A wood burning stove does what it says on the tin - you will only be able to burn wood when in use. The fuel sometimes sits on a flat base, rather than on a fixed grate like that in a multi-fuel stove, so that the ashes from the burning wood are collected in the base of the firebox to allow fresh logs to be placed on top. This is because a wood burner will always work best when the fuel is allowed to sit on a bed of ash. So - advantage number one - you don't have to ash the stove out every time you'd like to use it - it NEEDS a bed of ash!

The second advantage to using a wood burning stove is that you are being environmentally friendly. Wood burning is considered to be a low carbon option from organisations who know their stuff - such as the Energy Saving Trust - and, if you make sure you buy wood from someone who invests in new trees to replace the ones being felled, you are using a form of renewable energy - fabulous!