Wood fire: If you could only pick one make

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1604 posts

Uber Geek

#1679172 28-Nov-2016 23:42

http://www.firenzo.co.nz/

I've been in many houses, these fires are seriously nice. They are incredibly heavy due to the cast iron construction, but they give a good even heat.

The ones I'm most familiar with are the Lady Kitchener model and the Contessa.

Scott3

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#1679178 29-Nov-2016 00:14

If I was buying a new fire, I would say the only ethical choice is get one of the cleanest burning fires on the market. (Wood Smoke has quite a major impact on air quality (and health) in many regions of NZ).

The best used to be the pyroclassic, but it appears to have been passed by the new generation of gasification burners that meant Ecan's "ultra-low emissions" regulations. Check out the list here: Link

It may be hard to come by, but a balanced pressure fire (uses cold air from outside for combustion) would be good (normal fires use air from the room, that is made up from open windows etc (cooling rooms that are far from the fire). Pull too much vacuum in the house (i.e big kitchen extractor), and you will get backflow.

If you are going to buy wood, a heat pump is (according to consumer) cheaper to run.

Also it takes a lot of time and effort to run a wood fire, ok if that is something you enjoy. If my house didn't already have a wood fire I wouldn't bother to get one...

gzt

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#1679204 29-Nov-2016 07:52

Scott3: The best used to be the pyroclassic, but it appears to have been passed by the new generation of gasification burners that meant Ecan's "ultra-low emissions" regulations. Check out the list here: Link

Link above points to pyroclassic. I googled got this:

http://ecan.govt.nz/services/online-services/pages/authorised-solid-fuel-burners.aspx

Does ecan run a test lab for those or the doc has manufacturer stats?

Stan

929 posts

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#1679272 29-Nov-2016 09:41

Interesting discussions

I have worked in the industry the last 8 years.

My suggestion would be buy a fire place that is made in New Zealand.

If you are interested in the ULEB side of things that should get more interesting this year Woodsman are releasing a new model.

Fires are tested independently for there emissions output.

MikeAqua

7785 posts

Uber Geek

#1679298 29-Nov-2016 10:18

kiwigander:

Another vote for Yunca. We've had a Yunca Wegj in our present house for ten years, love it. A neighbour bought one on our recommendation and loves his. Ours has a wetback driving two radiators at the opposite end of the house and still throws plenty of heat into our cavernous lounge/dining room.

Very similar to the installation I had. I had the Wegj heating one of the HWCs and two radiators.

Because it's got such a big firebox it banks overnight on a big piece of hardwood really well.

That property is now a rental and the family who live there love the Wegj.

Mike

onebytemike

90 posts

Master Geek

#1679321 29-Nov-2016 10:56

1eStar: http://www.firenzo.co.nz/

I've been in many houses, these fires are seriously nice. They are incredibly heavy due to the cast iron construction, but they give a good even heat.

The ones I'm most familiar with are the Lady Kitchener model and the Contessa.

We've got a Lady Kitchener and I can't say i'm all that happy with it. Got it as it was recommended from a few people, but we just can't seem to generate any heat from it. Even stoked fully, it doesn't get to that "stand back" temperature i've experienced with other people's fires.

Takes the chill off the large room it's installed in, in winter but it's never comfortably warm. Does little with the wetback and absolutely nothing with the heat distribution i have installed.

Have tried a number of different wood combinations as well with the same result.

jonathan18

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#1679322 29-Nov-2016 10:57

gzt:
Link above points to pyroclassic. I googled got this:

http://ecan.govt.nz/services/online-services/pages/authorised-solid-fuel-burners.aspx

Oh, you mean the very link that I provided in the first reply to your original post??!!

gzt

17146 posts

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#1679323 29-Nov-2016 10:57

Stan:
Interesting discussions

I have worked in the industry the last 8 years.

My suggestion would be buy a fire place that is made in New Zealand.

If you are interested in the ULEB side of things that should get more interesting this year Woodsman are releasing a new model.

Fires are tested independently for there emissions output.

That one looks really interesting. Unfortunately need to make the decision prior to release most likely. Also I'm disinclined to go for 1.0 of anything, which is not a comment of the quality in any way.

(!USB Charging! I hope it comes with a long extension : )

gzt

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#1679349 29-Nov-2016 11:03

jonathan18:
gzt:
Link above points to pyroclassic. I googled got this:

http://ecan.govt.nz/services/online-services/pages/authorised-solid-fuel-burners.aspx

Oh, you mean the very link that I provided in the first reply to your original post??!!

Yeah I just took your word for the assertion made without clicking the link ; ).

Could be wrong but I'm thinking this is the required compliance standard for all major cities and surrounds with neigbours zones now. As such it's almost a given that new models meet or exceed this standard. Nice to see the figures all in one place, it's a good link.

gzt

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#1679352 29-Nov-2016 11:12

Ah. I see there are two categories in the doc. LEB and ULEB. Got it.

gzt

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#1679353 29-Nov-2016 11:15

ULEB looks good. Anyone got one? Is the fan noisy?

gzt

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#1679391 29-Nov-2016 12:30

The ecan document for ULEB woodburning lists Tropic Air Duo as the only ULEB wetback option. Wetback is essential. That simplifies the choice to some extent.

It's a weighty investment at $5490 including the flue kit. That does make me think about spare availability over a 20+ year life of the unit. Website faq says they stock parts for their fires from 25+ years ago that's reassuring.

Next thing I need to know if these fires are happy running at a lower output and how much attention that requires compared to running a conventional box on low damper. Ie; can it be brought to heat and then reduced and run at the same efficiency.

The output is on the high side for the size of the house, and half heat is probably adequate for most of the winter.

gzt

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#1679605 29-Nov-2016 16:42

The Tropic Air Duo is too high for the location at 970mm. Unfortunately. Too much walk past touch risk for the location at that height. A high guard might be possible but the aesthetics and ergonomics would not be great. Looks like the new tech is not for us this time around. Back to the conventional LEBs.

Edit: yep cooktop is a requirement.

MikeAqua

7785 posts

Uber Geek

#1679611 29-Nov-2016 16:56

With some fires it's possible to buy the approved non-wetback version and fit a wetback kit later on.

Generally low emission models don't have a very slow setting - as slow burning tends to be smoky.

Mike

MikeAqua

7785 posts

Uber Geek

#1679618 29-Nov-2016 17:06

Scott3:

If I was buying a new fire, I would say the only ethical choice is get one of the cleanest burning fires on the market. (Wood Smoke has quite a major impact on air quality (and health) in many regions of NZ).

Depends where you live. In town definitely.

If you are in the country with low housing density it isn't an issue.

The national environmental standard applies on any section less than 2 hectares. In our case we had a 0.4 hectare rural section that was miles form the neighbours and usually plenty of wind.

Ironically under the national standard a multi-fuel (can burn coal) fire is exempt and so is anything that you can claim is a stove.

Local council plans may have more rigorous restrictions.

Mike

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