Tag Archives: Efficiency
High Efficiency Wood Burning Stoves to Heat Your Home and Save You Some Dough During Winter
If you’re trying to make a good impact on the environment, save yourself a little bit of money and you need a stove, then you ought to consider the possibility of placing a wood burning stove in your home.
High Efficiency Wood Burning Stoves: The Benefits
What are wood burning stoves? They’re stand-alone stoves that burn wood, directing the resulting smoke through a chimney conduit pipe. One of the wonderful aspects wood burners have is that there is no need for an electrical source… just wood! What is another great thing about wood stoves? They can heat an entire home effectively and efficiently.
Still, these are not the only two benefits you get from using wood burning stoves. Remember, if you’re looking to be friendly toward the environment, you ought to know that the newer wood stoves emit very little pollution, compared to the models of the past.
How Do These Types Of Wood Burning Stoves Work?
You might be wondering how these types of stoves work? It begins with the stove using its air flow structure to burn the wood at extremely high temperatures inside the insulated enclosures. What’s great about this is that the heated plenum generates practically no smoke or toxic waste. Any of the volatile organic gases are changed into energy that’s used to make the heat.
There are two kinds of commonly used high efficiency wood stoves:
1 – Advanced Combustion Wood Stove
This type of stove burns wood in one enclosure with the high temperature combustible smoke in the other enclosure. Keep in mind that these temperatures can reach more than 1,000 degrees Fahrenheit. One unique feature of this stove is the glass door’s reduced residue.
2 – High Efficiency Catalytic Wood Stove
With the help of the catalytic combustors, these stoves work to destroy the smoke that rises from the fires at lower temperatures. This stove is far more effective than the advanced combustion wood stoves. But, they’re much more expensive and can break down as time passes, which will reduce their energy output.
The Positive Aspects
What are the positive aspects of using wood burning stoves besides the fact that they’re green and great for the environment?
- These stoves have the power to heat an entire home (as long as they’re placed in a centralized location).
- They use far less firewood than models of the past.
- They don’t need electricity to work, which allows you to use them if the power goes out.
- Other than the catalytic combustor, the parts don’t fail easily.
- They come in an array of sizes and styles so that they can fit the décor of your home.
The Negative Aspects Of Using Wood Burning Stoves
Despite all the positive aspects, there are some drawbacks to using wood stoves. These negative aspects include:
- Homeowners need to use the type of wood the devices specifies.
- Wood being used in the stove should be completely dried before being used.
- A professional should be hired to install the device, as they are far more complex than conventional stoves.
- Regular maintenance and cleaning are demanded for the fireboxes. And, because of the complexity of these systems, it will take some time to clean it all out.
- Homeowners will need to use a de-humidifier while the stove is working so that the air doesn’t become too dry.
Bear in mind that you need to choose a wood burning stove that won’t take up a lot of room but will give you the heat and comfort you are looking for during the winter months. Keep in mind that you can determine what wood burning stove is right for you by researching and reading the various wood burning stove reviews available.
What are you waiting for? When you’re looking for an eco-friendly and efficient system to heat your home, why would you want to look any further than a high efficiency wood burning stove?
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Pellet Burning Stoves – Complete Consideration
It’s really a shame that there are still a lot of people who are not familiar with pellet burning stoves. They’re under the impression that in this modern world, there’s no place for something which looks so historical.
Speaking of historical, what is the background and history of pellet stoves? Compared to more modern catalytic wood burning stoves, they sure look historical. So what gives? Well, it’s not really that historical. After all, we can only go as far back as the 1930s when it comes to its history.
Some people don’t want to use it because of its rather old history. They’re probably thinking that these stoves are not built for the modern world. Well, that shouldn’t be the case. The more popular stoves are not perfect. This is why through the years, certain manufacturers have dreamed of manufacturing something that can replace these stoves. Well, they’re forgetting something that’s been around for a long time now. So can a pellet stove replace the more conventional wood burning stoves?
First of all, it’s a good idea to define this appliance first. So what is a pellet stove? Just like any stove, it can help you heat up your home. Some people also use it to heat up industrial spaces. It has a burn-pot area that houses the flame and this flame is the one giving off the heat. In order to maintain the flame, you need to feed fuel to it. In the case of pellet burning stoves, you’re going to use pellets that are usually made of wood or biomass.
In addition to using pellets, what are the other differences between pellet stoves and conventional wood burning stoves? Well, the differences are mainly determined by the fuel used. There are very little differences to the stoves themselves. So if you really want to know the differences, you need to know more about fuels first. In order to know more, you need to know – what are the pellets used in pellet burning stoves?
This begs the question – can other fuels be used in a pellet stove? That is something that a lot of people are asking. They’re concerned that they’ll run out of pellets and they won’t be able to heat their homes. So they’re asking if conventional fuels can be used. The short answer is yes. A lot of stoves are versatile enough to use other fuels. But of course, there are things that you have to consider.
Going back to the question, will a pellet stove eventually replace the more conventional wood burning stoves? Well, you shouldn’t really care if the world embraces these stoves or not. Since you’ll be the one to use it, you should decide for yourself if it’s time to make the switch. How can you do that? A good way to do it is to check out the advantages of pellet burning stoves. Find out the reasons why people are making the switch to them. Just to give you an idea, here are some of the known advantages:
- They’re environment-friendly.
