I'm struggling to get much heat out of my Ecco Stove E580 when compared to a steel stove. Anybody got any experience of this brand or type of modular masonry heater?
Anybody have experience of Ecco Stove small masonry heaters?
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Welcome to the forum! A masonry heater is going to heat up much slower than your old steel stove. You probably won't feel the hot radiant heat either. You should get a much more even heat once it is warmed up though. Depending on the firebox size compared to the mass of masonry, it may take multiple fires to warm it up enough.. Did the old stove have a similar firebox size as the new stove? Once warmed up, is your house staying warm enough?
Can you provide more details on when you say you’re struggling to get much heat? A masonry stove like the Ecco works much differently from a metal stove and I am assuming you know that. I remember when I got my first soapstone stove and I was thinking where’s the heat as I was used at that time a metal stove. I then “graduated” to a true custom masonry heater in the next home and sure they take a while to heat up but once going, it never cooled down all winter. One fire in the morning on many days (full load and burn very hot) to two fires on the coldest of days, -25c at night. I have never had an Ecco and wish I could get one to fit my hearth as would love the same type of heat but t it will not fit. Again for us it was full loads and hit fires would get the mass heated and then it’s a gentle heat all day and night.
SpaceBus
Minister of Fire
The stove is only rated for 6 kw or 21,000 btu output. Unless your home is very small or you run it non stop, it may be undersized.
Sorry for the slow reply. It gets to temperature in 2 hours if you sit with it and keep feeding it with fast burning soft wood. It'll heat the house much like the steel burner at the other end of the room but the masonry heater is using more wood. It needs to be fired all the time like a steel stove or it goes cold and so does the house. If you fail to feed it every 2 hours it'll burn out (as the air intake is factory set 'open' to encourage a hot fire) and then you have the rigamarole of lighting a fire from scratch.
The house is tiny, around 95m2 with low ceilings and well insulated (5" PIR in the roof, 2" PIR in the floor and equivalent to 1" on the walls) but the windows need replacing with double glazed ones. Heating with the steel stove is really easy and it's a very old, leaky Woodwarm. I invested in the Ecco thinking it would be far better but we literally don't use it because of how much wood it burns and it's awkward to use.
I've had the Ecco running for about 3 months when I first bought it and felt fairly disappointed that it wasn't as revolutionary as the sales team had told me. When I used the old steel stove for comparison it was really depressing! The Ecco sits in the fireplace like an incredibly expensive ornament which is crazy considering how much I spent on it. I really need to figure out how to get the most out of it after the manufacturer has refused to give me a reasonable refund.
I've lived with woodburners as our sole source of heat for about 12 years so I thought I'd get on well with the Ecco but I'm out of ideas as to why it doesn't work well.
The house is tiny, around 95m2 with low ceilings and well insulated (5" PIR in the roof, 2" PIR in the floor and equivalent to 1" on the walls) but the windows need replacing with double glazed ones. Heating with the steel stove is really easy and it's a very old, leaky Woodwarm. I invested in the Ecco thinking it would be far better but we literally don't use it because of how much wood it burns and it's awkward to use.
I've had the Ecco running for about 3 months when I first bought it and felt fairly disappointed that it wasn't as revolutionary as the sales team had told me. When I used the old steel stove for comparison it was really depressing! The Ecco sits in the fireplace like an incredibly expensive ornament which is crazy considering how much I spent on it. I really need to figure out how to get the most out of it after the manufacturer has refused to give me a reasonable refund.
I've lived with woodburners as our sole source of heat for about 12 years so I thought I'd get on well with the Ecco but I'm out of ideas as to why it doesn't work well.
stoveliker
Minister of Fire
I would search for what (stone) surface temperatures should be for this heater - it seems to me you are not heating up the masonry sufficiently for it to radiate heat into the room long after the fire is extinguished. Comparing to what temps the masonry reaches in other installations of the same heater would provide a clue.
Masonry heaters are *meant to* be burned batch-wise, NOT continuously. I.e. batch of hot fire heating up the masonry. Then the fire goes out, and the masonry keeps heating your home. After 12 hrs or so, another fire heating up the masonry, etc.
I assume here the flue pathway is standard (circuitous thru the masonry), i.e. its design was included with the heater?
Is the chimney above that so tall that it sucks out too much heat?
Masonry heaters are *meant to* be burned batch-wise, NOT continuously. I.e. batch of hot fire heating up the masonry. Then the fire goes out, and the masonry keeps heating your home. After 12 hrs or so, another fire heating up the masonry, etc.
I assume here the flue pathway is standard (circuitous thru the masonry), i.e. its design was included with the heater?
Is the chimney above that so tall that it sucks out too much heat?
According to the literature, the stove weighs less than 600lbs. I’m not certain that’s enough mass to hold enough heat for long spaces between batches.
Checking the temperature of the stone could be a real big clue on how to run one.
Are the fireboxes the same size between stoves. If you need x Kg of wood to heat a house, you’re still going to need that whether you burn it in little batches or big batches.
Checking the temperature of the stone could be a real big clue on how to run one.
