Heating Method for Solid Fuel Room Heaters

This project was initiated by the central authorities to verify the exposure and heat load in a standard test procedure for room heaters compared with a common norwegian houshold heating scenario.

A questionnaire was worked out asking people around in Norway about how they used their room heaters. In addition it was worked out a field research programme performed at 10 housholds in Elverum of their stated heating habits.

The results from this project shows a large degree of conformity between the test method and the heating habits of common people. A natural conclusion would be to maintain the rules and regulations of today.

The field research shows a slight discrepancy betwen the stated heating habits and the actual way of heating. The results from the research shows 2-3 heavy rounds of heating before a normal heating is established. In the test method only one heavy heating is used before a normal heating is established. On the other hand, the wood used in the test method is stacked in a way that gives a larger surface area, and thus a more severe heat and better reproducibility.

SINTEF Civil and Environmental Enginnering - Norwegian Fire Research Laboratory (NBL) recommends that the rules of today are maintained.

The steering committe consisted of chairman from Statens bygningstekniske etat (BE) and representatives from Direktoratet for brann- og eksplosjonsvern (DBE), Feiermestrenes Landsforening, Gjensidige Forsikring, Dovre a.s, Jøtul ASA and NBL.

Contact person:
Asbjørn Østnor
Telephone: + 47 73 59 10 78
E-mail: