Ethos Woodfires: Wood burning reimagined for modern architecture

As homes across the country become increasingly airtight, traditional wood-burning fireplaces are being replaced by new technologies. Drawing combustion air directly from the room, traditional wood burners create a continuous air exchange: warm indoor air is consumed and expelled through the flue, and must be replaced by air entering the space from elsewhere. It’s this operation that many homeowners are surprised to discover – that traditional fireplaces often require a window to be opened to operate effectively.

In older homes, this can mean cold draughts are pulled through gaps and you never feel entirely warm in the space. In newer homes with structural insulated panels (SIPs), advanced membrane wraps, double or triple glazing, improved insulation and airtight construction, fires can struggle to breathe at all.

Ethos Woodfires solves these issues.

The solution was developed in New Zealand in 2001 when the local council was proposing a ban on all wood fires in the Christchurch area. In a region that experiences sub-zero winter conditions, there was strong opposition to this with fears that many households would struggle to endure winter without them. Ethos Woodfires’ designer Paul Sintes made it his mission to prove that a wood burner could be both highly efficient and clean-burning. The result is a system that meets clean-air standards, delivers low-emission performance, is airtight-compatible and a highly secure source of heating.

It’s a system that, in 2003, saw Paul receive the Achievement Award from the Clean Air Society of Australia and New Zealand for the significant contribution to the improvement of air quality that Ethos fires made to the Christchurch area over this time.

Ethos Woodfires’ unique design

At the heart of every Ethos wood fire is the design innovation that sets it apart from conventional wood burners: a patented double-layer flue system.

“It’s unique in that, instead of pulling air from your room, it actually takes it from outside the building and draws it down the outer layer of the flue,” explains Mark Coory.

This bi-directional EconAir Induction flue pre-heats incoming air up to 300ºC, creating greater combustion, higher efficiency and reduced emissions. It eliminates cold draughts in the home, there’s no back pressure, operation is quieter in windy areas, and there’s no need to vent the room in airtight buildings.

The result is a level of performance that can be difficult to appreciate until it’s experienced firsthand. Combined with high thermal mass fire bricks, warmth lingers even as the fire burns down and reduces ash.

Designed and manufactured in New Zealand, this high-performance design appears as a standard fireplace. However, there is one aspect that sets it apart from others on the exterior: the colour.

“We went out into the marketplace and thought, ‘Why is every wood fire black?’” says Mark. For no additional cost, there is a collection of over 200 colours to choose from, allowing the fireplaces to be true architectural features.

The enduring appeal of the wood fire

At a time when homeowners and architects are searching for effective and energy-efficient heating systems, Ethos Woodfires delivers this alongside something few other heat sources can replicate: the atmosphere. For a long time, wood-burning fires have been somewhere for people to gather, drawn by the movement and warmth of a real flame. Combined with the radiant heat a natural fire creates, the result is a home that not only feels warmer, but is drier and more inviting.