Frequently asked questions

How do we clean it?

Because it burns efficiently it will not need cleaning so often, regulations suggest once a year though. It can be cleaned with a vacuum cleaner pipe as chimney sweeps use which fits easily through the ash cleaning plugs in the front (or side) of the stove. The exterior can be cleaned as you might would a marble or stone surface.



How much wood do you need to burn to get the 10 hour storage heater effect?

You need to burn 4 kgs of dry wood to get the 10 hour storage heater effect.



How much is it to add a back burner for hot water ?

At the moment we have two kinds of water jackets to collect heat for radiators, underfloor heating or to supplement a thermal store. The prices can be supplied on request but come to around £890 for both. This does not include pipework or fitting – please contact us for more details. They are not pressured and must be fitted by a qualified plumber. If you require water for underfloor heating or a thermal store our single wrap around jacket will easily heat water to 45 degrees without covering the top surface, thereby only taking a small fraction of the heat and not affecting the performance. If you require hot water for the bathroom or mains water it will need two Water Jackets which will easily raise the temperature to above the critical 65 °C (this is due to concerns about Legionnaires’ disease.) This also hardly affects the temperature of combustion on the inside so doesn’t affect the efficiency but will reduce the heat radiated into the room. For maximum effect they are best sealed in with an insulated jacket and or tiles. We will have further details posted on this soon. The diagram below is not to scale but indicates the location of the two Water Jackets.



Any advice or experience as to the best way to avoid the heat escaping out the chimney would be much appreciated.

The Homeheater is designed to keep the heat in and its flue arrangement will prevent unnecessary draft out the chimney. In Scandinavia and Canada they use dampers to cut off the chimney after the fire is out, regulations here don’t allow for a complete damping but only a percentage, your Hetas or similarly qualified flue installer will know the local codes. Personally we don’t think that will be adding much to the efficiency. Making sure the vents are closed on the door and ash door after it has finished burning, will work sufficiently we believe.



Tiling. I think you mention somewhere on your website that you have an option for the stove to be tiled. Is this something you have available now? If not, do you have suggestions or instructions as to how we can complete the tiling by ourselves?

Tiles are a great idea, very popular in Scandinavia. They come in a huge range of styles and sizes. Fired Earth are a good company to start looking for designs. Another local tiling company has recommended using Rapidset and Micromax adhesive and grout which we have been testing with one of our display heaters without any problems- tiled directly to the core. The Homeheater is designed to have an option of a lathe fitted around it -if it suits you- to tile it, whereby the edging pieces fit into the rounded corners. This provides for the tiles to hang on the lath (a kind of metal grid). With this arrangement the warm air circulating between the layers can be easily ducted to a heated bench or other rooms. This also works for hiding a water jacket or heat absorbing apparatus if it is on the back, top or sides. Please bear in mind that any covering will decrease the immediate heat to the room and that the kind of adhesive will have to be correct according to regulations.While tiling can be useful for capturing warm air to vent to other rooms, and will add thermal mass to the heater, our customers all have grown to like the look of the heater core as it is, even those who originally wanted to tile it, so we would encourage you to first enjoy its looks and performance before covering it. Tiling costs in Cornwall are around £25-30 per sq meter so shouldn’t cost more than £150 for a day and a half of work. Excluding the metal lathe- if you want to style the shape- also this doesn’t include the tiles themselves. Some ornamental tiles are not very heat resistant so granite or slate tiles are often used. There are specific heat resistant tiles called Pietre De Keope ( £36.5/Sq Metre), these could be tiled directly on to the core using a BAL product called EasyPoxy, 5kgs cost £63, according to Topps tiles.



How much the self assembly kit costs (I can lay bricks so am not afraid of getting my hands dirty)?

Presently (November 2021) our Homeheater is £4,250.00 without transport costs.



What size room will the Homeheater heat?

The size will be affected by heat loss through the walls and windows in the room (The ‘U’Value of the building). So the amount of insulation and quality and number of windows will have an affect on the load size. The quantity and quality (Calorific value and Water Content) of wood burned will make a huge difference.The minimum size room would seem to us to be about 10 square meters (Msq). The maximum size would be above 155 Msq. That size would need good insulation and around four fires every 24 hours. To be more exact if we want an ambient temperature of 21°C the kilowatts needed for a 20 Msq floor with 3 outside Solid walls or 3 outside Cavity walls would be from 5.0 to 5.6 kw. The Homeheater should heat it easily with 2-3 firings of 4 kilo loads in 24 hrs, however if the same room had Insulated cavity walls then it might be a bit larger than necessary, unless you burn very small fires. (<3kgs). A 50 Msq room will be warmed reliably, comfortably and safely whatever the the insulation factor. This requires around 10 kw of heat output, half of the maximum rated output of our heater.



Am I right in assuming that (all being well) these are like miniature building structures and so should last a lifetime?

Certainly the ceramic is extremely durable. Our unique design makes it solidly reliable and practically maintenance free. With proper use our Homeheater will last for years. Small cracks in the seams are not unusual especially after over firing. We provide filler for re pointing if necessary. Other types of masonry stoves are built (slowly) with very large numbers of bricks which move over time and need re-pointing periodically. (On a fact finding expedition to Slovakian Masonry stove builders we learned that they re-point their heaters practically every year!)



Is there a possibility of including one of the pizza ovens in this model?

