Quite fancy one, but know nothing about them.

We live in a timber frame about 20 years old, single storey (I did not want to say bungalow…).

How much of the heat actually radiates into the room as opposed to going straight up the flue?

Any brands better than others? Made of which material?

What heat protection needs to be installed through loft space, etc?

Thanks!

this is as good a place as any to start

http://www.stovesonline.co.uk/stove_help_and_advice.html

How much of the heat actually radiates into the room as opposed to going straight up the flue?

Not much out of the chimney. You’ll find yourself in your underpants with all the windows open on the coldest nights if you’re not careful.

Any brands better than others? Made of which material?

I’ve got cheap ones and an expensive one costing 15x as much. No difference worth mentioning. They’re just boxes you light a fire in.

What heat protection needs to be installed through loft space, etc?

Not much. The flu is double skinned.

Open fire – 80% up the chimney 20% into the room! log burner 80% into the room 20% up the chimney. Having just changed from an open fire to a multifuel stove I can firm that this feels about right.
Don’t underestimate the amount of fuel you might get through though. Have you got somewhere to store wood or coal? I’ve found its difficult to find log suppliers who understand what seasoned logs actually means. I’ve got loads that’ll be great next year but forget it for now (unless you pay three times as much for kiln dried). I run mine on smokeless coal a fair bit which chucks out more heat than wood and needs less feeding as well. Perhaps not so green though…

Yep, don’t be tempted to go too big, they run much cleaner if you burn them flat out.

Agree with the down to your pants and all the windows open if your not careful. We have a nice double woodburner and once its lit it needs to be damped right down or the heat can be too much (farmhouse so its not like its a in small room). In the last house we had an enamel gas pretend woodburner that was fantastic, if it got too hot simply turn it down – would consider one again and don’t rule it out if you have gas.

Find logs store logs split logs split kindling. Burn in woodburner clean woodburner dispose of ash clean surround of ash .get chimney sweep in once a year . loads of hastle. We would not be without ours warms the house well clears the air looks fab you can just sit and watch the flames. Everyone who visits us plans to get one . Ours is a morso squirrel it is a good size efficient and clean burn for a smokeless zone. It has a silly embossed squirrel on the side that I hated but can’t really see as set into the fire place .
My friend has a clearview and likes that .

We have a Stanley Oisin which is more than enough to heat our lounge
They have a calculator to figure out what size u need
http://www.waterfordstanley.com/stanley-stoves/stove-chooser

Make sure of your log supply, as said before sometimes they are not seasoned well, dry does not mean seasoned……

I would build a decent sized log store if you have room for it and get a trailer load of logs in it now for next winter

They’re not as good as multi fuel stoves…