The Best Small Stoves for Garden Offices & Garden Rooms

With ‘working from home’ becoming a permanent part of working life for many people, garden rooms and garden offices have become a popular addition to the home. But, if you want to keep them heated, what are the options? Keep reading, and we’ll take you through the very best small stoves for garden rooms and offices…

Why use a log burner to heat your garden office or garden room?

When it comes to heating your garden office or garden room, you have a number of options open to you. However, if you want an affordable, simple way of heating your garden office, then we’d argue that a log burner is the superior choice.

Here’s why…

Simplicity

As we’ve written on our sister website (Trade Price Flues), installing a log burner in a garden office is really straightforward.

Provided that you have an appropriate hearth or concrete/constructional floor, a flue, and chimney, then you’ll be okay to add a log burner to your garden office.

This is far easier (and cheaper) than installing electric heaters, which also require the addition of power line cabling beneath your lawn.

Whilst indoor gas heaters are very simple - requiring basically no installation - they are rather ‘sterile’ and lack the distinctive look and feel that a log burner provides.

Which brings us onto our next point…

Style and atmosphere

A real wood-burning fire is truly unbeatable. If you want to create a warm, cosy atmosphere in your garden office, then nothing is better than a log burner.

Adding a log burner to your garden office will add a touch of rustic charm, and also creates a unique focal point. It’s something that you can contemplate as you work and think.

Affordability

Keeping your garden office well heated doesn’t have to break your wallet. As we wrote a few months ago, log burners are one of the most affordable heating appliances you can buy and run.

This is especially true given the sky-high prices of gas and electricity. It doesn’t look like these prices are going to decrease markedly any time soon, so a log burner will be the financially savvy option for heating your garden office.

How to buy a log burner for a garden office

What to look for when buying a log burner for a garden office

Before we take you through our top log burners for garden offices, we’ll first set out some key points to look for and think about when making your choice.

Heat output

This is arguably the most important thing to think about when selecting a log burner for your garden office.

Buy a log burner with the incorrect heat output for your garden office, and you’ll find that it either doesn’t provide enough heat, or it provides too much and your office becomes intolerably hot. Neither of which is an ideal situation.

For your typical sized garden office, a log burner with a heat output of 5kW will be sufficient. However, if you want to double-check what heat output you require, use our handy stove calculator.

Wood burning or multi-fuel?

Aside from thinking about heat output, you should give some thought to the type of log burner you want.

You’ll find there are two main types of log burners available on the market:

Wood-burning stove.
Multifuel stove.

Wood-burning stoves - as their name suggests - are only capable of burning seasoned firewood. Multifuel stoves, on the other hand, are capable of burning solid fuels including anthracite, and a wide range of other alternative fuels.

Ultimately, which type of stove you choose is down to personal preference, however many people plump for a multifuel stove simply for the added flexibility they provide.

Stove pods

If you don’t want to install a hearth or build a constructional/concrete floor in your garden room, then you may want to select a log burner which features a stove pod.

A stove pod is essentially a shield that wraps around the stove, protecting both the floor, and the walls to the side and rear of the stove from heat damage.

A great example of a log burner with a stove pod is the Charnwood Aire 3 Blu EcoDesign Glamping Stove Package, which can be placed on any hard, flat surface without the need for an additional hearth. What’s more, the stove pod has a distance to combustibles of only 50 mm, making it ideal for use in smaller spaces like garden offices.

Cost

Naturally, you’ll also want to factor in cost when you’re selecting a log burner for your garden office.

Here at Direct Stoves you’ll find log burners starting from only £635.99 (as of December 2022).

Log burners for garden offices and garden rooms

DEFRA-approved

Another important thing to look for when selecting a log burner for your garden office is whether your chosen model is ‘DEFRA-approved’.

This is essential if your home is located in a smoke control area. These are parts of the country (usually towns and cities) where strict limits on the emission of smoke are in force.

A log burner which has been DEFRA-approved has been tested and deemed suitable for use in smoke control areas.

To find out if your home is located in a smoke control area, contact your local authority.

Distance to combustibles

In terms of the fire safety of your garden office, the ‘distance to combustibles’ of your chosen log burner is very important.

Distance to combustibles simply lays out how far the stove has to be positioned away from combustibles surfaces (such as wooden walls etc).

Given that your garden office is likely to be a relatively small space, you should select a log burner which doesn’t have enormous distance to combustible requirements (or else, you won’t be able to fit it safely in your garden room!).

Distance to Combustibles Selection

Here at Direct Stoves, we make it easy to find the distance to combustibles of our stoves. Simply click on the relevant tabs on the left-hand menu and then select the correct distance to combustibles for your garden office.

External air compatible

These days, the very best garden offices and garden rooms are built to very high standards. In fact, some are built to the same standards as regular homes.

