Well, my wood burners are in but.......

[Nemesis]

Here's some bumph:

http://www.culture.gov.uk/what_we_do/historic_environment/3330.aspx#1


It all looks good. It may be that for a better burn you need to raise the fuel on a grate. We have some firebricks in ours to reduce the area of fuel.

 

[Tom]

Thanks for this link, Nemesis

Regarding the grate, I only intend to burn wood and all the info I've read so far, including that on the manufacturers website, says to burn wood on the floor of the stove, initially on a 1" bed of sand and after that on a bed of ash. Given your experience, would you disagree with that? If so, I'd be happy to try it with the grate as I have no stove experience of my own to work with but I'm happy to take others' advice. Thanks.

Jaqy

 

[Penners]

It may be that for a better burn you need to raise the fuel on a grate.

I agree, although a number of factors are relevant.

If yours is a stove that has an "air wash" system, that allows the incoming air to flow down the inside face of the glass (supposedly to keep it clean - pah!), then you may find that burning without a grate is better. If the air flow comes in through a vent in the bottom, you may find that the burn is more controllable with a grate.

It's also useful to have a grate with an ashpan underneath, for periodic clearing out (yes, you do still need to do this from time to time - put wood ash on the compost heap).

But suck-it-and-see is the best plan. Try both ways and see which works best.

 

[skier-hughes]

On my two fires.
One has a grate one doesn't.
They are different models
The one without can be set to burn much slower, which is good when Jo is working and just needs some gentle background heat.
The one with can be set to burn reasonable slowly, but can also be set to burn with much more gusto. There is much more waste from the one with the grate as bits that haven't burned properly fall through and of course the ash doesn't get so hot and ensure it is properly burned..

 

[Moneypit]

supposedly to keep it clean - pah!.

Can't comment for other makes but our Clearview stove makes just such a claim, and I can confirm that if the stove had come in a tin from Ronseal then it would have been written all over the outside.