This document serves as a technical evaluation of the MCZ Pellet Stove featuring “Core” gasification technology, a system that represents a fundamental shift away from traditional log burning.
Unlike standard stoves that rely on manual operation and often suffer from incomplete combustion, this unit operates as a hermetically sealed, computer-controlled biomass engine.
Also, by using biomass wood pellets and advanced forced-induction technology, the system achieves a combustion efficiency of over 90%, virtually eliminating visible smoke and operating with the automated precision of a modern gas boiler rather than an open fire.
However, for any environmental impact, we need to compare this stove with real world situations, so we’ve looked at common household items, such as scented candles or incense, which release significantly more particulate matter into the living space.
Furthermore, looking at external emissions, the MCZ’s particulate output generates less pollution per hour than a standard car and other outdoor vehicles making it a uniquely sustainable solution that aligns with strict clean-air targets while utilizing renewable fuel.
Indoor emissions and air quality.
A comparison with indoor candles and incense burners.
A single incense stick produces approximately 500 to 1,000 times more indoor pollution than an MCZ pellet stove running at full power.Incense: Releases Benzene, Formaldehyde, and Polycyclic Aromatic Hydrocarbons (PAHs) directly into your lungs. These are byproducts of the binders and fragrances burning slowly.
Burning a standard paraffin scented candle releases approximately 100 times more particulate pollution into your living room air than an MCZ pellet stove running at full power.
The single act of blowing out a scented candle creates a toxic spike of indoor pollution that is 300 to 500 times higher than running a sealed pellet stove all day.
Sounds shocking and surprising, but here’s the technical details.
Research (from The Technical University of Denmark) shows that the moment you blow out a candle, it releases a plume of unburnt wax vapor and soot particles. Because this smoke stays in the room, it creates a “smog event” indoors.
µg/m³ (micrograms per cubic metre) is used to measure air pollution.
- Safe limit (World Health Organisation): < 15 µg/m³
- MCZ pellet stove (running): Adds 0 µg/m³ to the room (sealed loop).
- 1 Incense stick: Adds 300 – 500 µg/m³ to the room – source
- Large scented candle (burning): Adds 100 – 493 µg/m³ – source
- Large scented candle (extinguished): Adds 800 – 1,000+ µg/m³ – source
Studies on indoor air quality have measured that burning a single stick of incense releases 45mg of particulate matter per gram burned into the room
In a closed room, this can spike PM2.5 levels to 300+ µg/m³ for roughly 15-30 minutes. This is heavily polluting compared to background levels.
Open combustion from candles, etc. and closed combustion from the MCZ stove.
An incense stick is open combustion in that it’s not contained, meaning 100% of the smoke, soot, and chemicals it produces are released directly into the stagnant air of your room.
The same is with the jar candle or any candle. It draws oxygen from your living room and releases 100% of its combustion byproducts (soot, VOCs, PM2.5) directly back into the air you are breathing. In fact paraffin wax candles are derived from petroleum. When the flame flickers (due to drafts or long wicks), it produces incomplete combustion, releasing black carbon (soot).
In comparison, the MCZ stove is sealed combustion, meaning the flame is contained. The smoke is extracted into a flue pipe and released outside higher in the atmosphere. Zero smoke enters the room during operation.
Using an advanced “gasification” system with an MCZ stove.
“Gasification” means to separate the burning process into stages to extract more energy and create less soot.
MCZ’s “Core” system utilizes a gasification process that differs from standard pellet combustion.
Rather than simply burning the fuel, the MCZ automatically regulates oxygen flow to gasify the pellets and ignite the resulting gases, leading to a more complete burn cycle.
Technical data indicates this method reduces emissions to levels 55% lower than the European Ecodesign regulatory limits.
Furthermore, the increased thermal efficiency results in lower fuel consumption, offering up to 15% pellet savings compared to standard pellet stoves currently available on the market.
To explain this a little clearer; solid wood doesn’t actually burn. When you see a log on fire, the heat is causing the wood to release flammable gases, and it is those gases that are burning, not the solid object.
With gasification by the MCZ Core technology, the stove limits oxygen at the bottom of the burn pot. This then “bakes” the pellets at a high heat, forcing them to release all their flammable gases without immediately burning them up.
Once the pellets have turned into a cloud of gas, the stove injects a fresh stream of oxygen at the top of the flame which ignites the gas instantly at a very high temperature as gas mixes perfectly with air and unlike solid wood, it burns completely.