Whilst this is good news for the owners of these garden rooms, it does mean they typically have very low air permeability. This means that the garden office doesn’t allow for much air to leak in or out.

This is certainly good for insulation purposes, however it can sometimes necessitate the use of an external air kit with your log burner. As we’ve written previously, an external kit is basically a component that allows log burners to draw the air they need from outside the room in which they are located.

If you’re not sure if you require an external kit for your garden office log burner, then it can be worth investing in an air permeability test (also known as an air tightness test, air leakage test or air pressure test).

Construction

It’s also worth giving some thought to the construction of the log burner that you want for your garden office.

Log burners tend to be available with either a cast iron body or a steel body. Both metals are fantastic conductors of heat, however there are some minor differences between the two.

Log burners with steel bodies tend to radiate heat into the room very quickly - but don’t retain the heat for as long once the fire has been extinguished. Log burners with cast iron bodies, on the other hand, take longer to radiate heat, but once hot, will retain heat for a very long time.

Note that it’s also possible to buy stoves which have a steel body and a cast iron door.

Finish and style

In terms of the style of log burner you can select, the choice is almost endless.

Here at Direct Stoves, you’ll find log burners ranging from very traditional designs, to super modern ‘glamping’ stoves that come in a broad range of contemporary colours and finishes.

The best small log burners for garden offices and rooms

Now that we’ve looked at the essential points to consider when choosing a log burner for your garden office, let’s take a look at some of the most popular options available right now.

Mendip Woodland 5kW DEFRA Wood-Burning EcoDesign Convector Plus Stove

Mendip Woodland 5kW DEFRA Wood Burning EcoDesign Convector Plus Stove

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With a distance to combustibles of only 100 mm to the rear and sides of the stove, this is the perfect option if you’ve only got limited space in your garden office.

The compact size of the Mendip Woodland in no way diminishes its performance however, as it has a 5kW heat output which will be the perfect amount of heat for most garden offices.

That heat is generated in a highly efficient way too, thanks to the Mendip Woodland’s three-way, air control adjustment system and tertiary air system which allows for optimum combustion. In other words, this is a stove that’ll eke as much energy and heat as possible from your firewood.

Westfire Uniq 35 Block DEFRA Wood Burning / Multifuel EcoDesign Stove

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If you want a log burner that’s somewhat different from your run-of-the-mill stove, then you’ll love the Westfire Uniq 35 Block.

Featuring an unusual portrait-style viewing window, and a clean, sleek aesthetic, the Uniq 35 Block is a log burner that’ll create a focal point within your garden office.

It’s not all style over substance, either. The Uniq 35 Block has a solid heat output of 4.3kW at an efficiency of 80%. What’s more, the Uniq 35 Block is DEFRA-approved, meaning it can be safely and compliantly used in smoke control areas.

For added flexibility, the Uniq 35 Block is able to burn solid fuels in addition to seasoned firewood, providing you with more fuel options.

Charnwood Aire 3 Blu EcoDesign Glamping Stove Package

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As mentioned earlier in this article, the Charnwood Aire 3 is a perfect choice for use in a garden office or garden room.

This is thanks to its integrated stove pod, which means the log burner can be used without a traditional hearth. Plus, the distance to combustibles for the Charwood Aire 3 is a mere 50 mm, making it ideal for use in small spaces.

Designed and built in Britain, the Charnwood Aire 3 has a heat output of 3.6kW - which is perfect for smaller garden offices. This heat is achieved with an efficiency of 86%, meaning your firewood will go that much further.

Plus, thanks to the Aire 3’s ‘Blu’ burning technology, this log burner is incredibly clean burning and is suitable for use in smoke control areas.

The Aire 3 has also been designed to be very easy to use, with a single air control that uses Charnwood’s patented Quattroflow® air management system. This makes the Aire 3 easy to use even for stove beginners.

Go Eco Adventurer 5 Wood Burning EcoDesign Glamping Stove

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Should you want a log burner that really does turn heads, then choose the Go Eco Adventurer 5.

Not only is this a very distinctive looking log burner, but a practical one too. That’s thanks to the extra features that are available such as a heat shield (fitted or freestanding), a warming shelf, fiddle rail (to prevent pans from slipping off the warming shelf) and more.

The Go Eco Adventurer 5 also features a beautiful, large viewing window and a 4.5kW heat output with an 86% efficiency.

Being DEFRA-approved, the Go Eco Adventurer 5 is suitable for use in smoke control areas and is one of the ‘greenest’, clean burning log burners you can buy.

Buy your garden office log burner today

If you’re looking for the very best log burner for your garden office or garden room, then you’re in the right place.

With free mainland UK delivery, 14-day no hassle returns, and a range of finance options (including 0% interest over 12 months), there’s no better place to buy a log burner online than Direct Stoves.

Do you have any pre-purchase questions? Then our friendly experts are here to help. You can reach us on 0161 516 3549 or at: [email protected].