Pros And Cons Of Using A Wood Stove As Your Main Heat Source

Articles

Today's wood stoves are a far cry from the fireplace-style stoves of yesteryear. Capable of heating a small home cleanly and efficiently, a modern wood stove can serve as a primary heating source–providing you don't live in a mansion in the arctic. Many people are attracted to wood stoves because instead of burning non-renewable resources like oil or gas, they burn wood: a renewable resource. Yet, there are some drawbacks to wood stove heating, too. Consider both the advantages and disadvantages carefully before you decide a wood stove is right for your home.

Pros Of Heating With Wood

Fuel can be obtained inexpensively.

When you heat with oil, gas or electricity, you have no control over how much you pay for your fuel; you have to pay the market price, whatever that may be. With wood, however, there are ways to obtain it cheaply or perhaps even for free. Make friends with people who have fallen trees on their lot and they might let you haul the wood away for free or a small fee. Or, if you have wooded land yourself, it could serve as a nearly endless supply of fuel. (Just make sure that you replant a tree for every one you take down in order to prevent deforestation.)

Even if you do have to buy wood, the cost tends to be lower than that of any other heating fuel, including natural gas. Plus, wood is typically purchased from local sellers rather than big companies–by heating with wood, you are boosting your local economy. As mentioned above, wood is a renewable resource. More trees can always be grown, so you don't have to feel guilty for using up the earth's precious, non-renewable fossil fuels.

Wood stoves can be integrated with a boiler or a forced air heat system.

Modern wood stoves don't just heat by releasing their warmth into the immediate surroundings. They can be hooked up to either a boiler system or a blower to distribute the heat throughout the entire home. If you currently have a boiler or forced-air heating powered by gas, propane or oil, your HVAC technician should be able to retrofit your air circulation system to be compatible with a wood stove.

A wood stove creates a cozy ambiance.

If you have a finished basement, you can build a cozy living room-style space around the wood burning stove. Unlike a gas or oil furnace that would look out of place in this type of setting, the stove will fit right in; it will even add to the comfortable ambiance. If you do not have a basement in your home, a wood stove allows you to have your heating source out in the open on the main floor rather than having to hide it.

Cons Of Heating With Wood

You need somewhere to store the wood.

When you use wood as your primary heating fuel, you burn through a lot of it. And storing that wood takes up space. If you don't already have a barn or shed where you can store the wood, the cost of building one might be prohibitive. Keeping the wood outside works in the short-term, but you will at least need some indoor space to bring some of it in a few days before you burn it to make sure that it dries out.

You have to be around to add wood to the fire.

Some modern wood stoves have automatic feeders that can add pelleted or chipped wood to the stove a little at a time when you're not around. But, if you're primarily burning actual logs, you need to be around to add them to the fire yourself. Some wood stove users report getting a burn time of up to 17 hours, but on cold days you'll want to reload more often than that. This may not be an issue if you live with several people and someone's always around to load the stove, but it can present a struggle if you want to go on vacation during the winter season.

If you're around home a lot and have somewhere to store the wood, then a wood stove can be an earth-friendly, economical heating choice. Talk to a provider of residential HVAC installation in your area for more information.

Share

27 January 2016