Are the fireboxes the same size between stoves. If you need x Kg of wood to heat a house, you’re still going to need that whether you burn it in little batches or big batches.
stoveliker
Minister of Fire
Hm, that's more of a soap stone-like stove at that weight than a masonry stove, imo...
Still, the heat transfer from not only the firebox but also the zigzagging flue system to the thermal mass (and thus room) should be checked.
Of it's on an outside wall, I hope there is insulation between the thermal mass and the wall...?
Still, the heat transfer from not only the firebox but also the zigzagging flue system to the thermal mass (and thus room) should be checked.
Of it's on an outside wall, I hope there is insulation between the thermal mass and the wall...?
Isn't this unit made out of metal or some sort of composite material? It has 2 side channels so technically the exhaust doesn't go straight up and out. A 600 lb masonry heater? I thought a small masonry heater was 3,000 lbs, and a big one over 10,000 lbs? Ya, at 600 lbs you are going to have to run it like a wood stove by burning wood in it all of the time. Yes, your small heat storage battery won't last long - didn't I read 2 hours until it goes cold. Maybe it was created for where you live.
Because the UK is a coastal climate maybe that is why this type of 'hybrid' was created - heating demands are less. The Norwegians use small masonry heaters too, but they weigh more than 600 lbs. And they are made of mostly soapstone - a better heat holder than metal. And I think they are considered room heaters.
Because the UK is a coastal climate maybe that is why this type of 'hybrid' was created - heating demands are less. The Norwegians use small masonry heaters too, but they weigh more than 600 lbs. And they are made of mostly soapstone - a better heat holder than metal. And I think they are considered room heaters.
The Ecco S580 stove is a fascinating little heater. It's made of silicon carbide. The stove will heat up slower than a steel stove which radiates heat quickly. It will not radiate heat intensely like an unshielded steel or cast iron stove will. That's not the nature of a masonry heater. Instead, a lot of heat is stored in the mass of the stove and slowly released over time.
Here's how it is assembled.
Here's how it is assembled.
stoveliker
Minister of Fire
That explains a lot. This is not really a masonry heater. It's a small stove with a bit more mass.
Masonry heaters have a lot more.mass and that mass.is heated mostly from a circuitous path thatthe flue gasses take thru the masonry mass.
Masonry heaters have a lot more.mass and that mass.is heated mostly from a circuitous path thatthe flue gasses take thru the masonry mass.
is it in the open or in fireplace,if it's in the hearth i found heat has problem escaping into room
Yes, there's only so much one can do in a small space. The 580 stove has a serpentine flue gas path, but it's more vertical and not nearly as much as in their larger stoves where there is more room on the sides for counterflow flue gas channels.
Their biggest stove, the E850 weighs 800kg.
I was so skeptical when buying it because of its low mass but the manufacturer promised time and again that it would be the perfect heating solution for us. We had a 1 year old at the time and they knew it was our only form of heating but they still promised it'd work.
They provided a 'personalised heat plan' that states 14 - 20 kg of wood logs with <20% moisture would maintain a temperature of 20°C in the stove room down to 17°C in the room farthest from the stove (with outside temperatures of 0°C). This seemed unbelievable and it turns out it was untrue. I use around 40kg/day with the Ecco compared to 30kg/day with the Woodwarm.
It's also a bit misleading describing the stove as being made from silicon carbide, it turns out it contains SiC but only approximately 30 - 40%.
Our house has a space heating demand of 12000kWh per year. Any idea how much wood of moisture content <=20% it would take to generate this amount of heat?
A bit of insulation around the stove would be great but our house is around 250 years old and I don't want to cover up the stonework.
They provided a 'personalised heat plan' that states 14 - 20 kg of wood logs with <20% moisture would maintain a temperature of 20°C in the stove room down to 17°C in the room farthest from the stove (with outside temperatures of 0°C). This seemed unbelievable and it turns out it was untrue. I use around 40kg/day with the Ecco compared to 30kg/day with the Woodwarm.
It's also a bit misleading describing the stove as being made from silicon carbide, it turns out it contains SiC but only approximately 30 - 40%.
Our house has a space heating demand of 12000kWh per year. Any idea how much wood of moisture content <=20% it would take to generate this amount of heat?
A bit of insulation around the stove would be great but our house is around 250 years old and I don't want to cover up the stonework.
That’s 40,945,700 btu. There’s 8600 btu in a lb of wood. 80% efficient stove gives you 6880 btu/lb into the room.
Divide btu needed by btu/lb and you get just less than 6000lbs of wood needed. That converts to 2721 kg. Moisture content losses… 3000 kg or so.
And maybe I’m off base completely, lol.
Divide btu needed by btu/lb and you get just less than 6000lbs of wood needed. That converts to 2721 kg. Moisture content losses… 3000 kg or so.
And maybe I’m off base completely, lol.
i have a stone house with no insulation ,3000sqft heater to just be comfortable.granted it's a wee bit colder where i live but stone walls like to draw heat out .if it's in the hearth bringing it out might help
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