obvious answer. If you have no fireplace, or you want maximum radiant heat, buy the stove.

Related collections

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• All fireplace inserts
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