4 Steps to Buying the Right Wood Stove
With the wide variety in the contemporary wood stove market, actually buying stoves for your home can be intimidating. Fortunately, it doesn’t have to be. Here are some steps to make the purchase as straightforward as possible.
Begin by choosing wood burning stoves that fit your home.
This primarily involves deciding what you want to accomplish with your stove, then identifying what size category is appropriate. (See How to Choose Wood Stoves.) The good news is that, on the technology level, any EPA-certified stove you look at will deliver clean, efficient heat-so you don’t need to sweat numbers like Btu output and square footage ratings (which aren’t standardized). Once you’ve identified the right size, buying a wood burning stove is nearly painless.
Identify preferred materials and designs.
For example, welded steel is durable and cheaper than cast iron-but if you’re looking for style, the graceful, molded lines of iron wood stoves will catch your eye. Ask yourself, “Am I shopping for function only, or function and class?” In terms of durability and performance, there’s really no difference between welded steel and iron wood stoves. Materials like soapstone and pewter provide additional options, but no heating drop-off. It’s your call.
Note any “extras” you want in your wood stove.
For example, will you only consider wood stoves with a cooking surface? Do you want a stove with ash pans or removable fire screens? Looking for special colors or textures? These options pertain to convenience and aesthetics-not crucial heating specs-so take your time and enjoy the search.
Finally, buy your wood stove from a reputable source.
In years past, brick and mortar stores were the only place to buy wood burning stoves-and there are still advantages to speaking to a dealer and examining floor models. However, buying online is also an option today, and this is especially true if you know what you’re looking for. Shopping around online may lead to additional savings, and online stores often have live reps to answer your questions, and reasonable return policies. Either way, if you’ve read the articles on this site, then you’re well on your way to an informed purchase.
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Choosing the Best Fuel for Stoves
Is All Wood Created Equal?
When it comes to today’s wood stoves, the answer is no. Different varieties of wood have different heating yields, and some are dramatically better than others. So what should you look for when stocking up fuel for your wood burning stoves?
In general, heavier, harder wood will generate much more heat that lighter, softer wood. Hardwood also has better “coaling” qualities. “Coaling” describes the ability of wood to form a glowing bed of hot embers after burning-a capacity that adds to the heat efficiency of wood burning stoves. That’s why you’ll to pay more for a cord of hickory, oak, beech or maple that you will for the same measure of aspen or pine.
However, there’s an even more important rule of thumb. Older, seasoned wood burns better than moist, green wood. This is the single most important factor in choosing fuel for your wood burning stoves. Seasoned wood can be identified by its white, brittle, cracked interior and loose bark.
If you buy recently cut firewood, it will be green, and require extended air drying to allow the water to escape. Oak, for example, requires over a year of seasoning. Newly-cut wood requires at least six months of seasoning before it’s ready for use. Therefore, buy last year’s crop for your stove-not this year’s. Older, seasoned wood makes your stove into an efficient heating machine. It lights easily, burns cleanly, and produces the least creosote-flammable gunk that can coat chimneys.
So, to recap: Feed your wood stoves older, seasoned wood. If you buy newly cut wood, plan on letting it air dry for six months to a year before burning it. Secondarily, look for hardwoods. They’ll burn clean, hot and long, making your wood stoves even more enjoyable. You may also want to check out Three Tips for Wood Burning Efficiency.
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How Many Wood Stoves Does it Take to Heat a House?
Would you believe us if we said One?
It’s possible to heat an entire residence using wood burning stoves-and if certain conditions are met, you can even get the job done with a single stove.
To see how this is possible, you need to understand that wood burning stoves act as space heaters. As opposed to central heating systems, which use ducts, modern stoves heat a home directly. This is good news for today’s home owners, because newer homes are quite energy efficient. Since they require less heat to maintain comfortable temperatures, it’s actually possible to heat a good sized modern home with even a single large wood stove. Here’s what needs to happen.
The wood stove needs to be located in the main living area.
Ideally, this will be in a large, communal area, where the family spends a lot of time. This is usually on the floor shared by the kitchen, dining and living rooms-where people eat and hang out. If this isn’t possible, it may take more than one stove to heat the house.
Heat flow needs to be possible.
This works especially well in open-plan houses. If your home has few room divisions, heating with a single large stove is feasible. However, if your house is carved up into multiple smaller areas, additional wood stoves will probably be required.
Choose from modern, EPA-certified wood stoves.
This amounts to little more than a minor caveat, since wood stoves made after the 1990s are fuel efficient and environmentally friendly. However, some people don’t realize that by buying older, used stoves, they’re sacrificing the carefully engineered benefits of contemporary design.
With a little advance planning, heating your house with just one economical, powerful wood burning stove is really possible.
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Why Buy Modern Wood Stoves?
Newer doesn’t always mean better-but in the case of the modern wood stove, it absolutely does.
Advanced wood burning stoves, designed after the early ‘90s and certified by the EPA, are approximately one third more efficient than the old pot belly stoves. That means one third less money spent on firewood-or one third less sweat if you harvest your own. This makes the new-model stove a winner in both environmental and economical terms. Here’s a quick summary of the benefits contemporary wood stoves provide.
Economical Technology
On the front end, the advanced technology of newer stoves costs about $200 per. However, as a home owner, you’ll more than recoup those costs in just two seasons of use. After that, wood stoves will save you money hand over fist.
Smokeless Safety
Today’s stoves produce 90 percent less smoke than the older models. This means no visible smoke-no thick, choking fumes, no smell. In addition, it means 90 percent less creosote, a flammable substance that builds up in chimneys. This means less cleaning and virtually no risk of chimney fires-still more time and money saved.
Fuel Efficiency
Using advanced wood burning stoves, you’ll light fires more easily and burn wood more completely. This means less ash, a smaller environmental footprint, greater efficiency, and greater ease of use.
Wood Stove Chic
Finally, newer wood burning stoves pay off on in terms of aesthetics too. These stoves feature clean lines, designer colors, and metal and enamel surfaces, as well classic cast iron models. These modern stoves incorporate self-cleaning glass panels, which means that you can monitor the fire for quick adjustments. But even better, you get a front row seat to enjoy the beauty of a perfect blaze. Let’s face it: Fires are made to be seen, not just felt.
New-model wood stoves create an incomparable experience of radiant heat that fully engages the senses.
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