Heating your home can be expensive especially if you rely on electric or gas heat. Even gas stoves look nice but they won’t usually throw as much heat off as a stand-alone wood stove. One option to consider is installing efficient wood stoves. There are several log burning stoves or pellet stoves that can heat more quickly and cost-effectively. We’ve included pellet stoves here because they are technically wood-burning stoves since they use wood pellets as their fuel source.
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Wood burning stoves have come a long way since those old cast iron wood stoves that burned so hot you couldn’t touch them. That’s not to say a log-burning stove or a pellet stove won’t be too hot, because they will be, but they burn so much better. If you have a built-in fireplace in your home, you can even find fireplace inserts to maximize your heating.
7 Reasons Why Wood Stoves are Beneficial
- Efficient Heat Output: Wood stoves operate on radiant heat. Radiant heat warms up a room faster and more efficiently than a home’s forced-air system.
- Decorative And stylish: Modern wood stove designs offer a treat for the eyes along with the warmth they provide.
- Ambiance: A crackling fire helps you to relax, makes the home feel cozy, especially on cold and rainy days.
- Energy-efficient: Wood stoves are heating the areas of your home that you want to be heated.
- Economical: Wood-burning stoves are cheaper than electric fireplaces or heating systems. It usually costs around $45 per month to heat a room with wood stoves.
- Reliable: Wood stoves do not rely on electric power so if you lose electricity, you can still operate the stove. In some cases, you can even use it as a cooking option.
- Environmentally friendly: Wood is almost a carbon-neutral fuel. It does give off carbon dioxide when burning but the amount of carbon dioxide is almost equal to the amount consumed by trees which absorb carbon dioxide and give off oxygen.
Are Pellet Stoves Worth It?
Pellet stoves are much more convenient to use than wood stoves or fireplaces. Most pellet stoves have higher combustion and heating efficiencies. The pellets burn completely and produce very little air pollution. When it comes to eco-friendly products, pellet stoves are the cleanest fuel for residential heating.
Potential Tax Credits
According to the Hearth, Patio, & Barbeque Association (HPBA) there is a new Wood and Pellet Heater Investment Tax Credit. If you purchase a wood or pellet stove or any residential biomass heating system, you may be eligible to claim a tax credit based on the full cost of the purchase and installation of the unit.
With all of those factors in mind, now is a perfect time to look into wood-burning stoves or even a pellet stove. Check out this list of some of the best stoves out there.
Ashley Hearth Products Wood-Burning Stove
This medium-sized wood-burning stove is EPA Certified and will heat up to 2,000 square feet using 89,000 BTUs. The fireplace features a large ash drawer for easy cleanup and a firebrick-lined interior for fuel efficiency and to maintain durability. The firebox is large enough for logs up to 21 inches and is safe, efficient, and has a low environmental impact. It may have a low carbon footprint but it also has a large glass door with a brushed nickel spring door handle and a pedestal base that provides an elegant finish to any room. An optional circulating blower is available as an add-on.
Englander EPA Certified Wood-Burning Stove
The Englander pumps out 80,000 BTUs and heats up to 2,000 square feet. This wood stove with blower is a simple yet effective EPA Certified wood-burning stove that features an easy access ash drawer for quick cleanup, rear and side heat shields, and a pedestal base. The brick-lined firebox can handle logs up to 18 inches in length.
ComfortBilt Pellet Stove
The popular ComfortBilt has a modern appearance and a large bay viewing window. It can heat up to 2,800 square feet and has an output of 50,000 BTUs. The pellet stove is EPA and CSA certified and the hopper can hold up to 55 pounds of pellets at one time. This unit has five power settings that allow up to 20 hours of burning when placed on the lowest setting. Setting the temperature is a cinch with the 7-day programmable thermostat and the heat exchanger with blower produces maximum heat from the pellets.
Pleasant Hearth EPA Certified Wood Burning Stove
The all stainless steel stove can efficiently heat up to 1,800 square feet and has a fire-log capacity of 21 inches in length. It may be one of the smallest stoves out there, but it packs a punch with 65,000 BTUs. The energy-efficient brick-lined firebox also features an ash drawer and the entire fireplace comes with some assembly required.
Castle Serenity Pellet Stove
What’s better than a programmable thermostat? Try an EPA-certified pellet stove with remote control capabilities. You decide whether you will operate the stove manually, or set the thermostat and weekly heating options according to your schedule. The hopper can hold up to 40 pounds of pellets and can heat a space up to 1,500 square feet with 32,000 BTUs. The efficient and stylish interior design makes cleaning a breeze and because of the space-saving shape, fits in just about any room.
American Harvest Pellet Stove
This is a 52,000 BTU multi-fuel stove that is capable of burning compressed wood pellets, corn, soybeans, cherry pits, olive pits, bio mass fuel grains, and processed silage with a few simple adjustments. Installation is a breeze and the stove features 5 heat settings, 5 blower speed settings, and a digital control board with a built-in diagnostics panel and LED readouts to test, start, and operate with a touch of a button. There is a removable ash pan for easy cleanup and a burn pot agitator to prevent buildup and maximize the burning of fuel. Heating coverage is up to 2,000 square feet and the stove has a large ceramic glass window for viewing.
Nectre N60 Wood-Burning Stove
The compact yet powerful Nectre N60 can heat up to 1,500 square feet of living space. It has a high-efficiency rating and is EPA Certified and has an output of 68,500 BTUs. The all-steel construction with black metallic paint comes with a ceramic glass window framed in a steel door, and a stainless steel handle. Thermal mass is improved by the use of a steel baffle, steel brick retainer, and a firebrick lining. The firebox will hold logs up to 13.5 inches and you can store the excess logs in the convenient storage box.
