Fireplace - Firenzo vs Masport

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Roofie

2 posts

Wannabe Geek

#323876 29-Jan-2026 09:37

Hi all, I am looking to install a fireplace and have narrowed down my search to the Firenzo Stella or Masport Kaituna. I am in suburbia so need a ULEB fire. Reading past threads, I gathered the Firenzo is the Rolls Royce of fireplace and the Masport are like Toyotas.

The Firenzo cost $700 more, so am wondering if it is worth the extra $ for the Firenzo. My rationale is, it has a cast iron body which is able to retain and radiate heat for a longer period compared to the Masport which has a steel body. Is it right to say I will need to use less wood to keep the house warm in the long run?

Does anyone have experiences with either fireplace? Keen to hear people's views. Thanks.

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#3456891 29-Jan-2026 09:40

If you live in suburbia, suggests you have stable power. Suggest you get a heatpump which will also provide aircon.

Installing a fireplace in 2026 should be banned

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AklBen

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#3456896 29-Jan-2026 09:53

Get ready for the geekzone fireplace pitchforks...

My 2c....Masport fireplaces seem to go and go and go and go. You'll see kiwi homes with 20-30 year old Masports still functioning today. We just took one out of our house (we just moved in) which was from 1991 and it had no internal rust. Compare this to a 10 year old one at our old property (Bosca) which was falling apart internally.

The Toyota thing is a good analogy.

JayADee

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#3457156 30-Jan-2026 10:07

I forget which month -possibly March- but once a year Mitre10 has a buy stove get flue kit free deal. We bought a Woodsman with the heat saver flue kit in 2021 we’re happy with. If you ask Mitre10 the staff will tell you when the sale is on. We got the Masport floor protector online from Turfrey who was easy to deal with.

dafman

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#3457166 30-Jan-2026 10:30

mentalinc:

Installing a fireplace in 2026 should be banned

I'll give you my fireplace when you pry it from my cold, dead hands.

bebek

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#3457200 30-Jan-2026 10:49

JayADee:

I forget which month -possibly March- but once a year Mitre10 has a buy stove get flue kit free deal.

Correct. But only on certain woodburner. Premium & ULEB probably won't get this deal, but who knows. Just wait around March or April

turtleattacks

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#3457208 30-Jan-2026 11:13

There is a guy on Reddit that is always happy to chime in on fireplaces. https://www.reddit.com/user/LikeAbrickShitHouse/

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SpartanVXL

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#3457213 30-Jan-2026 11:27

dafman:

mentalinc:

Installing a fireplace in 2026 should be banned

I'll give you my fireplace when you pry it from my cold, dead hands.

Yikes, if the OP said countryside with nobody around instead of suburbs it would be better, but for the sake of your immediate neighbours and surrounding block please don’t get a fireplace for heating. If you ever sell it’s going to be a negative as younger gen aren’t going to want to deal with it and the flue.

djtOtago

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#3457251 30-Jan-2026 12:46

@Roofie Double check that the Masport can be used with "Hard" woods. There are some Masport models you can only burn softwoods like Pine and aren't surposed to use Hard woods like Blue gum or Macrocarpa.

@Swept Geekzone's friendly chimney sweep may have some more Insite.

Roofie

2 posts

Wannabe Geek

#3457292 30-Jan-2026 16:00

AklBen:

Get ready for the geekzone fireplace pitchforks...

Ha! I knew I will be opening a can of worms with fireplace haters. Let's say I have my reasons for having a fireplace as you do for preferring the heatpump.

Thanks all for the tips, especially with Mitre10. I do remember them running specials every autumn/winter with free flue kit.

I read that people had problems with the new Masports, especially the ULEB ones, which is why I am keen to hear from people who have recently installed them.

Wheelbarrow01

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Chorus

#3457357 30-Jan-2026 23:45

mentalinc:

Installing a fireplace in 2026 should be banned

Seriously outdated thinking. My Masport ULEB log burner - one of the first to come on the market a decade ago - produces minor smoke for 5-10 minutes upon startup, but after that it produces no smoke, no smell, and a mere 0.3 grams of carbon emissions per kg of wood burnt (This number was calculated and verified in the CM1 lab test by Environment Canterbury - the most stringent council in the country from whom most other council emission limits are derived nationwide).

