How should I heat my house?

[Stonehead]

stonehead are you talking about rocket stoves?

No, although rocket stoves are another way of achieving high-efficiency burning that I should have mentioned.

Downburning brings air in at the top of the stove, pulling smoke with it and is then directed through the hottest part of the fire. At the same time, more air is brought in from the back of the stove to keep the fuel-air mix high in O2.

The Solid Fuel Technology Insitute did have details on their website, but it's poorly organised and I can't find it again. Dunsley use the technology for their Yorkshire Stove.

Rocket stoves have the advantage of being cheap and easy to build yourself, but are harder to retrofit, need someone watching them to keep the wood pushed in, and aren't necessarily "consumer" friendly.

Something like the Yorkshire Stove on the other hand is not cheap, but can be fitted into most houses with existing chimneys, can be left to burn once fueled up, and are "consumer" friendly.

[dibnah]

thanks for the tip I'm thinking of changing the system Ive got

[Stonehead]

thanks for the tip I'm thinking of changing the system Ive got

Yorkshire Stoves pop up on ebay from time to time, usually going for less than £1,000 but so far have either gone for more than our £500 budget or are too far away.

There's one on ebay now, which at the time I post was sitting on £410 with a day and a bit to go. (Search ebay using "Yorkshire Stove" - I can't get the direct link to work here.)

It's at Holmfirth, West Yorkshire and so is too far for us. Ironically, we used to live at Skipton which would have been easy.