Jargon Buster: Stoves

Struggling to get to grips with all the wood-burning stove jargon. Here’s your one-stop guide to some of the main terminology you’ll come across when buying a wood-burning stove.
Airwash
A system that forces a flow of air from a vent at the top of your stove down over the glass in the door to prevent tar and soot being deposited on the glass.
Ash pan
The removable or fitted pan that sits below the stove to collect all the ashes.
Baffle
A metal plate sitting above the stove. It partially blocks the exit for the hot flue gases created by your fuel. This helps to keep the gases in the stove for longer to make sure they have fully burnt, and also keeps to heat in the stove for longer to give more opportunity for your room to heat.
Cleanburn
A system used in modern stoves in which an additional air supply is introduced to the stove. This encourages burning higher up the stove, with the intention of stopping flammable gases disappearing up the flue without being burnt.
Firebox
The main inside part of your stove where all the burning takes place.
Firebricks
An insulating material used inside the stove to protect it from the fierce heat of the fire.
Flue
The pipe that takes the gases away from your stove.
Grate
The bed that your fuel sits on when it is burning.
Primary air supply
The main source of air to provide combustion inside the stove. In multi-fuel stoves this is usually at the bottom of the stove.
Register plate
A plate used to seal the bottom of the chimney in an open fireplace, which will have a hole through which the flue pipe passes (pictured above).
Secondary air supply
An additional air supply, often added to the stove to improve combustion (see Cleanburn)