FAQs

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There’s always a temptation to slow down a fire, either in an attempt to make it last longer or in order to reduce the heat, by turning down the air controls on your stove. Don’t do it. The fuel will still burn, but more smoke and moisture will be emitted. This is not only bad for the environment (and makes you Public Enemy Number One among your neighbours) it will ruin your flue. Moreover, you’ll get no heat out of it so you will be wasting your money. The approval testing on our stoves was done with wood logs, these burn at a consistent rate & temperature according to the volume of air added. This is quite carefully worked out to achieve the efficiency figures quoted so that the glass, paint & vermiculite panels can withstand the energy dispersed. The issue with using other fuels is that they can burn too hot with air controls that are set up for wood & will not be sensitive enough for faster-burning fuel. This could overheat the glass, paint & vermiculite panels if allowed to burn on maximum air setting.

Firstly, it's important to understand that your new Burley stove doesn't have any mechanical parts that actively push smoke or air out. Instead, it relies on proper flue draught to draw the smoke and fumes upwards and out of the chimney. If you have a smoke issue we advise you to speak with your HETAS installer or retailer. There are 2 reasons why chimneys draw, 1 is if there is a wind blowing across it creating a venturi effect, similar to when you blow across a drinking straw and the liquid comes up, the other is because the chimney is hot and the rising hot air pulls the air from the bottom up. If there is not enough heat in the flue the smoke will try and exit through the great big hole in the front of the stove rather than the little hole in the top. You need to get the heat into the flue as quickly as possible so I always light the firelighter and build kindling up in a lattice (a few pieces across and then a few the other way) right up to perhaps halfway up the backboard, then put a small dry split log on the top. Then partially close the door with the airflow open. Do weigh your wood and ensure that you are feeding the stove with enough wood to ensure proper combustion. In the case of the 9x04 this is 1.3kg per hour, 9x05 this is 1.6kg per hour, 9x08 is 2.3kg per hour, and 9112 is no more than 4kg per hour. Our message is less wood for more heat. It may sound odd but burning more wood actually gives you less heat. This is because each of our stoves has a maximum weight of wood to be used per hour to achieve the designed output and this weight of wood should not be exceeded otherwise the stove is overfired and the glass damaged.  It is not possible to achieve for example 4kW of heat from a 12kW stove. If you don’t load it correctly it will smoke as there is insufficient heat in the flue gasses.

Burley stoves are designed to burn wood efficiently and cleanly. The type of wood you use can make a big difference in how well your stove performs. Here are some tips on choosing the best wood for your Burley stove: See our detailed blog post on the type of wood to use and how to best store it.

• Choose dry wood. Wet wood will produce more smoke and creosote, which can be harmful to your health and your stove's flue.
• Choose hardwood. Hardwoods, such as oak, maple, and hickory, burn hotter and longer than softwoods, such as pine and fir which we don’t recommend you burn
• Avoid using treated wood. Treated or tanalised wood contains chemicals that can be harmful to your health and your stove glass. Tanalised timber and pressure-treated timber are exactly the same things. They both refer to wood that has been specially treated ...
• Split the wood. Split wood into smaller pieces for easier burning and follow the loading weights in the supplied 5-minute guide.

Here is some information on a variety of wood types suitable for burning in a Burley wood-burning stove. Hard woods are best

Here's a summary of the good options:

• Ash: Burns steadily with good heat output, even when green.
• Beech: Similar to ash, burns well even when green.
• Birch: Burns hot and fast with a pleasant smell.
• Blackthorn: Burns slowly with high heat output and low smoke.
• Cedar: Excellent heat output with a pleasant crackle.
• Cherry: Slow burning with good heat and a nice scent.
• Hawthorn: Burns hot and slow.
• Hazel: Excellent fast-burning firewood.
• Hornbeam: Burns hot and slow similar to beech.
• Maple: Good all-round firewood.
• Oak (seasoned): Excellent heat output, burns slowly and steadily.
• Pear (seasoned): Burns with good heat, good scent, and no spitting.
• Plum: Good heat with a nice scent.
• Robinia (seasoned): Burns slowly with good heat (acrid smoke is not a problem in a stove).
• Rowan: Burns hot and slow.
• Thorn: One of the best firewood options - slow burning with high heat and low smoke.