We have nearly finished rigorously testing this on an adapted Homeheater.(see picture) This has taken some time but we hope to conclude within the next two months. A diagram of the Homeheater with pizza oven added. It requires three more layers. We normally charge an extra £300 per extra layer. The Pizza oven is three layers and a door with sealed ceramic bake oven. Total: £970. TBC



What happens if we need spare parts ?

We will be happy to supply spare parts. It is very robust so the only thing possibly broken might be the (toughened) glass though.



Would it be viable to use log makers that produce briquettes from unwanted paper or should we strictly stay with proper wood?

Yes it is viable to use paper logs, but I would wait till the firebox has warmed up first as there may be some residues and inks that need higher temperatures to burn at. It may be best to start with wood. We have burned all kinds of things like Miscanthus, wood pulped bricks, etc in our stoves but not these paper bricquetts as yet. We would be interested in seeing the results.



Would we have to have any special linings or anything like that?

You will not need any special linings, we recommend stainless steel insulated flues, but anything (permissible) will do. You should have the chimney swept and checked to see if it is still intact.



Would we need to have the floor specially reinforced or is an ordinary floor okay?

You may need to have the floor reinforced, your architect or builder will know. Many people use open ended breeze blocks to encourage the air to circulate around the heater. Steel rebar mesh in a thick concrete slab is standard. The weight of the fireplace and the facing material may come to 700 kgs which requires a footing 12” deep with 1 ” reinforcing. Steel can be placed on a 12” x 12” grid located 4” up from the bottom. This could be used to carry heat into the surrounding floor. Further details are in the installation manual.



Am I right in saying that the air is supposed to be cleaner with this radiant heat idea?

Inside the home the surface doesn’t get as hot as a metal box type, which will fry the dust particles and circulate it into the room. The Homeheater surface stays warm longer, not drying the air or circulating fine particles of burned dust.



Is it possible to add an extractor fan to the chimney to increase draft ?

Certainly. The flue installer might recommend you install one if you wanted to get the fire going very quickly in built up areas- to reduce the smoke or for an area with unusual down draft problems under a steep hill, or to be able to open the door safely while the fire is lit. Something like an Extraction ventilator WKO 150 mm.



We are willing to showcase the heater, are you interested in this for a discount?

Very possibly depending on whereabouts you are based and other factors. Further information on



We are about to replace our oil fired boiler, could such a stove be a replacement?

We certainly think so (in this case) Your home’s overall insulation rating and hot water usage will affect the kind of water storage/heater you require. You can ‘link up’ a boiler with your existing heating system to replace or reduce your reliance on gas or oil. There are ways to connect with conventional oil or gas central heating systems, combi boilers, underfloor heating and even solar panels. We recommend discussing your requirements with a qualified heating engineer. For more information you might have your home assessed or perhaps call the Green Deal helpline. Our heater is rated as 55 Mega Joules and could be used with a 500 litre tank, (29 kW/hrs of usable heat are available with every 500 litres), It is possible to use a tank of double or more volume depending on usage etc.



Do you have a ball-park figure for the cost of construction?

The construction is designed to be very simple and takes us no more than an hour and a half with two people. It has a unique design of just eight solid ‘bricks’ for simplicity and reliability. Your local builders might offer varying quotations on their time.(Ball park £100-250) This is assuming you have a strong base already. We will be happy to send you further details in the installation manual or talk to your builders directly. The flue connections will have to be inspected by your local government office (which costs around £50 in Cornwall) or a suitably qualified inspector like a HETAS registered installer. This is the same for all new wood stove installations.



Are you eligible for the Green Deal or the RHI?

We are in the process of applying for the Green deal eligiblilty through the attachment of a heat exchanger and or heat pump this will ensure RHI and RHPP certification. The company has been in contact with the RHI since it was first proposed and we have offered suggestions, like the inclusion of Masonry type stoves into the incentive. Very recently (July 2013) updates to the schemes were announced which are clarifying the muddy waters. Our Homeheater is easily eligible as far as efficiency and safety. To quote eligibility criteria products must: - Be designed to burn wood, cereal straw, or solid fuels derived from them. (Energy Technology Criteria List – July 2013 Page 14 of 176) - Fit within one of the five categories of biomass boilers and roomheaters covered by the ECA Scheme.(Five categories of biomass boilers and roomheaters are covered by the ECA Scheme including Biomass roomheaters and Biomass combined roomheaters and hot water boilers) - Be CE Marked.



Will there be an outlet for the flue gases protruding from the back of the stove?

Yes, it exits at the height of the third layer, the centre being 42 cms above the ground. It is a 6 inch diameter exit.



Can we burn turf in it ?

Certainly, if it is dry. I am told that here can be 5000 tonnes of carbon per hectare of peat. When you burn it, all the carbon is released into the atmosphere, just like when you burn oil or gas. Therefore it’s better to burn locally sourced wood, as that is a renewable source (new trees will take up the CO2 released from the wood you burnt before).



Its a furnace – will it burn down the house or cause a chimney fire?

It burns hotter on the inside as it gets going, providing a more efficient burn –meaning less soot or tar build up- but the outside surfaces and the chimney will not get hot like an ordinary wood burner, but get warm and stay warm for a long time, so it is very safe. The NFU have seen our laboratory results and have recommended it for thatched houses.



The flue we have is for an oil stove, do we need to replace it with a liner that is suitable for a wood burner ?

We have used a similar flue for our experimental stoves without difficulties, however your Hetas or similarly qualified flue installer might suggest a five or six inch flue. Hetas installers may not install less than a 5 inch flue. Local codes will apply.



Could you provide the dimensions diagram for my builder?

Certainly: