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I never thought I could get so excited about something like a FIRE, but I also didn’t realise how fantastic modern wood fireplaces can look these days. Seriously, there are endless design possibilities… wood, gas, electric, built-in, free-standing etc etc. Being honest, I loved the look of a LOT of them, but we were able to make some decisions based on our needs/wants and circumstances and knew we were after two things in particular for our Jacks Point build in Queenstown:
1) a wood burner and
2) something that made a statement aesthetically.

We chose a wood burner because we both really love the heat and the light and the overall ambience and feeling that a wood burner creates in the home. PLUS it really appealed to us that wood burners use a renewable resource and can provide more than 50% more heat than a gas fire. We also needed something that would ‘fill the space’ and act as a centrepiece for our home, set against a gorgeous stone wall and with the free-standing flue extending all the way up through the 5m high centre point of the ceiling, the aesthetic was just as important in this decision as the practicality.

It was our architect who led us to discover the STOVAX range and in particular the Studio 2 NZ Wood Fire that can be seen in the picture above. In my opinion this is a true beauty! The size is incredible, its true magnitude not quite realised until standing next to it- the picture doesn’t do its grandness justice. Gorgeous matt black and glass fronted, it looks stunning, and it burns with air wash air flow so that the window is kept clean when burning. It is clean air approved and has a 66% efficiency, with a heat output of 16.0kW !!! We chose to have it freestanding as you can see, because it needed to sit against our stone wall fireplace, but you can also select it as built in and it is equally as striking. A really cool feature of it is that it comes with a ZCB or Zero Clearance Box which basically means that combustible building materials can be installed against the body of the fireplace without fear of combustion or heat damage, ensuring the aesthetic of the fireplace remains uninterrupted.

The open plan living, dining and kitchen area where our fire sits is approximately 80sqm, and as I said earlier, with a ceiling height of just over 5 metres, so the output needed to be reasonably high to ensure the space was effectively heated. But also the fire itself needed to look ‘equal’ in the space- too small it could easily look silly and worthless and because it was centred in the room it needed to be worthy of being the ‘heart of the home’. We are satisfied that it in fact creates this perfectly.

We have had some chilly days down here in Queenstown already, with many nights below 5 degrees already and the fire has proven to be quite spectacular. It heats quickly, it burns efficiently, it burns a beautiful colour and casts the most perfect light over the space and gives us the exact ambience we were after. We couldn’t speak more highly of the STOVAX fire we have, or of wood burners in general, but if anything it has made us realise how important it is to once again make the choice and decision based on you and your circumstance. So to help you out a little, here are some things to consider:

Room size – How big is the space that you are trying to heat? Do you want the heat to transfer to other areas in the house or are you just wanting one simple space warmed?

Other heating- What other, if any, heating options are you combining the fire with in your home? A fire alone may not be be enough depending on your house layout, or perhaps you don’t even need the fire for warmth but adore the look and feel that a fire provides?

Time- Do you enjoy lighting a fire or are you a push the button kind of person? Right here right now thanks?

Heat sensory- Do you like your space warm and toasty or are you someone who prefers a more mellow temperature? Do you just want to be warm or is the whole ideal an experience for you?

That’s just a start. Do your research, talk to your architect, home designer and builder about what they think might be best for your space and layout, talk to your friends about their experience and read product guidelines online. I have done a fair bit of this over the last few builds we have completed and here is why we choose wood burners time and time again. For more on the other heating options, check out the information on www.fergusonbuilders.co.nz/blog

• Wood Burning Fireplaces

Nothing can beat a wood burning fireplace for that authentic fire watching and enjoyment experience.

As with all fireplace types, there are some rather distinctive pros and cons, and a wood burning fireplace has both the strongest pros and the biggest cons. It really is a love it or hate it – can’t put up with the hassle, type of relationship.

Pros:

For us, the wood burner is the coziest, snuggliest, most sensory fireplace experience. The snap and crackle sounds, the infinite variety of fire and shadows dancing, while producing warm and cozy feelings just has AMBIENCE written all over it.

My husband finds watching a wood burning fire a totally hypnotic experience (as if he needs another reason to switch off and not listen to me haha). I think he also finds tending to the fire a real ‘home maker, care taker’ experience.

A wood burning fireplace can increase the value of your home and is a desirable and requested feature at re-sale time.

As mentioned- It is a décor focal point and offers distinct character to a room. It has an ‘old world’ touch of elegance, while the shape still determines its place as a modern design feature.

Wood burning fireplaces offer off the grid heating capability. Wood is a renewable resource. Wood fireplaces are not dependent on utilities.

Cons:
For me, wood burners are obviously a lot messier of an option than something like a gas fire. Soot, ash, woodchips etc can be annoying for the clean freak or mildly OCD member of the family like myself.

Log storage- could perhaps be an issue? There are so many great ideas for incorporating this in your house these days though and you don’t need to look far on pinterest to find inspiration for this. We decided on a riased fire box on top of a concrete slab so as to store the wood underneath the fire, but this is just one of many. (See below)

Many of the cons of a wood burner fire are no loger cons we need to consider thanks to the improvements made with energy efficiency and the design to avoid a lot of the flaws tha they used to include, such as drafts and negative efficiency.

Hope this helps,
The Team at Ferguson Builders Ltd x
Queenstown Builders, NZ