Why a Wood Burning Stove Should Be Properly Sized and Installed
Wood stoves can be an excellent, safe method of heating your home. A wood stove should be installed and sized correctly to ensure maximum efficiency.
Be sure to shut and open the wood stove door frequently. This creates a vortex which pulls smoke and volatile compounds that have not been burned into the room.
Energy Efficiency
A wood burning stove uses radiant heat to warm your home, instead of relying on hot air being blown in through the home's ventilation system. This is a more efficient way to heat your home as the radiant heat radiates out from all sides.
Modern wood stoves are designed to be as energy efficient as is possible. Manufacturers are having to meet more and more rigorous regulations with regards to emissions and the best way of achieving this is through making their stoves more efficient. The majority of our stoves (both DEFRA approved and EPA certified) have official efficiency ratings of 70%, which means that a large portion of the heat that is generated is actually used to warm your home, instead of being lost up the chimney.
A wood burner can also be an energy source that is completely independent. A wood burner can provide warmth during power outages or gas shortage, as long as you have enough stored logs.
Wood burning stoves are more reliable than other types of heating because they do not depend on electric or oil power to operate. This is especially important in remote areas where other energy sources could be interrupted for a long time.
A top-quality log burner can heat your home at 80 percent efficiency. This is an enormous improvement over older stoves which typically operate at less than 20% efficiency and is one of the main reasons why a brand new stove would be a smart investment.
A catalytic wood stove will re-burn unburned gases and smoke that leave the firebox by secondary combustion, further increasing efficiency. However, non-catalytic stoves are becoming more common as they do not require costly catalyst technology to attain similar levels of efficiency and are considerably less expensive to purchase. This is especially beneficial for those who want to reduce their carbon footprint and save money on fuel expenses.
Clean Burning
Wood stoves burn wood to generate heat however, they also release particulates and gases into the air. This can cause poor air quality in some areas and can affect our health. This is why it's crucial to make use of clean burning technology in your wood stove.
With modern wood stoves that utilizes Clean Burn technology, you can lower dust and airborne particles. This is not only a way to make your home healthier, but it can also help you save money as you will get more heat from every log.
ECO stoves are today able to meet the most stringent emission standards in the world - they can emit just 5 grams of particles per kilogram of wood that is burned. At Jotul, we have far more ambitious goals - we'd like to offer you the absolute best when it comes to the environment and your health. We've come up with a solution that is technological which means that our wood stoves contain less than half of the required amount and in some instances less than 1 grams!
Modern stoves have many ways to maximize the combustion of the wood. It is crucial to keep track of the air flow, and only slow down the airflow when the fire is hot and established. Otherwise, you might kill the fire.
Cleaner stoves produce less creosote. This sticky substance could cause serious fire dangers. The less creosote produced can also save you time and money on chimney sweeping expenses.
large wood burning stove -heated tertiary atmosphere in our new wood stoves is another key element in their performance to the highest level. This is an extra layer of air that is placed above the fuel and helps to ensure all particles are completely burned. This feature is responsible for a significant portion of the exceptional performance you can find in our new stoves such as the Defra approved Hi-Flame Graphite 5.
It is essential to make sure that your wood stove is only used in smoke control zones (or exempt areas) in areas where it is permitted to use it. Smoke from wood stoves isn't just harmful to people who live in the immediate vicinity however, it can be transported long distances and cause poor air quality for communities in nearby areas.
Eco-Friendly
Wood burners provide a low-carbon alternative to stoves that burn fossil fuels. As part of the closed carbon cycle trees absorb CO2 from air and release it when burned. This process is less harmful to the environment than releasing CO2 into air using gas, oil or electricity for home heat.
Modern stoves are significantly higher efficiency than previous models, meaning that you can heat your home with much less firewood. Certain models are so efficient they emit very little smoke, produce very little ash and use 70% less wood than traditional stoves. The newest EPA-certified stoves include additional safety features, including an automatic shutoff to prevent overheating.
Eco-friendly stoves can also help you save money on energy bills. The cost of gas and electricity seems to increase year on year, and with a wood burning stove you can eliminate the middlemen and take control of your heating needs.
You can also use recycled wood or salvaged wood to make your stove even more environmentally friendly. Many people gather wood that would otherwise be thrown away in building projects or disposed however it is essential to ensure it's dry before you burn it. This is especially important for those who are in a smoke-control area where it is an offense to use damp or wet wood.
The green aspect of a wood stove extends to the fact that it is a renewable energy source. If you purchase your wood from sustainable forests, one tree is planted for every tree that is cut down for use. This helps counteract the deforestation caused by fossil fuel production.
While wood burning stoves emit fewer emissions than other stoves, they produce fine particulate pollutants. These tiny, toxic particles can penetrate deep into the lungs, and could be extremely detrimental to your health. The independent standards body for heating appliances HETAS has been leading a campaign to improve the efficiency of wood stoves so that they reduce this type of pollution as much as possible and a variety of manufacturers are working on eco-friendly wood burners that are compliant with the latest standards.
Cooking
Wood stoves are safe if used correctly. If you're not experienced with wood burning, it's best to hire an expert to inspect your fireplace and ventilation systems to ensure they are working correctly. Modern wood burners include a chimney and a firebox that are designed to draw fresh air in and then let smoke out. The ventilation pipe and chimney work together to regulate the amount of creosote generated from burning wood. The accumulation of creosote inside the chimney could reduce efficiency and create a fire hazard, which is why it is crucial to keep your stove.
The crackle of the fire and the scent of burning wood create a warm ambience that will take you back to simpler times. A wood-burning stove can also provide a unique taste that can't be replicated with electric or gas stoves. The smoky taste of roasted meats, and soups that are hearty make meals unique and unforgettable taste that cannot be achieved by other methods of cooking.
It is also widely known that cooking with wood-burning stoves is more healthy than other methods of cooking. The heat from the flames can help to preserve the nutrients you consume when you roast vegetables or meats in your wood-burning oven.
Many people choose to use a wood burning stove as an alternative to using gas or electricity to heat their homes. It's a reliable source of heating that is especially useful during power outages and in areas where there is a shortage of fossil fuels. Additionally, most people find that using wood stoves is an economical way to heat their homes than buying and installing a traditional gas or electric stove. It is also environmentally sustainable as wood is a renewable fuel source and releases less CO2 into the air when it is gathered and burned properly.