I maybe burn 2kg per hour (so 0.6g emitted). To put that in context, a 2025 Toyota Corolla hybrid produces 85 grams per km or 8.5kg per hour when travelling at 100kph. That's approximately 14,000 times more carbon emissions coming out of that car in one hour than what is coming out of my flue. A V6 Ford Ranger would be 45,000 times more.....

Maybe we should ban a single Ford Ranger from the road and then we could replace it with 44,999 ULEB log burners and still release fewer emissions than that one ute. Heck, even the manufacture of a single 500ml Coke bottle is estimated to emit 85-94 grams of CO2 according to Professor Google.

If you're interested, here is a screen grab of a video showing my flue while the fire is running with a full fuel load - and no, I'm not joking....

pdh

441 posts

Ultimate Geek
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#3457360 31-Jan-2026 05:29

We put a Firenzo Contessa into a new build, 4 years ago.
I like it - works well: burns hard & soft, keeps its glass door clean.
It's the urban version.

I had 3 decades with an old Oregon, which I bought circa 1984.
Refurbished that after 10 years - hot metal-sprayed.
Left it behind when I sold that house - it predated the urban regs, so I couldn't transfer it into a new house.

Worthwhile feature of both is the cast-iron doors.
It's very hard to make a steel weld-up door stay true & flat.
So you get extra air leaking into the firebox - which stuffs your efficiency.

The modern hi-tech designs are amazing.
But there's also an attraction to simplicity.

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pdh

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#3457361 31-Jan-2026 06:02

Meant to mention two additional ways to make the wood-burner more efficient:

(a) Use an 'Eco' or 'Heatsaver' flue kit - that cools the attic flue casing using air drawn from the attic space - & not your lounge.
This is a worthwhile thing to spec (over a standard flue kit) - at not much extra cost.

(b) Firenzo's optional 'Outside Air Adaptor' kit that ducts outdoor air into the firebox works well.
If you are heating the space with another heat source (we have a geo-exchange heat pump and hydronic heat) then it makes even more sense.
You're not constantly removing warm air from the area around your wood-burner.
But burning cold air drawn immediately from the outside into the firebox.

As I have the Firenzo in the centre of an open-plan living/dining/TV area, I used some 4" plastic plumbing pipe to duct air from the rear wall of the house (about 7 m) and up through the floor - to then attach to Firenzo's metal duct kit. IOW the plastic pipe bringing in cold air is below the floor and thermally safe from the heat of the fireplace. Down below, it runs across the ceiling of a workshop - but it could go in a ceiling cavity. I would say that it draws better (when starting a fire) than if I was just pulling air from the lounge.

For any of you who read the Jean Auel (Clan of the Cave Bear) books - that was a prehistoric trick used in longhouses.

JayADee

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#3457373 31-Jan-2026 08:25

We’ve got the heat saver flue kit and a heat exchanger inlet near the wood burner that pushes the warm air to the back of the house. House has been more evenly so much warmer with this set up.

bluey

86 posts

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#3457384 31-Jan-2026 10:29

mentalinc:

If you live in suburbia, suggests you have stable power. Suggest you get a heatpump which will also provide aircon.

Installing a fireplace in 2026 should be banned

I get some of the arguments against fireplaces but unless you are used to spending your evenings in a space heated by a good fire with good firewood, you may not know how utterly inferior a heatpump is in this situation.

We've had a good run with our woodsman burning gum but did need to replace the baffles and vent pipe after about 10 years.

tweake

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#3457451 31-Jan-2026 11:21

Roofie:

Hi all, I am looking to install a fireplace and have narrowed down my search to the Firenzo Stella or Masport Kaituna. I am in suburbia so need a ULEB fire.

a quick google shows stella is a rural fireplace so not suitable for your application.

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