The Wood Burning Stove
One of the most attractive wood-burning stoves that I have seen is the original classic designs.
Not only do they welcome you to a time past they also draw you in these modern times.
You could say timeless…
And as a wood-burning cook stove, these little beauties will cook your meals and keep your kettle hot, as well as keeping your room warm.
I say that’s a pretty big plus don’t you think.
1: Placement Flexibility
This wood burning stove can be installed virtually anywhere in the home you are living in, as long as there is a way to run the vent pipe to the outside of the house that is.
You have to have a vent pipe for your stove so that all the smoke goes outside and not in your house.
What this means is that you can heat any room or space in your dwelling.
Now, these well-placed stoves can almost completely replace a central heating system that you might have been thinking of for your house- so if you don’t have one as yet.
Just think of the money you will save if you buy the stoves alone.
2: Exceptional Heating Capabilities Of A Wood Burning Stove
One of the biggest advantages a homeowner has these days with a wood-burning cook stove is not the quantity but the quality of heat these stoves can give off.
Being completely closed in these stoves keep the focus on all the heat that radiates outwards and not up the chimney.
Which warms any area they are in, faster and more efficiently than the warm air being blown through a home’s vent system.
Meaning that the powerful heat from these wood stoves radiate from all sides as well as the top of the wood burning stove, sending the warmth in all directions and not just the front as a normal fireplace would.
3: Better For The Environment
Were on the environment trail again! and why not.
Compared with the using of fossil fuels for heat such as propane, natural gas, coal, etc for instance. Wood is much more eco-friendly.
Did you know that it is considered “carbon-neutral’?
This means that when the fire wood burns, it doesn’t add additional carbon dioxide to the environment. And that’s a good thing.
This is because a tree absorbs carbon dioxide in its natural state that’s in the atmosphere.
During its combustion, this balance is maintained.
I cannot stress enough that we all have a responsibility to the world to take care of it and if this means going the extra mile so we should consider it and make our contribution to combating climate change.
4: Economical Heating
Now you’re going to like this when it comes to saving some money in your pockets right!
Wood is an inexpensive fuel source as you most probably know.
It can cost less per BTU than oil, electricity or gas, and if you live in the country I am sure you will find fallen branches on the side of the road.
Make sure it’s not on private property, but it never hurts to ask the owner if you can take some of it.
What can happen, he can only say no right, not chase you of his land with a 22 or something…. forget the last bit. over exaggerating…
Homeowners such as you who practice these strategic zone heating in their homes, cabins, cottages, etc.
Can save literally hundreds of dollars on their utility bills each year.
See, now I know I have got your attention…
5: Works During Power Outages
Do you like the sound of that, I’m sure you do.
No one likes being a slave to the old power outage when you cannot get anything working, and then wonder how we as humans have got to the stage that we are so dependent on electricity.
If you tend to live in such a region that has these occasional power outages throughout the winter of all times, you know what it’s like.
When everyone used the power in the cold weather and the electricity boards cannot take the overuse of power and literally shut down
So you know just how valuable a heat source that is 100% self-contained, or you could say ‘self-sufficient’ can be.
With a dependable wood burning stove, you can stay warm all the time without having to rely on gas or electricity.
6: Wood Burning Stove Cooking Convenience
Can you imagine in your mind the cast-iron kettle sitting on top of the old stove ready with that hot water for a cup of tea or coffee whenever you want it?
I can…
That is just one benefit that these wood-burning stoves can give you. Knowing that some models can double as a stovetop gives you a choice of not just having the option of buying a wood stove for its heating purposes.
That you have a choice of buying one that also doubles as a cooking stove as well.
Now you will have to practice at getting the temperature adjustment right and placement of your cookware, you’ll find that the top surface of your very own wood stove will be perfect for cooking and warming a great variety of foods and meals.
And you don’t have to feel guilty in leaving such meals that require many hours of cooking on a warm temperature to be just right without thinking of the money costs.
7: Effective Heat Output
Because the cooking stove is completely closed in, the most desirable feature and benefit of a wood burner is the heat output that can it provide you with.
Wood burning stoves provide a powerful heat source for any home, that will raise the heat in any room quickly and effectively to keep you cosy and snug thought those winter months or if it’s just cold.
