With the popularity of wood burners on the rise in New Zealand particularly following the introduction of new minimum heating requirements under the Healthy Homes Act, Masport and Nectre have created a new customer guide to assist with comparable purchasing.

The BeReal Buyers Guide clearly communicates what output buyers can realistically expect from their wood burner and can bedownloaded for free from www.bereal.co.nz.

The information included in the guide suggests using the “Maximum Average” kilowatt (kW) output found on the compliance plate on the back of the fire as the best guide for everyday performance. This uses a standardised test so that buyers can fairly compare across manufacturers and it is also a useful measure when comparing output against other forms of heating like heat pumps.

The BeReal Buyers Guide and product labelling on Masport and Nectre wood burners aims to standardise claims and simplify the way customers shop for a wood fire.

Mike Daish, managing director of Glen Dimplex NZ Ltd (who manufacture wood fires under the Masport and Nectre brands)

says “Kiwi manufacturers have had to pull up their socks in one important area. There is inconsistency in the way wood fire output is marketed by manufacturers — often significantly over-estimating the true in-home heating capacity. The time has come to provide greater transparency about the output of wood fires and give buyers more insight into their realistic performance.”

“Historically, this has been measured by “peak” output and while technically possible to achieve under laboratory conditions, it is not wholly representative of everyday use in a buyer’s home.

“Be wary of any promoted peak kilowatt output figures that are not supported by the official compliance plate” says Mike. “To achieve some advertised rates, you need to re-fuel your fire every 15 minutes (and to 75% of full load capacity) which is not sustainable in everyday usage, nor would this be a cost-effective way to heat your home.”

Mike also says previous criticisms related to potential for air pollution now seem out of step with recent advances in technology.

“New technology has led to the production of today’s ultra-low emission burners (ULEBs) which can be four or five times cleaner burning than other standard wood fires. We see our ULEB wood burners as the future.”

The BeReal Buyers Guide is aimed at simplifying things for customers and provides reliable and trustworthy information that

is easy to find when purchasing a wood fire.

For more information about wood fire output and how to read your compliance plate, www.bereal.co.nz