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.
Be careful not to open and close the wood stove door frequently, as this creates an atmosphere that draws smoke and unburnt volatile compounds back into the room.
Energy Efficiency
A wood burning stove uses radiant heat to warm your home, instead of relying on hot air that is brought into the home by its ventilation system. This is a more efficient way to heat your home as the heat radiates from every side of the.
Modern wood stoves have been designed to be as efficient as is possible. Manufacturers have to meet stricter standards regarding emissions, and the best method to do this is to make their stoves more energy efficient. The majority of our stoves (both DEFRA approved and EPA certified) have efficiency ratings of more than 70%, which means that a significant portion of the heat that is generated is actually utilized to heat your home, instead of being lost up the chimney.
Another benefit of a wood burner is that it gives you a completely independent heat source. A wood burner can provide warmth during power outages or gas shortage, provided you have enough logs.
Wood burning stoves are more reliable than other forms of heating as they do not rely on oil or electric power to function. This is particularly important in remote regions where other sources of energy are susceptible to disruption over a long period of time.
A top-quality log burner can warm your home to 80 percent efficiency. This is an enormous improvement over older stoves which typically operated at less then 20% efficiency. This is one of the reasons why a new stove is a wise investment.
A catalytic wood stove will re-burn the unburned gasses and smoke that escapes the firebox through secondary combustion to further increase efficiency. However, non-catalytic stoves are becoming increasingly popular because they don't require expensive catalyst technology to achieve similar efficiency and are often much less expensive to purchase. This is particularly beneficial for those looking to reduce their carbon footprint and save on fuel costs.
Clean Burning
Wood stoves burn wood to create heat but they also release particulates and gasses into the air. In some areas this can result in poor air quality, which affects our health and wellbeing. This is why it is essential to use clean burning technology in your wood stove.
When you have a modern, contemporary wood stove that has Clean Burn technology, it dramatically reduces airborne dust and particulate emission. This will not only make your home more healthy, but you can also save money since you will get more warmth from each log.
Today's ECO design stoves have one of the strictest requirements in the world when it comes to particle emissions - they are permitted to release not more than 5 grams per kilogram of wood burned. At Jotul, we have far more ambitious goals - we'd like to provide you with the absolute highest quality in terms of the climate and your health. We've developed a technical solution, which means our wood stoves are less than half of the legal requirement and in some instances less than 1 gram!
Modern stoves have many ways to improve the combustion of the wood. It is crucial to keep track of the air flow and only decrease it after the fire is hot and stable.
Cleaner burning stoves also create less creosote. This is a sticky substance that forms on the inside of the chimney. It can pose a serious fire danger. The reduced production of creosote can also save you time and money on your chimney sweeping expenses.
The pre-heated air in our new wood stoves is another key factor in their superior performance. This is a different level of air that is added above the fuel load and helps ensure that all particles are completely ignited. This is the bulk of the superior performance found in our new stoves such as the Defra approved Hi-Flame Graphite 5.
Always ensure that you only use your wood stove in areas that are legal. Smoke from wood stoves isn't just harmful to people living in the immediate vicinity however, it can travel long distances and cause poor air quality for communities living in the vicinity.
Eco-Friendly
Wood burners are an alternative that is low in carbon to stoves made of fossil fuels. As modern wood stove of the closed carbon cycle trees absorb CO2 from the air and release it when they are burned. This process is less harmful to the environment than releasing CO2 into the air through oil, gas, or electricity for heating at home.
Modern stoves have a significantly higher efficiency than previous models, which means that you can heat your home using far less firewood. Some models are so efficient that they release almost no smoke, produce minimal ash and require 70% less logs than traditional stoves. Modern EPA certified stoves also include safety features, such as an automatic shut off to stop overheating.
Eco-friendly stoves can also help you save money on energy bills. The price of electricity and gas appears to increase year on year and with wood-burning stoves, you can eliminate the middlemen and take charge of your own heating needs.
You can also use recycled or salvaged wood for your stove to make it more environmentally friendly. Many people collect wood from construction projects that would otherwise be thrown out or disposed of. However, it is essential to ensure that it is completely dry before burning. This is especially important if you reside in a smoke control zone where it's a criminal offence to use wet or damp wood.
Wood burning stoves are environmentally sustainable because they make use of renewable energy sources. If you purchase your wood from a sustainable forest then one tree will be planted for each one that is cut down to be used which helps counteract the deforestation caused by fossil fuel production.
Although wood burning stoves produce less emissions than other stoves, they produce fine particulate pollutants. These are tiny, toxic particles that can travel deep into your lungs, and are extremely dangerous to your health. The independent body that sets standards for heating appliances HETAS has been leading a campaign to improve the efficiency of wood stoves so that they can reduce this kind of pollution as much as is possible and a variety of manufacturers are working on eco-friendly wood burners that are compliant with the latest standards.
Cooking
When used correctly, wood stoves can be very safe. If you are not familiar with wood burning, it's best to hire an expert to examine your ventilation and fireplace systems to ensure they are operating correctly. Modern wood burners have a chimney and a firebox that work together to draw in fresh air and let smoke out. The chimney and ventilation pipe are used to control the amount of creosote (a volatile organic compound) that is created when wood burns. The accumulation of creosote in the chimney could reduce efficiency and cause a fire hazard, which is why it is important to maintain your stove.
The roar of the fire and the scent of burning wood create a cozy atmosphere which can take you back to simpler days. In addition, cooking with wood burning stoves adds an unique flavor that can't be replicated using electric or gas stoves. The smoky taste of roasted meats, as well as soups with a hearty flavor provide meals with a distinctive and memorable taste that cannot be achieved by other methods of cooking.
It is also well-known that cooking with wood-burning stoves is more healthy than other forms of cooking. For instance, if you roast vegetables or meats in your wood-burning stove, the heat generated by the flames helps to keep nutrients that are lost when heating foods for long durations.
Many people use wood-burning stoves to heat their homes, rather than relying on gas or electricity. It's a reliable source of heating that's particularly beneficial during power outages and in areas where there is a shortage of fossil fuels. Additionally, most people find that wood stoves is the most cost-effective method to heat their homes than buying and installing a traditional electric or gas stove. It is also green, as wood is a renewable resource, and when harvested and burned responsibly, it emits less carbon dioxide into the atmosphere than fossil fuels.