Wood burns most efficently if it is not ventilated from below and is allowed to sit on a bed of its own ash. This ensures it burns slowly and more efficiently. This is the reason many Wood burning only stoves have no grate or ashpan. Because the wood will burn in its own wood ash there is no reason to de ash the stove as regulary as a Multi fuel stove and sometimes this is done as rarley as once a week. Many woodburning stoves can be converted to multi-fuel by the addition of a simple Multifuel grate.
The best wood to burn are dry hardwoods - Ash etc, to be classed as dry the wood will have needed to be cut, split and stored for 12-24 months. Once this has been done the wood should have moisture content of 20% or below making it ideal to burn on your stove. Burning dry wood will make a massive difference to the performance of your stove as dry wood produces more heat and burns much cleaner than damp unseasoned wood.