Woods to avoid:

• Elder: Poor heat output, acrid smoke, and folklore discourages burning.
• Poplar: Terrible fuel, burns poorly with black smoke.
• Spruce: Burns too quickly with excessive sparks.
• Willow: Poor burning even when seasoned.

Important Note: Always season firewood properly before burning. Seasoning time varies depending on the wood type.

The data plate is typically attached to the rear air control during manufacturing. However, it's possible it was removed and provided to the customer along with their commissioning certificate. To identify the exact model, if you can measure the width of the top lid, please compare it to the details in the appliance instructions.

On high the Ambience uses less than four (4) pence worth of gas per hour. In practice, because the Ambience is also fitted with a thermostat, it will automatically turn down when your room reaches the desired temperature, therefore using less gas.

No, the solid cast stove also radiates heat and, in addition, heated air is discharged through the air outlet grille.

Yes, if you do not already have one fitted it will be a quick job for your installer to fit a passive air vent when he fits the fire.

Simple, just get a qualified installer to remove it and refit it. You can even take it with you when you move house.

Yes, any room or area should be at least 40m3.

With electricity costing approximately 10 pence per kilowatt hour, with the heater full on it will cost around 20 pence per hour. With the flame effect only however the cost is only between 0.5 and 0.9 pence per hour.

This is an almost impossible question to answer, it depends on the number of windows, construction, insulation, double glazing etc. In brief, focal point heating should be supplementary to other heating and not the sole heat source in a room.

There is a British standard sized fireplace, 16″ wide x 22″ high, most inset fires are designed to fit this size. Check the overall dimension of the fire and ensure that this fits under the mantel or clear of any other obstructions. Then check the inset dimensions of the fire against that of your fireplace. Many of the Burley models have removable spacers which allow you to alter the depth of the fire, these are shown on the product browser.

To comply with European standards all products leave the factory with a 2 meter cable with a moulded plug. If a longer cable is needed you will need to find a qualified electrician to fit one, under no circumstances may an extension lead be used.

No, any of the free standing fires can simply stand on a hearth.

It is Burley Appliances policy not to recommend the use of extension leads with our appliances. We have found in the past that some customers have used inappropriate cable ratings in these leads. We have had examples of 13 amp fuses being used in extension lead plugs when the maximum rating of the lead was 5 amps. This practice leads to overheating of the cable and/or plug and possible fire hazards. We realise that not all customers who wish to use an extension lead with our appliances would necessarily use an inappropriate lead but in the interests of safety we do not recommend their use at all. It is important for the safe conduction of electricity that connections are not only electrically sound but are also mechanically sound, loose fitting wiring or plugs into sockets are liable to cause a resistance to current flow and overheating, it is not unusual to find that the wiring at the back of a wall socket has over the years become loose, this is due to the heating and cooling of the wiring as current is drawn through it. All currents produce heat in a conductor that is why it is important to use the correct size of cable to suit the current being drawn by the appliance. The above conditions apply equally as well to the socket attached to an extension lead. Extension leads in general tend to have a much harder life than fixed wired wall sockets, it is too easy to pull on the extension lead and after a time the strain on the connections at the plug and/or socket end could lead to the connections becoming loose, this is the situation where overheating occurs. In the event that the cable supplied with the appliance is unable to reach the socket outlet which the customer intends to use we recommend that the complete cable is replaced with an appropriately rated cable and plug. This action should be carried out by a suitably qualified person.

The first thing to understand is that the thermostat operates to control the temperature of the room.It will switch the heater on and off to maintain a constant room temperature. Turning the thermostat to a high number does not increase the heat coming out of the heater. The output is constant at two kilowatts, but it will result in the heater running for a longer period, thus giving a higher temperature in the room. How to set the thermostat. (A) Switch on the fire. (B) Turn the thermostat to number 10. (C) When the room is at a level of warmth that you require, then turn the control knob back very slowly until you hear a click, and the heater stops. (D) Leave the thermostat at that number. The heater will then switch on & off to maintain the temperature you selected. Please note that number 10 will not give more heat than number 2.