Stûv 16-In — Wood-Burning, Vancouver-Approved
There's a generation of Vancouver homes built around a beautiful masonry fireplace that, by today's standards, can no longer be lit. Metro Vancouver's emission rules have effectively retired the open hearth. The Stûv 16-In is the wood-burning insert that brings them back — because it's EPA-certified to the standard those regulations actually allow.
Stûv is a Belgian company that has spent more than forty years engineering wood stoves with the quiet discipline you find in good European architecture — no decorative flourishes, no fussy details, no shortcuts. The 16-In takes that engineering and adapts it to fit inside an existing masonry firebox. Your stone surround stays. Your mantel stays. Your room keeps its character. What changes is what's burning inside.
The 16-In is one of the few high-end wood-burners that clears Metro Vancouver's bar. EPA-certified to the emissions standard the local regulations require — meaning you can register it, install it, and burn in it legally. And it's manufactured in Canada — short lead times, parts on this continent, the kind of post-installation service Stûv is known for. You're not waiting six months for a stove from Belgium.
Three sizes — small, medium, and large — match the range of existing masonry openings, from a tight reading-room hearth to a generous great-room firebox. All three carry the largest viewing window in their class, so the flame is what you see and almost everything else is mechanical anonymity behind the glass.
Despite the restraint, the 16-In is a serious heater. Efficient combustion, slow even burn, real BTU output that actually warms a room. Stûv's engineering has always been about doing more with less; the 16-In does it without raising its voice.
At Maxwell Fireplace we treat retrofitting a masonry fireplace with a Stûv 16-In as one of the more rewarding projects we take on — an old hearth, a regulated city, and a way to bring them back into use. From measuring the firebox through permitting (Metro Vancouver's paperwork is real) through lining, installation, and finishing, every step is handled in-house. One conversation, one team, one Creative FireSpace™ that's both new and old at the same time.
Smooth and ModernA clean new face for the fire.
Mid Century ModernA new look.
Up close and personalEngineering, designed to disappear.
The masonry stays. The fire returns.
Questions people tend to ask
Can I still burn wood in Metro Vancouver at all?
Yes — but only in an appliance that meets the standard. Metro Vancouver’s Residential Indoor Wood Burning Emission Regulation Bylaw 1303 requires certification to CSA B415.1 or the EPA’s 2015 standard, and the open masonry hearth most of these homes were built around does not meet it. The Stûv 16-In does: it is EPA-certified to the standard the regulations require, which is what makes it registerable, installable and legal to burn in.
My masonry fireplace can’t be lit any more. Can it be brought back?
That is exactly what this is for. There is a generation of homes here built around a beautiful masonry fireplace that today’s rules have effectively retired. An insert brings the opening back into use rather than replacing it — your stone surround stays, your mantel stays, the room keeps its character, and what changes is what is burning inside.
Do I have to register it, and who holds the registration?
Inside the Urban Containment Boundary, yes, and it matters: since 15 September 2025 an unregistered eligible appliance may not be operated at all. The registration is the homeowner’s to hold, along with a best-burning-practices declaration renewed every three years. Metro Vancouver’s paperwork is real, and we prepare it alongside the permit rather than handing you a form at the end. Individual municipalities can add requirements of their own.
Will it actually heat the room, or is it mainly a view?
It heats. Despite the restraint, the 16-In is a serious heater — efficient combustion, a slow even burn, and real output that warms a room rather than merely decorating it. Stûv’s engineering has always been about doing more with less, and the 16-In does it without raising its voice.
How long will I be waiting for one?
Not the six months people expect from a European stove. Stûv manufactures the 16-In in Canada, so lead times are short and parts stay on this continent — which also means the kind of post-installation service Stûv is known for is actually available to you.
Which size fits the opening I already have?
There are three — small, medium and large — matched to the range of real masonry openings, from a tight reading-room hearth to a generous great-room firebox. All three carry the largest viewing window in their class. Which one fits is a measuring question rather than a catalogue one, and we measure the firebox on site before anything is ordered.
What does the installation actually involve?
Measuring the existing firebox, permitting, lining the chimney, installation, and finishing the new face so it sits properly against the old masonry. Every step is handled in-house by our own team — one conversation, one crew, and a hearth that is both new and old at the same time.
A fireplace is only half of it. The other half is who places it.
Maxwell Fireplace is North Vancouver’s Creative FireSpaces™ — and we stay involved in every part of the job. The fireplace itself is ours from the first conversation to the final flame: design and placement, permitting, delivery, installation, and the care that comes after. When the work runs to a surround, a mantel, tile or millwork, we plan it with the trades doing it — yours, or ones we bring in — so the fire and the wall are drawn as one thing rather than two. One point of contact, and nothing lost in the gap between trades.
It’s exactly why a Stûv 16-In belongs with us. Bringing an existing masonry opening back to life means working with whatever the original builder left behind — measuring it honestly, lining the chimney properly, and finishing the reveal so the new fire looks like it was always the point of the old hearth — and that is the difference between an appliance and a centrepiece. We serve homeowners and contractors across Greater Vancouver, the North Shore, and the Sea to Sky Corridor — Squamish to Whistler and Pemberton — and we’d love to show you what’s possible for your room.