Why Choose a Wood-Burning Stove?
Winter is just around the corner! Have you settled on what you want to choose- a fireplace or a wood-burning stove for heating your home in the winters?
Many homeowners have noticed that a crackling fireplace inside the room also draws in air from other parts of the house.
While both might have the same purpose and same appearance but it is far from being similar. The technology and design that goes behind creating a modern wood burning stove are different from traditional fireplaces. A wood fire has a whole different look and feel of it. When it comes to a fireplace, most of the heat escapes out of the chimney, leaving the room cooler than it should be. In contrast, a wood-burning stove provides much better effectiveness when it comes to providing heat efficiently; it provides 3X more heat with only one-third of the firewood.
Here are a few reasons that can help you decide in favor of a wood-burning stove.
More efficiency, lower total cost of ownership
One of the benefits of owning a wood-burning stove is that it works much harder than a fireplace. The cost comes to a third of that for a kWh of oil and gas. While the actual cost at the time of purchase matters, it is more important to keep an eye on long-term maintenance costs. A wood-burning stove in the living room can be an alternative source of heat, helping lower your energy bill. The initial cost outlay can recover within a couple of years.
Environment friendliness
Wood is carbon neutral and environmentally friendly. However, in a fireplace, the combustion gases released in a fire contain deadly carbon monoxide fumes. The occurrence of a downdraft or a backdraft could cause these dangerous fumes to spill into your homes rather than escaping through the chimney; this is less of a problem when it comes to wood stoves.
Wood-burning stoves do a better job burning the firewood efficiently, thereby causing less pollution.
Safer for your family’s health
The burning wood in a fireplace gives out combustion by-products such as various tars which expel through the chimney. However, owing to the chimney’s relative coolness, condensation occurs. These carbonaceous chemicals called ‘creosote’ deposits on the walls of the chimney. While regular chimney maintenance is an issue in itself, left unattended creosote can block the chimney passage causing toxic gases, including carbon monoxide, to flow back into the house. Stage 3 Creosote is highly flammable and can cause a chimney or rooftop fire. With adequate air controls and other features in place, such problems can be avoided in wood stoves. It is essential to buy the US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) certified stoves only to have the safest experience.
A thing of beauty and utility
With a wood-burning stove, you need not fret over where to place it; you can put it anywhere it pleases you, keeping your home’s overall beauty and layout in mind. Surely, it is an excellent benefit for a homeowner who wants to have the creative freedom for designing their living spaces. While decorating your house, you may want to have a perfect looking stone fireplace as part of a classic setting. However, functionally such a fireplace would not serve any meaningful purpose. Contrary to the stereotype, wood stoves come in various shapes, look, color, and finish, including designs that match modern décor. Come to think of it; a wood stove is also a back-up source of energy for cooking or heating in an emergency.
If you are still unable to decide and need to see and learn more about the benefits of wood-burning stoves, our experts at The Firebird help you with their in-depth understanding of home heating.
How can we help?
The Firebird launched more than forty years ago with the vision to provide self-sufficient home heating. The founders began with selling a single brand of wood stove out of their garage. A few years later, The Firebird started selling a small selection of drip irrigation components. Under current ownership since 1988, The Firebird has grown into the leading stove and irrigation supplier in Santa Fe & Northern New Mexico. We also provide barbeque grills and outdoor living products.
Our mission has been and continues to be, providing our customers with quality products at a fair price, providing long term value, service after the sale, and a high level of business ethics.
Visit our office at 1808 Espinacitas St Santa Fe, New Mexico, or call us on 505.983.5264. We are open Monday – Friday: 9:00am to 5:00pm and on Saturday from 9:00am to 3:00pm.