Recent pellet stoves perform excellently under type test conditions. In contrast, typical real life emissions show significantly higher values under usual operational conditions. Consequently, type testing procedures may not account for real life stove operation and, thus, do not allow to distinguish between low- and high-tech appliances. The EU-project beReal aimed at the development of a testing method for pellet stoves that reflects real life operations better and to support innovative pellet stoves that perform well under typical operational conditions. Based on an online survey and field observations, an advanced real life testing procedure for pellet stoves was established reflecting real life user behavior, e.g. regarding different load levels and the ignition phase. A field test was designed at the end of the project to demonstrate the applicability and practical relevance. The field test proved that emission values for beReal at the test stand and in the field stay within the same range. A Round Robin test proved the repeatability and reproducibility of the beReal testing procedure. The beReal method can be reproduced with the same statistical variability or performed even better than the type testing method with exception of PM between different laboratories. © 2017, ETA-Florence Renewable Energies. All rights reserved.