What’s the difference between Ecodesign, clearSkies and DEFRA wood burning stoves?

The Different Classifications of Wood Burning Stoves

If you've been browsing for a new stove, chances are you'll have come across terms like Ecodesign, clearSkies and DEFRA, without necessarily any accompanying explanation.

All three classifications are attempt to codify improvements in the efficiency or operation of, and reductions in harmful emissions from, wood burning stoves, but they differ in important ways.

Ecodesign stoves:

Ecodesign is a new legal standard that applies to all stoves sold in the UK from 1^st January 2022. It establishes a floor for minimum acceptable efficiency and a ceiling for permissible particulate (and various noxious gas) emissions. The standards are very stringent and represent a step-change in performance requirements. (More broadly, Ecodesign as a concept is part of a philosophy of ecological sustainability applied to the design and production of household items.) Despite the total lack of ambiguity about this new standard, it is still possible to find stoves on sale in the UK that fail to meet the Ecodesign benchmark. You should think very carefully about buying one of these non-compliant stoves, as, quite apart from the dubious legality of fitting it, it might have serious knock-on effects on your ability to insure or sell your house.

DEFRA stoves:

The Department of Environment, Food and Rural Affairs maintain a shortlist of wood-burning stoves, the use of which is permitted in smoke control zones. Generally, smoke control zones are found in large conurbations, but not all cities have smoke control zones, and the classification seems to be applied rather arbitrarily. The government doesn’t publish a list of smoke control zones. You have to ask your local council to find out if you live in one. Locally, Southampton has a smoke-control zone, Bournemouth doesn’t. Who knows why? Be that as it may, if you live in one, your stove must be DEFRA approved. Being DEFRA approved does not mean you can’t pollute your street with clouds of smoke – with the right malevolent intent and a basket of damp logs, any sociopath can do that, but a DEFRA rating does mean that your stove will incorporate a handful of design features conceived to make it slightly more difficult to do so. Having originated as quite a stringent test, back in the days when it was widely assumed that a woodburner could never be operated smokelessly, the category has now become more of a box-ticking exercise, but nonetheless a box that it is important to tick if you want to stay on the right side of the law. (Importantly, and slightly annoyingly, not all Ecodesign stoves are DEFRA-approved.)

clearSkies:



clearSkies is an industry-led scheme that is arguably more coherent and thought-through as a holistic scheme for rating stoves. On the other hand, to a large extent, it duplicates, but toothlessly, the role of Ecodesign, clunkily incorporates a category for DEFRA and further muddies the waters for apathetic consumers. As a voluntary scheme with no enforcement mechanism, the main benefit is to disseminate extra information so that consumers can make a better-informed choice. It also provides a framework for brands to showcase the degree to which their stoves exceed existing regulatory requirements on efficiency and emissions.  clearSkies has its own rigorous testing regime and a classification system from 2 to 5, with 2 representing parity with the minimum Ecodesign standard and 5 exceeding it by far (level 1, presumably, is like the ground floor of a sinking building that is by now underground, never to be referenced again. For those Spinal Tap fans among us, we can only hope that one day we’ll be able to dial up to Level 11). Level 3 is not actually qualitatively better than 2 but indicates that the appliance is also DEFRA-approved. Level 4 offers a 15% improvement on Level 2/Level 3, Level 5 goes 15% better than Level 4.

For showcasing the extraordinary levels of improvement some manufacturers have been able to make to stove performance, and these are real and extremely impressive (see the wide range of Woodwarm, Charnwood and Contura stoves which are Level 5), clearSkies is a welcome addendum for customers who really like to do their research, and a superior template for any future government looking to overhaul the dog’s breakfast that is the current regulatory environment into something more clear, cogent and comprehensible. Unfortunately, that doesn’t look like it’s going to happen anytime soon. (It's important to remember that not all stove manufacturers are signed up to clearSkies.)

In conclusion, Ecodesign and DEFRA are legal requirements, at national and city-specific levels respectively, while clearSkies is a voluntary scheme.

So if you’re looking for a new stove:

·        Ensure it’s Ecodesign-compliant

·        Find out if you’re in a smoke-control zone; if so, ensure your stove is DEFRA-approved

·        See if it has a clearSkies rating to really drill down on performance metrics