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A Revolution In Combustion

Pablo Picasso with his wood stove - 1939
Pablo Picasso with his wood stove - 1939
We know from historic records, some dating back more than 1500 years, that humans in temperate climates have struggled to produce heat/warmth from wood. There are stories from 17th Century Europe describing competitions, funded by wealthy Barons, to invent woodstoves that were capable of providing heat and warmth without totally depleting a nation’s forest and woodland resource. And all this despite Roman ingenuity.

Probably as a result of these competitions, we know today that one of the most efficient methods to provide domestic heat from wood is by way of the masonry stove – a firebox surrounded by as much as 8 tonnes of stone/clay. The stone/clay absorbs the heat generated by the wood, and then gives out warmth gently throughout the day, (similar to expensive electric storage heaters).

Unfortunately, most modern houses aren’t built to hold 8 tonnes of stone in the living room, and while masonry stoves are considered to be efficient in terms of the smaller quantities of wood that they use (when compared to other types of woodstove), it still remains that if you want to gain real warmth from them on a cold day then you have to literally sit/sleep on top of them – which, in most cases, is also impractical in a modern western home.

If there is one thing that we can be sure of today, it is that during the past 400 years, almost everyone, who has used wood to generate heat and warmth, has pondered the improved design of the stove that they are using. There is nothing new in woodstove design today that hasn’t already been tried before.

This never-ending drive to improve woodstoves is due entirely to the fact that firewood contains too much water, and the logs, more often than not, are too big for a small firebox to deliver the process of efficient and complete combustion. Most claims associated with stove efficiency relate to the way that the stove burns the wood – if there is nothing left after burning tests are made then that stove is said to be 100% efficient. To achieve 100% combustion in inefficient woodstoves you need to drive a lot of air (oxygen) through the fire, via primary and secondary air inlets; your chimney will pull this air from the places that your stove hasn’t been able to heat, making the room colder all the time, and leaving you to keep filling the stove with logs that are too wet and too big for it: never-ending!

Black Mountain Woodfuels has spent considerable time and effort talking to combustion engineers across the globe in a genuine effort to forge new directions of experience for the increased efficiency of firewood. From the masonry-stove builders in Eastern Europe and Russia, to the charcoal stove builders in Thailand, and on to the improved radiant and convection stove builders of the new-age communities in the western states of the USA.

We have taken, with genuine fair trade, the best of all these systems and then added our knowledge of woodland management and woodfuel preparation, in order to develop an approach to burning firewood that is quite revolutionary - in modern times. We believe that the issue of gaining efficiency from wood lies in the way that woodfuel/firewood is grown and then prepared for burning. Consistently dry firewood prepared to consistent dimensions, burned on efficient woodstoves, designed specifically to burn drier wood.


Weeding amongst coppice
Weeding amongst coppice
The widespread uptake of wood as a ‘renewable’ source of fuel/energy is to be encouraged, however, there are many important issues that need to be addressed before the use of wood can be considered sustainable. Black Mountain Woodfuels joins The UK Government and others in actively encouraging woodland owners to adopt more sustainable and efficient methods of growing firewood, which will reduce waste, increase biodiversity, and present options for securing a more sustainable approach to income generation.

Added to this effort, Black Mountain Woodfuels has developed equipment that facilitates a process of rapid wood drying that consistently produces firewood (marketed in the UK as PAR-CHAR) with a moisture content of below 10%. This fuel, when used in conjunction with The Coppice Stove, re-writes the rules of domestic woodfuel combustion, and considerably advances the collective aim of reducing the massive amount of waste that is lost to the atmosphere every year through inefficient woodstoves and poorly prepared woodfuel.

 From chimney-based heat exchangers through to efficient wood-based central heating systems, cooking stoves and the incredible bath stove; from chimney-based water-heaters to vertical-feed coppice stoves. Everything we market is designed to reduce carbon-waste, save you energy and reduce your energy costs.

If you are considering buying a woodstove then look no further. If you already own a woodstove then consider the use of PAR-CHAR as a replacement to wet firewood. If you sell firewood then you need to begin making PAR-CHAR as it will become the standard by which consumers will measure your business.
PAR-CHAR and The Coppice Stove are registered UK trademarks (2565580 & 2569855) owned by Black Mountain Woodfuels.
All prices include VAT& Delivery.
© BMWF 2011

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