Greg Parker-Hill meets up with Ric from Pyroclassic to check out the most talked about wood heater on the market; the Pyroclassic Heater. For more information, check out pivotstove.com.au
I like the way it will run at high temperature. However they have not explained how it actually radiates heat or transfers heat into a room. The lack of a fan or fins means heat transfer will be limited to quite small areas.
My Cromwell ULEB fire says it releases 0.2 g/Kg of emissions so it's a cleaner fire. But it's newer technology - 4 years later. But you can't cook on it and you can't attach a wet back. I was going to get the Pyroclassic 4 except it was too long for my lounge.
We have got one now for 18months, biggest problem we have you can`t control the heat like our old fire. It can be come very hot inside and we have to open doors and windows. The old fire we could dampen the fire, witch you can`t do, Turbo slide is shut.
I like the idea of heating Water within the stove. Maybe to pump around Radiators, or to fill a hot water tank for Sinks & showers. Could this heat water for Underfloor Heating Systems ? I'm no Plumber or heating Engineer, But When the hot water Copper tank is full & hot, Could the water then Circulate around Radiators in other rooms & Heat underfloor heating in a suitable size house ? A house built with Suitable insulation to modern standards ?
Probably too hot for most underfloor heating systems which typically run at 45°C temperature for screeded floors and 55°C temperature for timber suspended and floating floors.
This seems to me to be a bit of a trade off, the wood lasts for longer, but you get less radiant heat. If you want more heat, you will need to burn more wood, in a less well insulated firebox. ( nothing changes ) LOL
best to chat to Jindara about thier heaters the pyroclassic is not like any traditional wood heater in its construction or performance.. the ceramic firebox and performance is unique and the way the Pyro burns the wood at an extremely high temperature means you get a long thermal mass of storage of the heat + an extremely long burn time
Hmm that would seem strange that the burn is only 75% efficient compared to higher efficiency from stoves else where yet apparently it produces less emissions yet you need more complete combustion to lower emissions. Can you explain that? Whilst the bigger mass means longer residual heat it also means a much longer heat from cold time.
Is the 75% relative to US standard which discounts about 16% before measuring, or an absolute figure? How do Australian standards work? Apples to oranges...
Look at all that heat energy going up the flue and wasted. Wouldn't it be better to somehow use that exhaust heat to actually heat the home? Wouldn't that be more efficient? There is a better way. Rocket mass heater.
Klaa2 I've not seen any emissions data from a RMH. Do you have a link? Also RMH only are supposed to burn a few hours a day and then release the heat over the rest of the day. There's no need to burn for 15 hours.
@Klaa2 Not sure that's right. The RMH is very clean burning - basically just water vapour coming out the chimney. However with a RMH you usually have a large area adjacent for heat storage that is the size of a couch. But they tend to burn very small branches and waste wood, you don't use logs as such. The temperatures in the combustion chamber are often greater than 1000 degrees Centigrade. However you may have consent issues if you try putting one into a residential dwelling.
Looking up the definition of wet back pulls up something entirely different for me. 🤣 I was trying to figure out have the water system functions but instead got schooled on good old American racism.
Hi Robert, The Pyro Classic has a heating capacity of up to 180m², which is more than enough for a large living room or open plan house. If you're having trouble getting enough heat from your wood heater, try burning smaller logs and ensure your fuel is nice and dry (moisture under 18%).
No mention of the man who designed it because it wasn't them and to get the best life out of the cast tube you have to fire it like a clay pot slowly raising the temperature
