What Wood Burning Stove Experts Want You To Be Educated
Why a Wood Burning Stove Should Be Properly Sized and Installed
Wood stoves are an excellent, safe method of heating your home. However, a wood stove needs to be installed and sized correctly for maximum efficiency.
Do not open and shut the door to the wood stove often as this can create an atmosphere that draws smoke and volatile compounds that are not burned back into the room.
Energy Efficiency
Radiant heat is used to warm the home instead of hot air being blown into the home through its ventilation system. This is a more efficient method of heating since it gives radiant warmth that radiates across the entire stove, warming your entire house instead of just a central area.
Modern wood stoves are designed to be as energy efficient as possible. Manufacturers are having to meet more and more rigorous regulations in regards to emissions, and the most effective way to achieve this is by making their stoves more efficient. Our stoves have an official efficiency rating of 70% or greater. This means that a larger percentage of the heat produced is used to heat your home rather than being lost to the chimney.
Another benefit of a wood burner is that it gives you an entirely independent source of heat. A wood burner can provide warmth during a power cut or gas shortage, provided you have enough logs stored.
Wood burning stoves also provide an energy source that is more reliable over other heaters, as they don't rely on electricity or oil to operate. This is especially important in a remote environment where other energy sources may be disrupted for prolonged periods of time.
A good quality log burner is able to operate at around 80% efficiency which means that a significant proportion of the heat produced is used to warm your home. This is a huge improvement over older stoves that operated at less than 20 percent efficiency. It is also one of the reasons a new stove is a good investment.
A catalytic wood burning stove will re-burn unburned gases and smoke that escape the firebox by secondary combustion, further improving efficiency. However non-catalytic stoves are becoming increasingly popular because they don't require expensive catalyst technology to achieve similar efficiency levels and are often much less expensive to purchase. This is especially beneficial for those looking to reduce their carbon footprint and save on fuel expenses.
Clean Burning
A wood stove burns wood and generates heat however it also releases particles and gases into the air. This can cause poor air quality in some areas and can affect our health. It is important to use clean-burning technology on your wood stove.
If you have a brand modern, brand new wood stove that has Clean Burn technology, it drastically reduces airborne dust and particulate emissions. This will not just make your home healthier and cleaner, but also save money since you will get more warmth from each log.
Today's ECO design stoves meet one of the most stringent standards in the world when it comes to particle emissions - they are permitted to release less than 5 grams per kilogram of wood that is burned. At Jotul we have greater goals - we want to offer you the absolute highest quality in terms of the environment and your health. We've created a technological solution, which means our wood stoves are less than half of the required amount and in some instances less than 1 gram!
Modern stoves have many ways to improve the efficiency of wood combustion. It is crucial to keep track of air flow and only reduce it once the fire is hot and well-established.
Cleaner burning stoves produce less creosote. This sticky substance could cause serious fire dangers. The less creosote produced will also help you save time and money on chimney sweeping expenses.
The pre-heated tertiary atmosphere in our wood stoves is a key element in their performance to the highest level. This is an extra layer of air that is placed over the fuel, and helps to ensure all particles are fully ignited. This is a large portion of the outstanding performance that is found in our latest stoves, such as the Defra approved Hi-Flame Graphite 5.
Make sure you use your wood stove in areas that are legal. Smoke from wood stoves isn't only harmful to those living in the immediate area however, it can travel over long distances, causing poor air quality for residents in nearby areas.
Eco-Friendly
Wood burners offer a low-carbon alternative to stoves that burn fossil fuels. They absorb carbon dioxide from the atmosphere and release it when they burn as part of a closed CO2 cycle. This process is less damaging to the environment than release carbon dioxide into the air when using oil, gas or electricity for home heating.
Modern stoves have a significantly higher efficiency than previous models, which means that you can heat your home using much less firewood. Some models are so efficient that they release almost no smoke, produce less ash, and require 70 percent less wood than traditional stoves. Newer EPA certified stoves also have safety features such as an automatic shut off to prevent overheating.
Alongside being stoves log burners of heat, eco-friendly stoves are an excellent option to cut down on your energy bills. The price of electricity and gas appears to increase year after year. With a wood-burning stove, you can eliminate the middlemen and be in charge of your heating needs.
You can also make use of recycled wood or salvaged wood to make your stove even more green. Many people collect wood from construction projects that would otherwise be thrown away or dumped. But, it's crucial to ensure that the wood is completely dry prior to burning. This is especially important for those who live in a smoke control zone where it's an offence to use wet or damp wood.
The green aspect of a wood-burning stove extends to the fact that it is a renewable source of energy. If you buy your logs from sustainable forests there is a tree planted for every tree cut down to be used. This helps to stop the destruction of forests caused by fossil fuel production.
It is important to note that while wood burning stoves have lower emissions than other stoves they do produce fine particulate matter pollution. These small, toxic particles can reach deep into the lungs and can be extremely damaging to your health. HETAS, an independent body that sets standards for heating appliances has been leading an effort to improve wood stoves to lessen the air pollution as much they can. Many manufacturers have developed eco-friendly wood burning stoves that meet the latest standards.
Cooking
Wood stoves are safe if used correctly. If you are not familiar with wood burning, it is recommended to consult an expert to inspect your ventilation and fireplace systems to make sure they are working correctly. Modern wood burners utilize a chimney and firebox to draw in air and release smoke. The ventilation pipe and chimney help to regulate the amount of creosote (a volatile organic compound) produced when wood is burned. The accumulation of creosote within the chimney can result in a reduction in efficiency and a fire hazard therefore it is essential to keep your stove clean.
The roar of the fire and the scent of burning wood create a warm ambience that will take you back to simpler days. A wood-burning stove can also provide a unique taste that can't be replicated by gas or electric stoves. The smokey flavor of roasted meats, and soups that are hearty make meals unique and unforgettable taste that cannot be achieved with other methods of cooking.
Cooking with a wood burning stove is also believed to be healthier than other methods of cooking. For instance, if roast meats or vegetables on your wood-burning stove, the heat of the flames helps to preserve nutrients that can be lost when cooking food for extended durations.
Many people make use of wood-burning stoves to heat their homes, rather than relying on electricity or gas. It's a reliable form of heating that's particularly beneficial during power outages or in regions that aren't able to access fossil fuels. A majority of people also believe that a wood stove can be a cheaper option to heat their home, as opposed to installing and purchasing a traditional electric or gas stove. It is also environmentally friendly because wood is a renewable resource and when it is used responsibly, it releases less carbon dioxide into the atmosphere than fossil fuels.