FAQ on wood-burning stoves, fireplaces and service

For craft projects such as a built-in fireplace, masonry heater (Grundofen) or tiled stove, we plan your system in advance under a planning contract: on-site measurement, checking of chimney, structural load and combustion air, CAD drawings with floor plan, elevations and section, choice of materials and a binding quote. If you then award us the contract, we credit half of the planning costs.

Our stove shop on the B4 in Ausbüttel has existed since 1994 – the Kerstens family has been selling stoves since the mid-1980s: founder Heinrich Kerstens started with masonry heaters, Biofire stoves, wood-burning stoves and fireplace inserts, planned and installed from a single source. Today his son, master stove builder Philipp Kerstens, runs the business.

Our showroom in Ausbüttel right on the B4 (Gifhorner Straße 3) is open during opening hours: Mon–Fri 10:00–12:30 and 13:30–18:00, Sat 10:00–13:00. For a detailed fireplace consultation we recommend booking an appointment – so that we can take enough time for your project.

Helpful are photos of the possible installation location from several angles, floor plans of the storey, a dimensioned section of the house and the chimney data (length, type, diameter). If the fireplace is to stand against an outside wall, we also need details of the wall construction. You can upload the documents directly in the contact form.

Including Brunner, Focus, Austroflamm, Contura, Skantherm, Hoxter, Spartherm, MCZ, Kalfire, Olsberg, Nordpeis, Tulikivi, Dovre, Bullerjan, Camina & Schmid, Westbo, Monolith, Bålstil, Skanderborg, TermaTech and Schiedel.

Yes. Kerstens Kamine is an official partner of the French design brand Focus and is responsible for the Braunschweig area plus 150 km. You can experience Focus fireplaces in person in our showroom in Ausbüttel.

In four steps: consultation and site analysis, design and concept development, technical planning and construction, and installation and final acceptance. At handover you receive a personal introduction to operating your fireplace.

That depends above all on whether it is a new build or an existing building. In a well-insulated new build, even a small wood-burning stove is quickly too powerful – there we almost always recommend a stove with a lot of storage mass that releases the heat gently over many hours. In older, less well-insulated houses, more output is fine. We work it out together in the consultation.

A continuous-burning stove is a stove built so that the fire can keep going for many hours – even overnight – without relighting. It holds the embers and is refuelled at longer intervals, usually with lignite briquettes or coke. Typical features are a robust combustion chamber with firebrick or cast iron and fine control of the combustion air. Most wood-burning stoves, by contrast, are intermittent-burning stoves: they burn in loads and are relit when needed. Which stove suits your home depends on the fuel and how you use it – whether you only enjoy it in the evening or use it permanently for heating. We will gladly advise you in our showroom.

A wood-burning stove is a freestanding appliance made of steel or cast iron. A fireplace cassette is a closed insert that is built into an existing or new fireplace – ideal for converting an open or older fireplace to modern, efficient combustion technology without having to rebuild it completely.

A hybrid stove can be operated either with firewood or automatically with pellets. This combines the classic wood fire with the convenience of even, optionally time-controlled pellet heating. Many models switch automatically between the two fuels when required.

A water-bearing fireplace transfers a large part of its heat to the heating system and can support radiators and hot water. It can be combined with buffer tanks, solar thermal systems or heat pumps – while the fire in your living room remains.

A masonry heater (Grundofen) is a solid heat-storage stove. It stores the heat in its ceramic structure and releases it evenly over many hours as gentle radiant heat. Every masonry heater is individually planned for the room.

No. Ethanol fireplaces run on bioethanol and electric fireplaces only need a power connection – neither needs a chimney or flue, so both are also suitable for flats.

Yes. We plan and carry out chimney renovations with a new inner liner, double-walled stainless steel chimneys for the outside wall and masonry chimney systems for new builds.

Depending on the product, an inspection is required every 1 to 3 or 5 years. This covers the flue gas passages, firebox, viewing glass, seals, air routing, controls and operational safety.

