TermoKaust is a storage heating chamotte stove, which run on chopped firewood. Our experience suggests that the more chopped chunks of wood we use, the better they will burn and the higher temperature they will produce. This is because wood gas has more room for combustion. Amounts of firewood should be calculated according to the energy demand of a room we want to heat. Regular conditions in energy-saving houses require about 40W/m2 of overall surface of the room. The value may change depending on the volume of a room, larger glass-walled surfaces or atypical shapes.
Heating value of averagely deciduous firewood amounts to about 4.2 kWh/kg. Differences in combustion and quality of wood are significant and depend mainly on density. It also influences firewood storing area.
Thermal energy is produced as a result of burning a given amount of firewood. During early spring the amount would not match the amount from January, but gathering stock should take place according to the above calculation.
The performance of the device is a very important aspect that influences amount of firewood consumption during a heating season. Our furnace gets 85% of efficiency (technical data), which is one of the best results among all heating devices.
However, the dampness of firewood is most important. Unfortunately, some people still claim that wet wood burns better and for a longer time. Let's use the below argument in order to belie this claims. Fresh wood (wet) contains about 50% of damp. Water is non-inflammable and it must evaporate before wood would catch fire. The water heats up and uses energy, which would otherwise be used for heating a room. In the end, we burn that wood, but before that we dry it off! At the same time we produce a lot of soot, tar and other poisonous substances. We deteriorate our health, our stove, our chimney and atmosphere.
Hence, let's prepare firewood for two or three seasons in advance depending on the thickness of storing and its fragmentation.
There isn't a stove, which runs on a wet firewood. No norm takes that into account! A basic fuel for TermoKaust stove should be seasoned deciduous firewood of 20% dampness.