There are so many wood-burning stoves that are available in a range of shapes and sizes and with different varying energy output levels.
So you can look into a choice of models that should be appropriate for the size of your dwelling or the room.
8: Energy Efficient
You know that the energy efficiency of the wood burning stove is great.
Giving you that heat source you are looking for, wood burning stoves are very energy efficient even compared to some electric heating.
While an open fireplace, for instance, is around about 20-25% efficient, the wood burner can be as much as 80% efficient.
That’s a whole lot more efficiency you cannot ignore.
The wood that you use to fuel the stove is so often much cheaper compared to being on the electricity grid, oil, or even gas.
To give you an example did you know that a kilowatt of heat per hour can be provided by a wood-burning stove for a fifth of the cost of a kWh of electricity itself and around about a third of the cost of a kWh of gas and oil.
I will give you a minute to soak that in…
9: Money Saving
You would have to be living under a rock if you did not miss the ever-higher rise in the cost of energy prices.
In fact, thousands of people are finding it harder to heat their homes with gas and electricity these days.
In fact, more people are turning down their heaters and even going without to save on electricity and gas bills, shivering away.
Sometimes I think to myself if we are going backwards in our lifestyle instead of forwards – which is a disturbing thought.
So is going back to the old ways something we need to do. Sure there were a lot of things that we did not get right in history, but there were so many that we did.
Look around you and see designs that have not changed for hundreds of years.
Construction to the basic chair, they may look a little different in design but structurally they have not changed in hundreds of years.
Not thought of it before?
Well you should, you may see things in a different light and not think that we are so clever today as we have been. With the exception of computers and the like.
May things have remained the same.
The energy-efficient nature of wood-burning stoves can mean that they are particularly helpful in saving you money.
Many people have found a wood-burning stove to be a very economical investment because it can help to reduce their heating bills.
Now you may still have a need for central heating in those rooms that don’t have a wood burner in, the humble cast iron stove, for instance, can provide you with an alternative to your radiator in your main rooms, saving you costs on heating.
Sure…
You’re going to have to put some money down to buy a wood burner at the start, yet that cost like solar energy can be made back on energy savings within about a couple of years or so.
10: Reliability
Even though it is said that there are rarely disrupted power cuts these days. It cannot be promised that things still cannot go wrong.
Winter weather has become more unpredictable now as climate change has shown us, many are experiencing loss of power through freezing conditions flooding and other bad forming weather that we have not seen in different parts of the world before.
So, when you need that’s essential winter heating and it is not working during a power outage.
You feel helpless and this could become a normal occurrence if you don’t take charge of your surroundings and do something about it.
A wood burner is reliable and always there in the case of such an occasion when the grid lets you down.
That initial outlay for a fireplace or wood burner is always on standby when needed.
You might not have thought of this before but if you’re in an area where your environment needs
you to think of changing your heating sources do look into it and don’t be complacent.
11: The Environmentally Friendly Wood Burning Stove
O’ and did I say it was environmentally friendly?
I did and I have said it again.
Listening now?
In the age of ever-increasing eco-awareness, many are making the switch and are determined to be more friendly to the environment by reducing their own carbon footprint.
Don’t live under a rock and at least start to look into how you can reduce your carbon footprint.
When it comes to heating your own home, a good old wood-burning stove can help you achieve this personal environmental goal.
And did I mention…
Feel better for it…
Wood is a carbon-neutral fuel; although it does give off carbon dioxide when burned, I will say that.
Can’t be perfect…
The little amount is given off I may add…
Is equal to the amount consumed by their replacement trees which absorb the carbon dioxide from the air and give off oxygen.
So you could say that wood-burning stoves are, therefore ‘carbon neutral’ because they don’t increase the level of carbon dioxide in our planet’s atmosphere.
Now you could go and buy wood from the shops, but that’s not what the pioneers did, did they?
They went sourcing their own wood fuel from waste.
For example, have a look for offcuts or unused pieces from timber mills, which can also be a good way to help the environment, people might be too happy for you to get rid of their old wood for free.
There are many ways to source wood for your wood-burning stove.
Be inventive as it saves waste wood from being put into dumps and landfill sites, for instance, even building contractors most probably have wood offcuts. Furniture manufacturers for another idea.