Wood heater reviews and recommendations

I am pleased I could share the research :slight_smile: I didn’t research the Nectre only because for me, the models I looked at weren’t quite suitable for my home in terms of look. I have had a look at some of the other comments and agree that if you have higher than normal ceilings, a ceiling fan to push the hot air back down works a treat. My parents had one in their home and swear by it (not at it LOL). Also, you can get the wood heaters with fans built in so you will need to have a power source for it nearby. I agree too with the comment about going to a local supplier who can help with installation, servicing and spares when needed. Bunnings were telling me about a customer who had bought a wood heater and the first time they used it the door glass cracked. They had to uninstall it to take it back to the store to have it replaced! A local store will also understand your local area and what works best as well as you are supporting a local business.

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I agree with most things you said except about overnight burning, our 30 season old Arrow slow combustion stove easily burns overnight and the amount of times it has burned out all its fuel before morning in those years could be counted on both hands.
Maybe the current generation of wood heaters have changed a lot. We just make sure the fire is hot with lots of coals and before bed we load a big piece of wood allow it to catch well on fire and then close it down, next morning the firebox is still hot and there is a nice bed of coals to throw on fresh fuel.

Redgum and yellow box achieve the longest burns but good dry local messmate can easily achieve it as well, this year we are largely burning Oak from a large tree that was up rooted a few years ago in a storm that was full of termites and it easily achieves overnight burn.

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Hi, Lots of comments here. I would definitely go with Nectre with no fan. Fans are noisy from my experience, and are not required with good quality heaters. Avoid Ultimate brand. They advertise a lot, always on special but very poor performers. Good luck, Cheers, Justin

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We have a Nectre with a fan, bought in the 1990’s. It is fantastic!

Our home is at the bottom of a valley and our neighbours have a wood burning heater and the smoke coming into our home is dreadful!!! And a great concern regarding our health. It is amazing how it seeps through every nook and cranny. They should definitely be banned in Sydney suburbs.

Anyone who doesn’t have a long term supply of reasonably priced good quality wood should seriously reconsider this form of heating. Currently wood in Adelaide metro is $360 per tonne and the quality is sometimes very poor. Depending on use, even if the heater is the latest fan forced efficient model, the consumption will be at least a tonne every four weeks. That’s $1500 a season not including constant repairs, flue cleaning and electricity for the fan. When I installed my heater 10 years ago wood was $120 per tonne and plentiful and it was a good proposition watching power prices soar, but as wood becomes more scarce and expensive, the money would be better spent on solar which I have done and will add to over time with storage. $15000 over ten years buys a lot of solar equipment which is getting progressively less expensive. I am switching to bottled gas and reverse cycle ducted and will retire the heater. It’s not worth it and in my estimation will become more so over time


That’s pretty horrific pricing for wood in Adelaide, makes me glad to have a plentiful free supply- just some effort required to collect it.

What will you use the gas for? It is arguably worse for the environment than an efficient wood heater, being a fossil fuel, and solar/battery powered induction (much more efficient and faster than gas, and doesn’t heat the house up in summer) for a stove top and oven/microwave removes the need for it for cooking purposes.

a temporary measure while I get my solar setup complete.

We live in the Blue Mountains NSW and use our Osburn (Canadian) Slow Combustion Fireplace for up to 5 months per year. Some days we burn 24/7, others we’ll just burn in the evenings through to morning. There is always red coal left the following morning for an easily restart, if required. We easily warm our 4 bedroom/2 living room home using the Osburn - without the need for a fan. Our Osburn was installed in 1996 - it’s still going strong - flue cleaned annually and the door seals replaced only once thus far! Burning good quality hardwood always gives off the most successful result. I highly recommend their products http://www.osburn-australia.com/. The other 2 companies I would also suggest are http://www.lopi.com.au/ (American) and https://www.nectre.com/ (Australian). We have friends in the Mountains with these products - their homes are always warm and inviting & they are also happy with their Slow Combustion Fireplace choice. Hope that helps! Best wishes with your decision - it’s a personal one. Stay warm and happy wood splitting
 :slight_smile:

