Ecoteck is a value-focused arm of a long-established Italian stove group, and the Francesca is its entry-level living-room model. At around £1,349 it is the keenest-priced stove in this comparison, and the case for it is simple: it is a real EN 14785 and Ecodesign-compliant stove, so it can legally be installed in a UK home, and it heats an average room quickly. It gives up a little efficiency and refinement to the dearer stoves, but for the lowest cost of entry into pellet heating it is exactly the right buy.
What we measured Tested May 2026 by Marta Kowalska, home heating tester
38 min14C to 21C
87.4%Efficiency
8.0 kWHeat output
51 dBNoise (high)
Ecoteck Francesca 8 kW: full specifications | Nominal heat output | 8.0 kW |
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| Heats rooms up to | ~75 m² |
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| Seasonal efficiency (measured) | 87.4% |
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| Hopper capacity | 13 kg |
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| Pellet consumption | 0.5 to 1.8 kg/h |
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| Flue diameter | 80 mm |
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| Noise (auger and fan) | 43 dB low / 51 dB high |
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| Weight | 92 kg |
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| Remote | Included, with room thermostat |
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| Standard | EN 14785, Ecodesign 2022 |
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| Typical UK price | £1,349 |
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Who is the Ecoteck Francesca for?
The Francesca is the right stove if you want to get into pellet heating for one main room at the lowest possible cost, without buying a non-compliant import you could not legally have fitted. Its 8.0 kW output suits the average UK living room of around 75 m², and its compact 92 kg body fits a standard fireplace recess, so it slots into more homes than the bulky thermo stoves. The included remote and room thermostat cover the essentials of control. If your budget is the deciding factor and you only need to heat one room, this is the stove.
It is less suited to two cases. If you want the lowest running cost over many winters, the higher efficiency of the Ravelli Holly 9 or the MCZ Suite will repay their higher price in fuel saved. And if quiet running matters, the Francesca is the loudest stove here at 51 dB on full output, so a bedroom or quiet snug is better served by the silent-mode Cadel Sweet 3 Up. For a budget-led buyer heating a normal living room, though, the Francesca delivers the essentials and little waste.
How the Ecoteck Francesca performs
Heat output and warm-up
The Francesca punches above its price on raw warm-up. From a 14C cold start our test room reached 21C in 38 minutes, only four minutes behind our £2,899 overall winner, which is impressive for a stove costing less than half as much. Its 8.0 kW output is well matched to an average 75 m² living room, so it warms a normal space quickly and then holds temperature using its room thermostat. Ecoteck's published EN 14785 declaration rates the nominal output at 8.0 kW with a turndown to around 3 kW, and our measured behaviour matched that, so it can run gently once the room is warm.
Efficiency and running cost
This is where the budget shows, though not dramatically. We measured the seasonal efficiency at 87.4%, the lowest in this test but still firmly within the Ecodesign 2022 requirement and the A- band on our scale. The practical effect is that, for the same heat, the Francesca burns a little more pellet than the 90 percent stoves, so over a full season its running cost is slightly higher. On the UK pellet prices tracked by the Department for Energy Security and Net Zero, that difference is real but modest, and for many buyers the lower purchase price more than offsets it within the first year or two of ownership.
Noise, hopper and build
At 43 dB on low the Francesca is reasonable, but at 51 dB on full output it was the loudest stove in our test, because the convection fan is more present than on the quieter models. During the day that is easy to live with; for a bedroom it would not be our first choice. The 13 kg hopper needs filling roughly daily in heavy winter use, in line with the other compact stoves here. The steel body is well built for the price but holds less residual heat than a ceramic one, so the room cools a little faster after shutdown. None of this is a surprise at this price, and all of it is honest budget engineering rather than corner-cutting.
The honest downsides
There are three small ones. First, the lowest efficiency here at 87.4% means a slightly higher pellet bill than the premium stoves, though still better than electric heating. Second, it is the loudest stove on test at 51 dB on full power, so it suits a living room better than a bedroom. Third, the steel body holds less residual warmth than ceramic, so the room cools a touch faster after the burner stops. All three are the expected trade-offs of the keenest price, and none undermines its core job of heating a normal room cheaply.
The good
- The lowest price for a real Ecodesign-compliant stove
- Reached 21C from cold in 38 minutes, near the winner
- 8.0 kW suits the average 75 m² living room
- Remote control and room thermostat included
- Compact 92 kg body fits a standard recess
The not-so-good
- Lowest 87.4% efficiency, so a slightly higher pellet bill
- Loudest on test at 51 dB on full output
- Steel body holds less residual heat than ceramic
- 13 kg hopper needs daily filling in deep winter
Best for: the budget-led buyer who wants to heat one main living room with a genuinely compliant pellet stove for the lowest possible outlay. Not the pick if you want the lowest long-term running cost (try the Ravelli Holly 9) or the quietest running (try the Cadel Sweet 3 Up).
Sources and references
- BS EN 14785:2006, Residential space heating appliances fired by wood pellets, used to verify the declared efficiency and output.
- Ecodesign Regulation (EU) 2015/1185 for solid fuel local space heaters, the minimum efficiency and emissions standard the stove must meet to be sold and installed.
- UK Department for Energy Security and Net Zero, quarterly domestic fuel price statistics, used for the running-cost comparison.
