Curious about Wood-Burning Cookers? Find the Model That Suits You!

What does the living space and floor plan look like?

You need to know the size of the living space to determine how much energy is required to heat the house. Different wood stoves and stove cookers have various capacities, so it’s good to know roughly how much power you need. Check with the manufacturer if you need clarification on what they recommend. Knowing your kitchen’s specific area/size, a salesperson can advise which model best suits your needs. A medium power output of, for example, 4kW can heat up to 60-70 square meters, depending on how open the floor plan is. People often overestimate the stove’s power in relation to the room’s size.

The stove’s power is a measure of how much wood you can put in at once – a larger stove, therefore, has a much higher power output than a smaller one. A stove also works best when it is fired at its maximum power level. If it gets too hot, you may try to burn the fire more slowly to obtain less power, but this will also result in poorer combustion. For example, a stove that is too large with too high power may become too hot if the kitchen is too small.

Also, consider whether you want a stove that heats up quickly or provides long-lasting heat. A sheet metal wood-burning stove heats up more rapidly and cools down more quickly. A cast iron wood-burning stove takes longer to heat up but has longer after-heat, delivering a more even temperature in the oven.

Do you need a wood-burning stove with additional features?

In the past, the type of glass ceramic we have today that can withstand the heat generated by a wood-burning stove did not exist. Due to positive developments, there are now various glass options that allow us to see the wonderful crackling fire. If you’re interested in this, it should be considered when choosing a model.

Another vital thing to consider is whether you need an oven. Slim stoves, for example, generally need an oven as they are optimized to fit into smaller spaces. So, if you usually start the day by baking bread, consider other models than just those.