Water-bearing stove
A smart heating system
Water-bearing stoves support the heating with hot water
Whether a wood stove or a tiled stove: fireplaces spread soothing warmth. Water-bearing devices can do even more by feeding part of this heat into the heating system in the house. This makes you less dependent on fossil fuels - and the next winter can come.
A water-bearing stove for even more warmth in the house
Is there anything more comfortable than a water-bearing tiled stove from BRUNNER? It is the eye-catcher in your four walls, provides pleasant radiant heat and generates hot water for your home. Fireplaces and tiled stoves provide the basic need for warmth. If heating of other rooms in the house is desired in addition to the installation room, water-bearing fireplaces and tiled stoves offer advantages.
For primarily heat
There is a suitable water-bearing tiled stove for every house and every heating situation - from large to small boiler output, every heating principle can be served, compact boilers are also available.
Large boiler output
- with variable boiler proportion, if the tiled stove should primarily support the heating concept of the building
- "Stubenkessel" principle
Medium boiler output
- with fixed boiler proportion, for compact stove installations
- Compact boiler with small storage mass principle
Small boiler output
- if primarily the installation room is to be heated via radiant heat or when replacing appliances
- Compact boiler with large storage mass principle
What is a water-bearing stove?
A water-bearing stove or fireplace is a good way to heat with domestic energy from wood, especially in the transitional period between summer and winter or in spring. Then one or two fires per day are enough to supply the hot water and heating. But water-bearing stoves also support the heating system during the rest of the year and help to reduce heating costs.
In the living room, water-bearing devices can hardly be distinguished visually from non-water-bearing systems. The extra technology is hidden behind the fireplace or tiled stove cladding.
How does a water-bearing stove work?
A water-bearing stove can be a wood stove but also a pellet stove with a water pocket Water-bearing stoves that heat with logs always have an integrated heat exchanger, the water pocket. The principle is simple: a water-bearing fireplace or stove only gives off part of its heat to the place where it is installed, the rest is fed into a buffer tank and from there into the central heating system.
- The heat release takes place in the firebox of the system, where the wood burns. During combustion, temperatures of 600 to 800 Celsius (1112 to 1472 degrees Fahrenheit) are reached.
- If the combustion chamber walls are built into a boiler shell, they heat the metallic shell of the boiler body and the heating water that is attached to it.
- Heat can also be extracted from the hot heating gases. From the combustion chamber they flow through a metallic water heat exchanger.
- The boiler body and the water heat exchanger are constructed in such a way that they form a unit. Through the two processes of heat transfer described above, the water can be heated to 70 to 80 degrees (158-176 degrees Fahrenheit).
- It is collected in a buffer tank.
- If required, it then heats radiators, floors and wall panel heating.
The Lower Bavarian premium manufacturer BRUNNER was one of the first to offer its wood stoves in a water-bearing design for craftsmen stove builders.
When is a water-bearing stove worthwhile?
If we take the energy standard of a single-family house, which has a heating requirement of approximately 4 to 7 kW, then a water-bearing stove is not an advantage, but a real benefit. In transitional periods it can supply hot water and heating system alone, just as in times of need.
For homes with a heat pump, the combination with a water-bearing stove is a good relief. When it gets really cold outside and the heat pump is less effective because more electricity is needed, a water-bearing stove simply steps in. Because especially on frosty days, the heating circuits require higher heating water temperatures that a fireplace or tiled stove boiler can provide.
To be able to use such hybrid heating systems comfortably, there are BRUNNER system solutions with buffer storage and a hydraulic heating installation, for example the BRUNNER central heating system. It guarantees foolproof control and operation. Incidentally, power failure is no problem, thanks to the emergency power supply, all important heating pumps and the control system remain in operation.
Heating with water-bearing fireplaces and wood fire fireplaces
If a water-bearing fireplace or tiled stove is installed as the sole heating system in Germany, the legislator evaluates it as central heating and not as a single fireplace, which means stricter regulation and compliance with exhaust gas values. This meant a different measurement obligation via the chimney sweep. If the water-bearing fireplace or tiled stove is installed to support the heating system, it is classified as an auxiliary heating system; the repeated measurement obligation does not apply here. Proof of the type test is sufficient for the operating permit. It should be noted that the nominal output of the individual fireplace must be based on the heat requirement of the room where it is installed.
Water-bearing fireplace or tiled stove?
This decision depends above all on personal taste and whether more importance is attached to atmosphere or heat output. A water-bearing fireplace with large glass formats brings a lot of atmosphere to the installation site. If pleasant radiant heat is desired in the room where the stove is installed, a water-bearing tiled stove is the right choice. BRUNNER offers a wide range of water-bearing heating inserts, so you will always find the solution you are looking for.
