Buyer's guide: a stove with no chimney
Everything to know before choosing a bioethanol stove, installation, fuel, size and safety. Short, honest, with figures from the manufacturer.
Installation: about five minutes
A bioethanol stove needs no chimney, flue or building permit. Bioethanol burns without smoke or soot, so there is nothing to connect. The pipe on some versions is decorative.
- 01Unpack and place the stove on a stable, level floor.
- 02Pick a spot clear of curtains, furniture and anything flammable.
- 03Fill the burner with bioethanol while it is cold.
- 04Light it as the manual describes and set the flame with the burner lid.
Fuel and what it costs
The stove burns liquid bioethanol. How much you use depends on the flame: on low a full burner lasts longest, on full it lasts the shortest time.
| Model | Burner | Burn time | Use per hour |
|---|---|---|---|
| Glödvik, Eldholm, Lågsund, Brasby, Fyrö | 1,5 L | 3–8 h | 0,19–0,5 L |
| Milö | 1,5 L | 4–8 h | 0,19–0,38 L |
| Härdberg | 3 L | 6–9 h | 0,33–0,5 L |
Work out an evening's cost: hours × use per hour × the price per litre of your bioethanol. A four-hour evening with Glödvik uses about 0.75–2 litres.
Cheapest
53 kr/L
Typical
60 kr/L
Priciest
79 kr/L
Bioethanol in a 5-litre can costs about 53–79 kr per litre in Swedish shops (October 2026). At 60 kr/L, four hours with Glödvik comes to about 45–120 kr, roughly an evening of bagged birch, without the chimney and sweeping.
Size: the room and the stove
Every stove gives up to 3 kW, enough for a living room of around 30 m² in a normally insulated home. The stove's size does not change the output, only how long it burns and how large a room it needs.
The room should be at least 63 m³ (80 m³ for Härdberg). A 25 m² room with a 2.5 m ceiling is 62.5 m³, right on the limit.
| Stove | W × H × D (cm) | Weight |
|---|---|---|
| 1° Glödvik | 43 × 57 × 30 | 16,3 kg |
| 2° Eldholm | 46 × 57 × 36 | 18,28 kg |
| 3° Lågsund | 52 × 59 × 35 | 20,51 kg |
| 4° Brasby | 55 × 57 × 38 | 22 kg |
| 5° Milö | 43 × 80 × 43 | 21,5 kg |
| 6° Härdberg | 75 × 64 × 35 | 39,17 kg |
| 7° Fyrö | 43 × 99 × 43 | 29,2 kg |
Dimensions of the base version. Pipe and log storage change height and width, see each stove.
More about the heat on How warm is 3,000 watts?.
Safety indoors
A bioethanol stove is safe indoors when you follow the manual. The essentials:
- 01Never refill a warm or burning burner, let it cool first.
- 02Ventilate the room normally and respect the minimum room volume.
- 03Keep flammable things such as curtains and paper at a distance.
- 04Never leave a burning stove unattended, and keep children and pets away from the flame.
- 05Store bioethanol closed and away from the stove.