Therefore, because you have burned the gas completely, there is almost no smoke left to go up the chimney, and very little ash left in the tray.
- Source: MCZ Core details
- Source: Aria Pulita certification
To achieve “5-Star” Aria Pulita certification, a stove must independently test below 10 mg/m³.
Being completely objective, if vacuuming the inside using a standard household vacuum, the fine ash can pass through the filter and blow back into the room. However, you can use a dedicated ash vacuum with a HEPA filter. If you do this, the indoor emissions remain near zero.
The MCZ stove burns at roughly 600°C – 800°C. This high heat destroys most VOCs, and whatever remains is sent up the chimney, not into your room.
| Activity | Indoor PM2.5 pollution | Health impact |
| MCZ pellet stove | 0 µg/m³ | None (clean air) |
| Large candle | ~25 µg/m³ | Moderate (exceeds WHO limits) |
| Blowing out candle | ~300+ µg/m³ | Severe Spike (smog event) |
| 1 Incense stick | ~500+ µg/m³ | Severe (heavy pollution) |
The MCZ Pellet Stove is efficient because it uses forced induction. This means a fan blasts oxygen into the burn pot and the temperature hits 600 – 800°C instantly. At this heat, the “smoke” itself catches fire and burns away. The remaining ash is so fine it sits in the tray rather than floating up the chimney.
Outdoor emissions – less fumes than an electric car.
When looking at outdoor emissions, comparing the MCZ stove to an electric vehicle might seem daunting and you’d expect the EV to win hands down. But again; you’ll be surprised.
An Electric Vehicle (EV) releases slightly less pollution than a Petrol car, but the MCZ pellet stove is still cleaner than both overall.
So the question is, an electric vehicle has no smoke emissions so why doesn’t it beat a burning stove (even if it’s pellets)?
…Because of It’s tyres
EVs are typically 20 – 30% heavier than petrol cars due to the lithium battery packs. This extra weight pushes the tires harder into the tarmac, grinding off more rubber (micro-plastics). Recent studies indicate EVs produce ~15 – 20% more tire particles than an equivalent petrol car.
- Source: Emissions Analytics: Pollution from Tyre Wear
- Source: Science Feedback: Electric vehicles and particulate emissions from tires
EVs are better than petrol cars when it comes to braking so the emissions are less. A petrol car causes far more emissions when braking. EVs produce ~60 – 90% less brake dust than petrol cars.
The “Grams Per Hour” comparison is the most effective way to visualise pollution because it standardises everything to a simple timeline: “If I do this activity for 60 minutes, how much physical soot do I put into the air?” We’ve made this easier to visual the amounts of grams
| Pollution source | Total PM2.5 released (approx) | Visual equivalent |
| Garden bonfire | ~150.00 g / hr | A coffee mug of soot |
| Petrol lawnmower (2-stroke) | ~10.00 g / hr | A tablespoon of soot |
| Large charcoal BBQ | ~7.50 g / hr | A teaspoon of soot |
| Diesel lorry / HGV (driving) | ~5.00 g / hr | A pinch of soot |
| Modern diesel car (driving) | ~2.88 g / hr | A few grains of sand |
| Electric car (driving) | ~2.10 g / hr | A few grains of sand |
| MCZ “Core” pellet stove | ~0.18 g / hr | Almost invisible |
- Source for stove data: MCZ Core Technology & Aria Pulita 5-Star Certification
- Source for bonfire data: DEFRA: Burning in UK Homes & Gardens
Conclusion – better than you’d expect.
MCZ biomass stoves represent the technological future of wood burning, moving the industry away from ‘burning logs’ and toward precision renewable heating.
Unlike traditional stoves that rely on chopped trees, these units run on 100% waste-stream biofuel, which are compressed pellets made from sawdust and timber residues that would otherwise rot in landfill or within woodland settings (broken branches, etc.).
Crucially, their environmental performance is in a different league to standard log burners: by using computer-controlled gasification (the ‘Core’ technology), an MCZ stove virtually eliminates smoke, producing just ~0.18 grams of particulates per hour.
To put that ‘hour-by-hour’ performance into context, running this stove for an entire evening releases less pollution into our areas than a single car driving to the shops and back.
It is the only way to enjoy a real flame that is genuinely compatible with clean air targets and to reduce reliance on traditional gas and electric heating systems, which are always beholden to the cost factors as well as geopolitical conflicts and crises.
