Modern Wood Stoves: Smart Heat, Old World Style
Can wood burning stoves multi-task?
The sense appeal of burnished metal and crackling flames, combined with the warmth of radiant heating, make wood burning stoves hard to resist. However, the picture in your mind may no longer match the reality. Traditional, pot-bellied stoves have gone the way of the American Cowboy–a thing of the past. And that’s good news.
Today’s stoves are just as aesthetically appealing–actually much more so: Black iron, pewter, porcelain and soapstone are used to create attractive, functional stoves with a variety of enamel finishes and designer colors. Antique-looking wood stoves have enjoyed a Renaissance because of their affordability and old-world style, but streamlined contemporary models are also popular. So forget that picture of a metal cask welded to stovepipe.
Not only do modern wood stoves look better-they also burn hotter, cleaner, and more efficiently.
But not only do modern stoves look better–they also burn hotter, cleaner, and more efficiently. Producing virtually no smoke and minimal ash, today’s stoves burn less wood and they’re better for the environment. From the ‘90s on, wood burning stoves have been certified by the Environmental Protection Agency, and produce as little as 2-5 grams of smoke per hour-saving you money, increasing the air quality, and reducing the risk of fire. Ready for efficient, radiant heating?
Wood burning stoves also come in sizes and models that are tailored to your home. Maybe you’re wondering, With dozens of wood stoves to choose from, how can you find the right one for your home?
Begin by deciding what you want to accomplish. Are you heating one room or an entire house or cottage? Will you be firing up your stove in the summer or winter months? Armed with this basic information, you’re primed to explore further. (See How to Choose Your Wood Stove, coming soon.)
Ready to invoke some flickering, hearth-side ambiance? Wood burning stoves have a lot to offer. This site is here to help you explore.
How to Exploit Your Wood Stove’s Energy Efficiency
This is a cast iron stove by Napoleon.
Have you begun researching contemporary wood stoves? Started narrowing the field to a handful of stoves that suit your home? Or maybe you’re already the owner of one or more wood burning stoves, and you want to make sure you’re getting the most bang for your buck–generating the most radiant heat possible with the least wood. Here are some suggestions.
First, be aware that inefficiency in modern stoves is caused by wood burning incompletely, which often results in overly smoky fires. The good news is that by increasing efficiency, you’ll also be decreasing air pollution and waste at the same time.
Here are a few tips to get you started.
1. Feed your wood stove with seasoned wood.
This is the equivalent of eating low-fat meat or filling up with high quality gasoline. Green wood is moisture-heavy-up to 50 percent of the weight can be liquid-which means wood burning stoves have to evaporate the moisture off before heat is released. Dry wood, on the other hand, burns hot and bright, leading to fuel efficiency, cleaner air, and money savings. See also, Choosing the Best Fuel for Stoves.
2. Treat your wood burning stoves to “Indian fires.”
Back in the day, Indian fires were the solar panels of frontier heating: efficient and kind to the environment, burning small and hot. Small, hot fires burn unstable gases more quickly. That means they lower safety issues and raise air quality. You’ll spend more time tending your stove-but then, you probably won’t mind. Better heating efficiency and air quality are great dividends.
3. Give your stove the appropriate fuel.
This may seem like common sense, but it can be easy to get carried away and treat wood stoves like all-purpose burning machines. So, for example, don’t burn coal in wood-only stoves. No hunks of treated wood from your home improvement project. And no trash-especially plastics or items with chemical elements. Not only are these poor fuels, they may also damage the wood stove’s internal workings, which are designed to burn-you guessed it–wood.
Looking for more tips? See 3 Easy Steps to High Efficiency Wood Stoves.
Tags: environment > fuel > fuel efficiency > modern wood stoves > wood stoves