3 Steps to Choosing the Ideal Wood Burning Stove
When you set out to find a suitable wood burning stove for your home, there’s a lot to think about. The good news is that once you identify some basic specs, sorting through the available models becomes a question of style-not survival! Here are some steps to help you navigate the world of wood stoves today.
1. Know why you want a wood burning stove. First, what main purpose will the stove serve? Heating, cooking, ambiance-or some combination? Second, how much heat does the stove need to generate? Are you heating just one room, an entire, floor, a moderately-sized house, or a small cottage? Third, how will the stove be installed? Free-standing, or using an existing fireplace? A final question is how often the stove will be used-frequently or occasionally? Deciding what you want to your wood stove to accomplish is the big first step toward making the right purchase.
2. Read the small print on the wood stoves–casually. When you look at models, find the stickers on the stoves that tell you they’re EPA-certified stoves-meaning they’re environmentally friendly and fuel efficient. If you’re shopping for stoves online, this information will be readily available. The EPA approval is the crucial thing. You’ll find the Btu ratings and square footage heating estimates as well–but since Btu ratings aren’t standardized, and factors like climate, fuel choices, and house type affect square footage ratings, it’s a mistake to depend on them too much as you shop. Instead, consider the size of the stoves you’re looking at. (See below.)
3. Don’t buy big, shiny wood burning stoves. Unless that’s what you need. You can buy a Hummer for cross-country road trips without sacrificing comfort. But buying large stoves for small heating needs causes potential fire hazards-not to mention stuffy rooms. Beyond that, stoves that are too large cost you money. To control the heat, you’ll be forced to reduce the air supply into the stove-which will reduce the stove’s efficiency and waste fuel. Buying over-sized wood stoves is a common mistake-one that you don’t have to make. Stoves come in only three sizes–small, medium, and large. Here’s a breakdown of how the sizes relate to your needs:
- Small - these heat a small cabin or large room.
- Medium - these heat small or moderately-sized houses.
- Large - these heat large or drafty houses.
Ultimately, a solid understanding of why you want a wood burning stove, with your climate, house type and fuel choice factored in, will lead you to the correctly-sized, EPA-approved stoves. At that point, it gets fun: questions of color and style.
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Wood Stoves & Home Improvement
Chances are, you’ve heard about the new style and performance standards of contemporary wood stoves. You’ve begun to explore the market. But you may be wondering, “Is my current home well-suited for a wood stove?”
The answer is a qualified Yes-because today’s wood burning stoves are come in a variety of models, designed to fit virtually every living space. However, there are some things you can do to make that Yes absolutely confident.
Here are some suggestions.
Optimize your house for wood stoves.
That means sealing up any leaks or drafty areas. Practically speaking, verify that your home is well insulated; check the seals on your storm windows; replace sagging caulking; make sure weather stripping is secure. When your house is as tight as a drum, wood burning stoves are an excellent investment. You’ll use less wood, save money, and cut down on air pollution.
Choose a stove to match your home size.
When you shop, you can’t only consider style and design questions (although that’s the fun part). Wood stoves come in a variety of sizes. But unlike some other purchases (Biggie Size it?), choosing the wrong size can lead to serious problems. Appropriately-sized stoves will heat your space well, no matter the temperature. But choose too big and you’ll feel scorched. Go too small and you’ll have to huddle up. However, if you’re willing to take your home type and square footage into account and evaluate stove size accordingly, you’ll come out feeling like a winner.
Trust wood burning stoves with your bank account.
As fund managers, you’ll find them quite dependable and trustworthy. Kidding aside, you owe it to yourself to buy the most efficient wood stove you can afford. Why? Because wood burning stoves pay for themselves in the long run. Shell out a few extra bucks up front, and a few years down the line, you’ll be sitting happy in the black. Today’s stoves incorporate devices like drafts, catalytic converters, and fireboxes that make them efficient–and financially smart.
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3 Easy Steps to Max Efficiency Wood Stoves
You’ve done some research. Maybe you’re already a stove owner. So you’ve heard that today’s wood stoves are well-designed, radiant heating machines. Now you’re wondering, “How can I make sure my stove is one of those peak performers? How can I get a full return?” Good question. First, be sure to look at Wood Stoves & Wood Burning Efficiency. Choosing the right fuel makes a world of difference.
Beyond that, here are some tips to stoke your stove to its limits:
1. Check your wood stove’s temperature. Some stoves have preinstalled thermometers. If not, it’s fairly easy to install a stack thermometer on the stove flue-your stove’s exhaust pipe. Doing so will let you “take the temperature” of gases as they leave the stove. For most wood burning stoves, the optimum range is between 300 and 400 F. Stoves in that heat range are the most efficient and the least polluting.
2. Service your stove. This one is simple, but easy to forget: Clean out excess ash. When ashes start building up, it’s time to give your wood stove the equivalent of a good lube job. You get the point: Piled up ashes clog up your wood stove’s air vents and deprive the fire of oxygen. Burning all that wood to heat your home is hard work-so making your stove short of breath is the last thing you want to do.
3. Spy on your wood stove. In the friendly, “just checking up on you” sense, of course. When wood stoves are burning at peak efficiency, they make virtually no smoke. So vary the amount of oxygen and wood you give your stove, then sneak outside and take a peek at your smoke stack or chimney. No smoke? That means your wood stove is burning clean, green and hot.
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How to Exploit a Wood Stove’s Energy Efficiency
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 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 Max Efficiency Wood Stoves.
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