Interiors: Why I chose a Charnwood wood burner.

the Charnwood c-four was received as a gifted product but my decision to have a Charnwood installed wasn't because of this.

Before I get started with this post I want to caveat it with I don’t need to delve in to the chimney debacle again but incase you’re reading this and don’t know the backstory you can find it here.

I was in two minds as to whether have another woodburner installed. I wasn't clear on their impact on the environment and while I was having the chimney removed it was an extra cost that I could have done without after needing to do so much renovation on the house. But living in an open plan living space I was finding it hard to get warm in the evening last winter and my fuel bills was through the roof. I found the bedrooms were heating up fine (in fact a little too well) but the downstairs wasn’t holding heat brilliantly. I tested out an electric fire in the living room towards the end of last winter and found that I was hardly needing to heat the rest of the house as I go to bed with two hot water bottles and prefer it on the cooler side for sleeping.

When it came to having the awful burner situation I had inherited I had to make a decision and it was through a work colleague that I learned about Charnwood, he told me that Charnwood produce clean burning stoves and they had a lot of interesting information on their site. So I went over and had a look and I went down a rabbit hole of learning about woodburners.

After spending some time reading the articles and doing a bit of digging around on the internet I don’t pretend to be an expert however I feel like I put in enough hours to make an informed decision. As you know looking after our planet is very important to me so this isn’t a decision I took lightly and in the end it came down to me weighing up how much gas I’d be using instead of using a wood burner.

I also researched how to correctly choose wood to burn, store it and how to burn it cleanly. But that’s a post for another time. This post is to tell you a little about Charnwood and why I chose one of their burners.

Charnwood’s ethos.

Charnwood’s mission is to provide forward thinking wood burning stoves that combine style and efficiency. The Charnwood stove range are all modern and have clean burning technology. Their statement is as follows:

At Charnwood Stoves, we pride ourselves on offering high-quality, efficient, and reliable wood-burning stoves. Our products are designed to provide maximum warmth and comfort while minimising environmental impact. We use advanced technology and sustainable materials to ensure our stoves burn cleaner and more efficiently than traditional wood-burning methods.

what is clean burning technology?

Good question. I had to do a bit of digging around to find the answer to this as I like to understand what terms actually mean. Essentially it means that the stoves have a double combustion design - the volatile byproducts emitted by burning wood in your stove are reignited and burnt again in the fire. This reduces the amount of wood you need to burn, emissions and ash deposits.

Clean burn regulation.

The eco rating of wood burning stoves is regulated by Ecodesign and Clearskies. SiA Ecodesign is a new European-wide programme to help lower emissions and improve air quality launching 1st January 2022 across the UK and Europe. Ecodesign products have to meet a strict set of clean-burning criteria. These are at least 90% better than an open fire and 80-84% better than older stoves. But, with an appetite to always do better most of Charnwood’s stoves not only meet the Ecodesign requirements but are at least a 20% improvement on the required criteria. Clearskies are the UK body that uses these requirements to grade a woodburner as per their level system. Read more here.

Choosing a stove.

When working with a company I always try and choose a product that would be my realistic budget. I was looking at the C-Four and C-Five as I liked their design but also they are Clearskies Level 5 stoves. I have to admit I got a bit confused on the install about how much space I was allowed to have each side of the burner - it’s not that my installer didn't explain it it’s just my brain only processes certain information about measurements! So I settled on the C-Four because I was worried about my chimney build being too dominant in the room. Stoves with over 5k output need extra ventilation which I didn't want and both stoves come in under this but my installer assured me the C-Four would have enough heat output for my space. And it does throw out a lot of heat for a small stove!

How it’s going.

I absolutely love my Charnwood stove. I’m no stranger to lighting fires as have had open fires before but I did have to work on a lighting technique. Dry wood is absolutely essential - not only for efficient burning but for the environment too. The burner kicks out a lot of heat and I love nothing more than an evening in with it roaring away. You can see the double combustion system at work and I rarely have to clean it out or clean up the front window.

I have become slightly geeky about the wood - I have a moisture meter and the flue thermometer. I’ve barely had the heating on yet because the burner does a great job of heating the house and I generally only need to burn about 3 logs over the course of an evening. I’ll do a dedicated post all about the wood soon.

Having had it installed for 6 months or so I think if I would do it again I’d have the C-Five but regardless I love this stove, it’s beautiful and brings me a lot of joy.