Support for the central heating system
Optimising the energy supply of a building with just one stove sounds good. However, it requires thorough planning and sufficient space, as more components have to be installed. You then have the option of providing domestic hot water, supporting the heating circuit or supplying the heating system completely. If the stove with water pocket is to be used for domestic hot water preparation, it should be linked to the heating circuit of the heating system.
In addition, when planning a water-bearing fireplace or woodfire insert, the coordination between the heating load of the building, heat generation and heat distribution is crucial.
The amount of wood logs can only be named when the demand of the house is known, the calculations for this are provided by planning offices. The right choice of boiler equipment is also crucial. The usable heating water or boiler proportion of the heat generator are the selection criteria. Because too much waste heat creates a sauna effect, the boiler and radiation components of the heating insert must be as identical as possible to the heat distribution of the building.
Connection to the heating system
When a water-bearing stove is connected to the heating system, it needs two things:
- The heating engineer must install a pump unit with return boost.
- There must be a sufficiently large buffer tank.
The buffer tank balances the heating water yields that are not currently needed by the heating system. It collects and stores them and when heat is needed between firings, it releases it. Buffer storage tanks usually have a volume of 500 to 1,000 litres.
Water-bearing stoves can also be conveniently integrated into a heating system with a BRUNNER heating system. Hydraulics and control are networked into a system solution and equipped with a modern and up-to-date user interface.
Water-bearing stove, a good choice or not?
A water-bearing stove is associated with costs, it is a major investment that should be well calculated and worked out. If you already have a stove in your home, you can upgrade more cost-effectively with a water-bearing fireplace insert. A water pocket is placed around the fireplace's combustion chamber. The heat from the wood fire can thus be used directly but only for heating the water pocket. Systems that support the heating system in room heating and hot water preparation and are connected to other, also renewable energy sources such as solar thermal or photovoltaic systems have proved most successful.
Heating with logs
Whoever heats with wood heats with renewable raw materials and thus in a climate-friendly way. However, it needs space for a suitable fire depot, because the wood should be stored in a dry and airy place. And the more regionally it can be obtained, the better. A stove with a heating capacity of 6 kilowatts or nominal heat output needs about 1.8 kilograms of wood per hour of heating, preferably hardwood such as beech. So it adds up to quite a lot.
Similar to a fireplace, a tiled stove initially offers two things: a fire atmosphere and warmth. But the focus here is clearly more on the latter: The energy generated in the firebox is slowly transferred to the stove's massive storage elements. These then give off so-called radiant heat to the surroundings in a pleasant manner over a period of hours. With a water-bearing tiled stove, you still have the choice of whether the heat energy should alternatively be conducted through the water heat exchanger. In this way, the energy produced in the tiled stove is used to produce hot water, so to speak.
Never before has boiler technology with the tiled stove made so much sense as it does today. Especially the reduced heat demand of single-family houses with about 5 to 7 kW makes the wood fire stove system with integrated water-heat a real benefit for the heat supply of many families. In the transitional period, one or two fires per day can supply hot water and the heating circuit without having to switch on the main heating system. Even in "emergency times", the entire heat requirement can be generated with 3 to 4 fillings via a tiled stove boiler. For convenient use of such "hybrid heating systems", we at BRUNNER recommend our buffer tank system with the perfect BHZ hydraulic heating installation. There is no better and clearer way to control and operate a modern heating system. In the event of a power failure, the NV 500/1000 emergency power supply ensures that all the necessary heating pumps and the control system remain unaffected for around 24 hours.
Quite simple: In contrast to a classic tiled stove, you have the option of heating your own heating water. To do this, you use the energy that is already available in the tiled stove. This saves money and gives you a good conscience to use your firewood efficiently. The fact that you can conduct your stove heat through the ceramic storage mass of your system is an additional function of the water-bearing tiled stove. You have the choice of producing hot water and healthy radiant heat. Depending on your needs. And best of all: as BRUNNER now also offers water-bearing tiled stoves with a large window, you also get quick heat through the window at the same time. The best of all worlds really.
In short: in almost every one. Because in addition to the wide selection of water-bearing wood inserts, BRUNNER offers an interface between all energy producers and consumers with the so-called BHZ (BRUNNER heating centre). For example, an oil heating system can be conveniently connected to a solar heating system and a water-bearing tiled stove. Our log and pellet boilers, gas boilers, solar thermal systems or heat pumps can also be conveniently integrated into your own heating system in this way. The heat pump in particular benefits from the symbiosis with a water-bearing tiled stove. The latter can compensate for the weak phases of a heat pump on very cold winter days and thus ensures optimal energy efficiency. A more than good team.
When the specialist in tiled stoves meets the specialist in boiler technology, the result can only be perfected technology and quality. For several decades, BRUNNER tiled stove inserts have proven themselves to be enduring and reliable wood heaters that are simply fun to use. The introduction of water technology into the world of fireplaces and tiled stoves, significantly advanced by BRUNNER, further increases this joy of the wood fire.
Consult your furnace builder to find the right heating insert for your home.
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