Although open fires are pretty, most of the heat disappears up the chimney along with unburnt volatile gases (which provide most of the heat). As well as wasting heat this causes tar build-up in the chimney. These effects are minimised by Wood Fuelled Stoves.

Ceramic stoves or kakkelovns (popular in Scandinavia and Eastern Europe) have a ceramic casing that acts as a heat store to radiate heat into the room for hours after the fire is out. However, these are much more expensive than standard log burners. Traditional Aga / Rayburn-type cookers are also much more expensive than a basic stove, and nowadays tend to be fuelled by gas, oil or electricity.

Wood burning stoves can be fuelled by conventional logs, wood chips or pellet. Pellets, made of compressed organic material such as sawdust or agricultural plant waste, have the advantage that they can be automatically fed from a hopper. Wood pellet stoves are often similar to traditional wood burning stoves, to look at, but use modern microprocessor controls to ensure an efficient and clean burning fire. Pellet stoves use thermostatic controls and fans to distribute warm air around the room making them safer than traditional stoves, which rely on radiated heat to warm the room, making the room's temperature uneven and the body of the stove dangerously hot.

Wood pellet stoves can either be free standing or fireplace inserts. They feature a pellet hopper to hold enough fuel for 20-30 hours of continual operation and an ash pan that needs to be emptied no more than once a month. The ash can be used as fertilizer. Automatic ignition ensures that lighting the stove is trouble free. Temperature and timer control mean you get the warmth you want, when you want it.

Wood pellet stoves have many features including:

• Temperature and timer controls
• Fans that distribute warm air around the room
• Automatic ignition
• High efficiencies (up to 90%)
• Air and water heating

Larger automatic-feed wood or pellet boilers can be installed in schools, hospitals etc.