Conference article

In Europe; large amounts of renewable energy are lost when residential buildings are heated by means of wood-burning stoves. Still; too many wood-burning stoves are energy inefficient; the knowledge of their operation is insufficient and the interaction between the stove and the house to be heated is not adequate. This applies in particular to old wood-burning stoves in old houses. However; this field study; the first ever dealing with new stoves in new houses; revealed that even in new houses with new wood-burning stoves of today the interplay between stove and house can still be improved as well as the modern wood-burning stoves could be designed to perform even better. However; calculation of heat balances and measurement of temperature in a series of single family houses showed that wood-burning stoves actually contribute considerably to the heating of new houses; although their intermittent working led to overheating and conflicts with the primary heating system. Moreover; measurements of particles showed that emission of fine and ultrafine particles to the indoor climate can easily occur.

The study made it clear that information and guidelines to be disseminated among stove manufactures; salesmen; and home owners are needed regarding dimensioning; installation of wood-burning stoves and their lighting and operation as well.

Residential heating; wood-burning stoves; energy performance; particle emission; ultrafine particles