- They consume less energy which leads to lower energy costs.
- They look great.
Now, these three reasons are more than enough reasons for most people. But of course, there are also reasons why some people are hesitant to make the switch. These are the people that like to look at the other side of the coin. In order to make an informed decision, you should as well. You can start by checking out the cons of using a pellet stove. This way, you can see for yourself that these stoves are not perfect. Here are some disadvantages:
- Compared to gas-powered stoves, there’s more work involved with pellet stoves.
- It can be a problem if someone in your family has respiratory problems since wood pellets don’t burn as efficiently as a few other fuels.
- It can confuse thermostats in other rooms.
So really, it’s a matter of weighing the pros and the cons. For example, if you’re someone who puts a premium on helping the environment and no one in your family has respiratory problems, then it’s a good idea to buy one.
But overall, is it easy to operate? Since you’re considering buying one, you need to know how to operate a pellet stove. This can help set expectations so that you’ll know that it’s something that you can easily master. While you’re at it, you can also check out the parts of a pellet stove. This can help you decide if it’s something that’s high-maintenance or not.
It’s also a good idea to know more about the pellets. After all, you’ll be using them to power the stove. A good way to start is to know the different types of pellets. Yes, there is more than one type of pellet. This knowledge can help you maximize the use of your pellet stove. In a way, pellet burning stoves are only as good as the pellets that you use. While checking out the different types, base your decision on the cost, availability and BTU factor.
Hopefully, these questions high-light the considerations you should answer and helped open your eyes to the effectiveness and efficiency of pellet burning stoves. It’s now time for you to decide if it’s something that you should buy or not.
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Reverse-Process Wood Burning Stoves
To fully appreciate the subtle, yet simple genius of Jan Steen, the developer of the reverse-process for wood burning stoves in the late 1970′s, began with the process that is “reversed.”
A wood stove making use of inside air for burning results in problems, simply because outside air is pulled into the property to replace the stove exhaust going up the chimney. The exhaust air, carrying combustion fumes and smoke, is replaced by cold exterior air infiltrating through small cracks and openings around doors and windows. The process that is reversed is the negative pressure caused by the wood burning stove using indoor air for combustion. In fact, ANY furnace using indoor air for combustion can cause a negative air pressure in a building!
To reverse the negative pressure, Jan Steen used trial-and-error to create the Chinook stove. Instead of creating constant drafts of cold air infiltrating through and around windows and doors, Steen reversed the process by using cold, exterior air to fuel combustion. By piping in exterior air there was no negative pressure inside the home. By separating the burn cycle from the heating effects the stove’s thermal efficiency increased.
Steen enhanced the reverse-process wood burning stoves even more by applying the concept of piping in exterior air to also include the air heated by the stove.
The reverse-process stove is based upon two straightforward principles.
1. It draws in outside, fresh, cooler air into the building. That air runs through interior piping and is used for combustion near the back of the stove. This prevents cold air infiltrating into the building.
2. Using the draft effect of the hot stove, additional exterior fresh air is drawn into the stove’s exterior rear baffle, where it is heated and released into the room.
The heated exterior air, oxygen-rich, creates a small positive air pressure within the premises. The positive air pressure is minimal, but still requires a corresponding exit somewhere high up in the building allowing the pressure differential to continue.
The double effect of drawing exterior air for combustion as well as introducing heated, fresh air into the building, makes this unit the ‘reverse-process’ wood-burning stove.
Associated LINKS:
Bryden, Mark; Dean Still, Damon Ogle, Nordica MacCarty.
http://www.bioenergylists.org/stovesdoc/apro/Heat/Heating%20Stoves%20LO-RES.pdf Designing Improved Wood Burning Heating Stoves (A .pdf file needing Adobe Reader.) Aprove Research Center. Shell Foundation. Retrieved 2011-07-04.
United States EPA/Office of Air and Radiation. Co-sponsored with the Consumer Product Safety Commission. http://www.epa.gov/iaq/pubs/insidestory.html “The Inside Story: A Guide to Indoor Air Quality”. Retrieved 2011-07-04.
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Types Of Wood Burning Stoves
Mention wood burning stoves and many people picture a classic potbelly stove usually situated in the living room or kitchen of a farmhouse. Mandatory to completing the image is the family gathered around the stove sharing some conversation, savoring down-home cooking style aromas and enjoying the radiant warmth on a cold winter evening.
The central item in this nostalgic image is the wood burning stove; providing warmth, a place to cook and a central point around which people gather.
The wood burner of our postcard image has changed radically, yet stays true to its basic functions of heating and cooking. In the last 250 years the wood burning stove has specialized yet become more general, improved its efficiency yet wood burners in the U.S. exist under much more stringent regulations and in some models have forsaken that plain appearance for making a fashion statement.
Basic wood burning stoves, think of the classical potbelly stove, so typical in Europe and North America of the mid-18th through mid-19th centuries was primarily a heating appliance with a small top that could be used for cooking. During the same time kitchen based wood-burners were primarily used for cooking with large tops and ovens; occasionally having multiple cooking levels.
The heating or cooking wood-burners of yesteryear have morphed into:
air-tight stoves,
masonry stoves,
bio-mass cook stoves, and
In the U.S. most are mandated to include catalytic converters. Of course, the iconic potbelly stove is still available as an updated replica.
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