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Hope you’ve found something.
40+ years ago we bought a KENT slow combustion wood fire.
It was a NZ brand that met their (then) much stricter than ours pollution levels. It was efficient with wood use, burnt all night and was easy to start up in the mornings and even though it did not have a fan warmed up our 4 bedroom home well.
When we built a new home we again purchased a KENT now 30+ years later it continues to work efficiently with the only cost being a new flu approx 10 years ago due to damage caused by high winds breaking the seal on the roof thus allowing water to drip down.
Must admit we clean the flu at the end of every winter and ours burns 24/7 during winter which here is approx 4-5 months. It keeps the whole house aired and warm. We use a screen around the front no one had burnt their hands which with 5 children is good. Ours is placed through a wall where it is enclosed in a brick hearth and again no one has burnt themselves on the flu.
Free wood - look for demolition sites of older homes they are full of mature wood usually jarrah and for the cost of a carton of beer we get many trailer loads and it saves them dumping it in landfill. Yes it keeps you fit but its cost effective when you have a trailer. Other alternatives are people replacing wood fencing with metal alternatives. We went for years having old fencing dropped off for free - the ultimate recycling better than the alternative of landfill.
Re smoke problems that is usually caused by people burning either wet (new cut) wood or painted wood or simply not knowing how to use their damper.

It sounds like you have had really good service from your Kent heaters.

You are probably aware of the dangers, but you need to be careful that you aren’t burning toxic treated fencing timber, which has been around for decades.

Hi,

Sydney Heaters & Pizza Ovens is the best place where you will find wood fireplace heaters at affordable prices.

And Lopi fireplaces is the another best place for the wood heating products.

Thanks

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Hi all, I need to replace our freestanding wood heater after many years of service.
Would anyone like to give me their opinion as to what’s good out there please.
Regards, John.

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Hi @johnflanagan,

I have moved your post to this existing thread at many of the above posts may be able to assist you in relation to information on wood heaters currently available.

It s worth reading these posts.

If other forum members have any recommendations or warnings, it would also be great to hear them.

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An article warning regarding the health risks of using wood heaters.

From a health perspective the warning is true and has been true for many years, the medical opinion has not wavered in decades.

From a social point of view it is not so simple. If you are financially comfortable being told you cannot install a wood heater, or the old one has to come out, may be annoying if you like sitting in front of a flame but it is bearable.

If you are poor it may be the only option you have for winter heat. I know a number of families who have an old ute and old chainsaw and keeping them both running is a stretch but they can go out into the bush and bring home enough firewood to keep warm in their un-insulated weatherboard where the breeze blows through the cracks at about -3C some nights and mornings. In the country there is a three-way coincidence where incomes are low, wood heating is traditional and cheap or free wood is available.

The linked article says removal does not have community support. In rural areas the lack of afordable alternatives is the main reason. If you need to burn firewood or your neighbours do it is hard to get behind the scheme no matter how much coughing you hear. There have been suggestions of subsidies to help cover the transition costs to other forms of heating but that has many problems: it is forcing change on conservative people who resent it, it would be hard to verify and most of all does nothing about the running cost of the replacement. The problem is intractable.

If there was a move to ban wood stoves I can see National Party candidates telling the electorate about those bastards in Canberra (or Sydney or another capital) who don’t know anything about real life and try to tell us how to live 
 it’s alright for them in their cosy Point Piper homes 
 yada yada. Voters will lap it up . Other parties will have to fall into line or lose too many votes. The result will be the same as the last 20 years: no change.

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That is correct.

Alternatives also pose issues. Preferred and often recommended reverse cycle air conditioning also has known health issues when not maintained or installed correctly.

Noise complaints (sleep disturbance, loss of amenity) are increasing in numbers as more residents install AC. This is compounded by higher density developments and reduced separation distances in urban areas.

Other heating (strip, panel, fan) pose fire or burn injury risks during use or if not installed correctly. Gas has been also discussed in other threads.

Like any type of heating, one being perfect or necessarily better under all environments or circumstances. One should determine what heating (or cooling) method is most appropriate to meet ones needs, considering both onsite and off site impacts.