Maintenance is carried out by our subsidiary 369 Vision Werk GmbH & Co. KG – as a one-off service or with an individual maintenance contract for planning certainty and the long-term value of your system.

Common causes are air routing, draught behaviour or fuel. We will gladly advise you and find the cause. On request, we carry out a chargeable inspection with calculation, measurement and analysis to set up your stove optimally.

Yes. Through us you can obtain common spare and wear parts from many manufacturers – including for older models and for manufacturers that are not part of our active range. Ideally, use our spare parts form with photos of the rating plate.

You can find manuals, technical data and current manufacturer brochures in our digital brochure cabinet at service.kerstens-kamine.de.

That depends on the stove: with fireplaces without a bottom grate, you light from the top; with appliances with a bottom grate, from below. With both methods, open the combustion air fully and close the door. Which method suits your stove is stated in the operating manual – we will gladly show you at handover.

Place two to three logs side by side with a small gap on the firebox floor, split edges facing upwards. Stack finger-thick kindling criss-cross on top and place the firelighter in between. Open the air fully, light the firelighter, close the door. The fire then burns from the top down – this is calmer and produces less smoke.

Place the firelighter on the open grate, stack about two layers of kindling on top and, on top of that, two to three not too thick logs with the split edge facing down. Open the air fully, light the fire and close the door.

Permitted is natural, untreated lump wood, above all dry firewood (logs), as well as wood briquettes and – in a pellet stove – wood pellets with quality certification. Rubbish, waste wood, painted or treated wood, chipboard, bark briquettes and plastics do not belong in the stove. Your stove is not a waste incinerator.

Firewood must have a moisture content below 25 %, which corresponds to about 20 % water content. 15–20 % water content is ideal. With a wood moisture meter, available cheaply in shops, you can check the residual moisture yourself.

Freshly felled wood needs about one to three years, depending on the type of wood, split size and storage location. Store it under cover, off the ground and loosely enough for air to flow through the stack.

Yes. Kiln-dried wood can be so dry that it burns too quickly and causes unnecessarily high emissions. Store such wood in an airy place for a few weeks before burning it.

Damp wood burns poorly, smokes, soots up the glass, stove and chimney and gives off less heat: at 50 % water content, beech delivers only about 2.2 kWh per kilogram, at 15–20 % around 3.9–4.2 kWh.

Add more wood once a bed of embers has formed and only small flames are burning. Open the door slowly, push the embers together into a bed and place the logs on it with the split edge facing down. Do not throw them in – this can damage the firebox.

For lighting, the air stays fully open. As soon as the flames have caught all the logs, switch to normal operation – the exact setting is given in the manual. Only once the residual embers have gone out should you close the air completely.

No. A wood-burning stove is designed for its nominal heat output; permanent low-load operation is not intended and leads to poor combustion. If you want a permanently low output, a pellet stove is the better choice – it is also designed for the lower output range. We will gladly advise you.

A wood-burning stove with flat combustion burns each load of logs for around 30 to 45 minutes. Then add more wood once there is a bed of embers.

Collect the ash in a metal bucket with a lid. Even ash that seems cold can still contain small embers. Only once it has cooled down completely does it belong in the general waste bin.

No. Flammable liquids can ignite explosively and cause serious injuries. Use firelighter cubes, firelighter pads or wood wool firelighters and finger-thick kindling.

A solid cubic metre is one cubic metre of pure wood, a stacked cubic metre (stère) is one cubic metre of stacked wood with gaps, and a loose cubic metre is one cubic metre of loosely tipped wood. For beech in 33 cm logs, 1 stacked cubic metre corresponds to about 0.62 solid cubic metres or 1.48 loose cubic metres.

Logs with a circumference of 20–30 cm and a length of 25, 33 or 50 cm are usual; your stove manufacturer’s specification takes precedence. Round logs should be split.

Yes. Before commissioning, you must inform the district chimney sweep about the new fireplace. It is best to talk to him about the chimney, output and suitability before you buy.

Clarify this before you buy. Burning bans or restrictions may arise from the development plan, the property purchase contract or a local by-law. We will gladly help you assess this.