In Europe it's that time of year again: As autumn turns to winter, wood-burning stoves are once more being lit in a bid to heat living rooms and avoid turning on the central heating for a little longer.
And of course, a softly burning fire in the living room also creates atmosphere.
As long ago as Roman times, people valued the warming effect of a fire in the home.
The principle of a wood-burning stove has not changed since. Only minimal changes have been made, for example in order to produce less fine particles.
"The newest models are constructed so that the wood burns evenly, which means emissions are significantly reduced," explained Frank Kienle of the Industry Association of Home, Heating and Kitchen Technology (HKI).
Increasingly often, stoves are now equipped with heat reservoirs, so that they can continue to heat rooms for hours after the fire has gone out.
One optical trend of the season is thicker glass windows on stoves.
"They've got more coats so that not too much warmth escapes," said Kienle.
That helps to avoid a sauna-like atmosphere in well-insulated homes.
The size of the windows is also set to change.
"Big windows were the trend over the past few years, in the future they're going to get smaller," said Tom Froitzheim of the Central Association Sanitation Heating Climate (ZVSHK). The intention is the same: Stoves should not overheat rooms.
Stove makers are often inspired by furniture designs. Slim, tall stoves are currently popular, followed by square or rectangular shapes which can be easily integrated with other furniture.
Free-hanging stoves and floating models are also modern takes.
Froitzheim sees little change coming to stove surfaces, but predicts that there will be more attempts to individualise.
"In contrast to earlier, people can now choose all sorts of colours for tile stoves," he said. "In addition, manufacturers are coming up with all kinds of designs."
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