Best log burner 2021: Eco-friendly stoves that heat your home

Best: Overall

Rating: 9/10

This 4kW stove is part of a bigger modular system that you can configure in a number of ways, adding things like stainless cooktops, baking ovens, pan supports, griddle plates and even a pizza shelf. However, the basis of the system is the cast iron core, which comes in a range of nine eye-catching colours and with a choice of either brushed steel or wooden handles. All these tailoring options means that the core will blend into a Victorian chimney breast opening just as easily as it would in a glamping pod.

The fire itself was easily set, started and was roaring in around 20 minutes and the single vent control lever at the bottom of the stove made fire maintenance incredibly easy.

Rated at 82 per cent efficient the core is a mini furnace with an excellent fire picture, and is able to heat up a small to medium-sized room in no time. The fact that it has such a low distance to combustibles means that it can be placed closer to the wall than many stoves, so it’s the perfect choice for small spaces too.

Best: For medium to large rooms

Rating: 9/10

Lighting easily, this steel stove gets up to temperature quickly, and has a sizeable firebox for a 4kW appliance with a heat performance that was particularly impressive, clearly making optimal use of the 81 per cent efficiency rating that it comes with.

We couldn’t fault the build quality, with everything from the door closure to the cool touch air controls feeling solid and sturdy. The design of the stove made it easy to set the fire in the first place (using logs up to 29cm) and clear out the remnants of previous fires and the unobstructed glass window stays nice and clear throughout the burn. Perfectly adequate to heat a medium-sized room, the EC4 could even handle the heat requirements of larger living areas too. With a design that straddles traditional and contemporary, its small footprint, high heat output and excellent price make it a very attractive option for a range of properties.

Best: For fire gazing

Rating: 7/10

As the name suggests, this modern-looking fire with its thick steel body and easily-operated, cast-iron door provides an excellent view of the flames through a large window, and the multi-fuel grate (to burn wood and coal) is big enough to fit logs up to 26cm in length.

Well-sized for any home, the 5kW of heat output and impressive efficiency of 81.5 per cent combine to throw plenty of heat into the room and you’ll really feel the benefits within 10 to 15 minutes of setting the fire. Resetting is also very straightforward thanks to the built-in tilting grate that throws all of the ashes directly into the pan below.

Best: Sub 5kW stove

Rating: 7/10

We liked the Gothic styling of this 4.9kW stove, which made it stand out from the crowd in the showroom, however if flame picture is important to you then the 25 is also on offer with a clear door. Available in three different finishes (matt black, midnight blue and laurel green) the 25 refers to the size of (25cm) logs that will fit through the door.

Thanks to some very responsive air controls the stove lit without incident and took just under half an hour to start throwing heat out, making the stove’s 78 per cent efficiency very evident. The room warmed quickly, the airwash system worked well and the vents worked efficiently to give us total control over the fire.

Best: For longevity

Rating: 7/10

This modern, sleek, cast iron Scandi designed 5.2kW stove is designated 81 per cent efficient and would have no problems quickly heating up a large living or sitting room after being fed with 30cm logs. The big, square window gives an excellent view of the flames, the air controls are responsive and the airwash system was efficient, with a handle and door that was sturdy and easily opened and closed. The stove is well cast too with excellent build quality that will see you through plenty of winters to come.

Best: For shallower openings

Rating: 7/10

This steel and cast iron stove is tall and wide but relatively narrow so if views of the flame are important, but you don’t want huge heat output then this 5kW appliance with 78.9 per cent efficiency is an excellent choice for smaller rooms. The big window is shaped like a TV from the seventies and provides great views of the fired-up fuel. The stove made the room cosy very quickly and good venting made the fire easy to control, which means that you won’t be getting up every five minutes to fiddle with the vents to either stop the fire going out or dampen it down. If you are installing in a shallower hearth then this could be a good choice because the appliance is quite narrow compared to many other fires.

Best: For large rooms

Rating: 8/10

Within ten minutes of starting up this tall, steel burner with a conveniently small footprint, you would be able to boil a kettle on top – such is the heat output. The cove can take 50cm logs and pumps out an impressive 12kW of heat with 78.4 per cent heat efficiency, which means it would be too much for a small to medium-sized room, but would really suit a larger room, particularly one with high ceilings. We really liked the elongated top-to-bottom view of the flames, which were controllable via some good venting, and the airwash system worked well. Impressive build quality and some ingenious little details, like a door handle that doubles as the handle for the ash pan.

Best: For quick heat output

Rating: 7/10

With classic cast iron looks and 12kW of heat output this stove really packed a punch considering its size, making it ideal for a large room that doesn’t have a particularly large hearth in which to install it. The crystal boasts 77 per cent efficiency and we could certainly feel the benefits in a very short amount of time after the fire caught. You get a good view of the fire in the 48cm log grate and all the venting controls were easy to operate even when the stove itself began to hot up. The door and its hinges were easy to operate too with a good grip on the handle.

Best: For small footprint size

Rating: 8/10

If you don’t want a room taken over by a stove but you still want to have some wow factor, this tubular steel model gives a 180-degree view of the fire roaring inside. Previously, we’ve struggled with this kind of design and have found that the fire was tricky to set and the door seal was not as tight as we would like, however this wasn’t the case with the uniq 37. The 7.2kW heat output and 78 per cent efficiency quickly warmed up the room and and continued to throw out a steady supply of heat with minimal adjustments. The fact that there was plenty of room to lay the 35cm logs on their end seemed to add to the ease with which the fire got going, because the fire allows plenty of room for oxygen to circulate. The airwash system also operated efficiently to keep the glass clear for the entire time the wood was burning.

Best: Mutifuel stove

Rating: 8/10

This is the smallest stove in the ecoburn range but it packs quite a punch in terms of its heat output, and we could feel the benefits of its 5kW heat output and 81.3 per cent efficiency, which meant that the room was toasty within half an hour. It’s a nice-looking steel appliance that really maximises the view of the fire while managing to keep things compact, and the air wash system worked well while the wood was burning. Multi fuels are managed via a central controller which diverts the air feed depending on the type of fuel that you’ve loaded the appliance up with. Whether you use wood or solid fuel we found theecoburn very easy to get started – although you’ll definitely need a heat resistant glove when opening and closing the door, as the handle does get hot. We also liked the fact that you can adjust the feet of the stove at the rear to take the hassle out of levelling up the appliance on uneven hearths.

Best: For cooking

Rating: 9/10

This 4.7kW model is a supremely efficient burner that would suit a larger-than-average room – it was one of the fastest room warmers on test thanks to an impressive 81.2 per cent efficiency and a hybrid system of heating the air using radiant and convected heat.

Its practicality continues with the addition of an oven box and a top plate that will fit a kettle and a saucepan, so you can heat the room and feed those gathered around in a single sitting. The burner gives a really nice view of the flames which are controlled via two push/pull stainless steel knobs and there’s a booster control for more air when you’re trying to get the fire going to begin with. The fat penguin comes in six optional contemporary paint finishes (including traditional black) so you won’t have any problems colour matching with the room.

Best: Value for money

Rating: 9/10

Like its literary namesake, this is a small but extremely capable do-it-all stove at a fantastic price. It’s cast iron, beautifully constructed and the West Country-based manufacturers have come up with a 4kW appliance that has a very impressive heat output while remaining compact.

The Hobbit is 81.4 per cent efficient so you’ll have no trouble warming a medium to large room quickly with air controls that only add to the overall usability. The traditional styling will work in a variety of rooms but the Hobbit’s size also means that if you have a traditional open fire with an ornate surround, then the fire can be replaced with the stove without the surround being ripped out.