Interior design is changing and, if you ask me, it's about time. We're abandoning the cheap 'MDF' approach and instead opting for something a bit more classical and few things say 'classical' than solid good old fashioned wood burning stoves.
Stoves have been at the heart of the English home since time in memoriam. In ancient times they were the place where the family gathered for warmth and heat. During those cold winter months it was the lifeline for all families. Not only could it be used for cooking, but providing heat to the entire room.
These days we have central heating and a whole array of modern cooking appliance. We do not need them in the way our forebears did, but somehow a place feels much more like home with a warm wood burning stove at the centre of the living space.
What makes wood burning stoves so essential to my eyes is that they epitomize what I see as central to good old English design. They look solid and dependable - the real beating heart of any self respecting home.
They come in a number of different designs. Traditionalists will probably prefer a classical effect, but there are plenty of companies who can provide a more up to date and contemporary solution. Whichever way you go the most important thing is to make sure they are compatible with your existing design. A classical design, for example, may not fit well within a clean and contemporary environment.
If you're commissioning a specially designed stove, then it makes sense to have a consultation to work out what would work best - both from your design needs and functionality. Because, let's not forget, these are first and foremost functional items and this aspect should not be forgotten.
Like it or not utility bills are set to rise, so every household is looking for ways to reduce their energy outlay. Wood burning stoves can provide a good ongoing source of heat and reduce your reliance on your gas supplier. The benefits of that will never have been felt more keenly than this winter as home owners find themselves on the end of some quite demanding gas and electricity bills.
So as we increasingly look for ways to lighten the load on our wallets, it seems certain that more and more people will be turning to traditional, old fashioned methods, to heat their homes. The good old stove is making a come back.
Showing posts with label wood stoves. Show all posts
Showing posts with label wood stoves. Show all posts
Monday, 25 January 2010
Sunday, 9 August 2009
How Many Wood Stoves Will it Take to Heat Your Home?
Would you think I was lying me if I said "One?"
It may seem hard to believe, but it's actually possible to completely heat an average-sized home using wood stoves. In a best-case scenario, it is even possible to heat your residence with just one wood burning stove. However, this can only happen if several important conditions are satisfied.
What are those conditions? Before we get into that, you first need to understand that wood burning stoves are classified as space heaters. As opposed to the average central heating system, which uses a series of pipes and ducts, modern stoves generate radiant heat that warms a home directly.
This is excellent news for modern home owners, because newer houses are designed to be energy efficient. They require less heating to maintain comfortable air temperatures, which makes it realistic to heat a moderately-sized modern home with a single wood burning stove. Here's how this would happen.
Condition One: The stove needs to be installed in the home's main living area. Ideally, this will be in an open, communal area, where family members spend a lot of time. This is frequently on the floor shared by the kitchen, living and dining rooms-the places where people eat, read, watch TV and hang out. If it isn't possible to do this, you may have to use more than one stove to heat your house.
Condition Two: Heat flow needs to be possible. The one-stove approach works especially well in open-plan houses. If your residence has large rooms with few divisions, keeping everyone warm with just one large stove is really feasible. But if your house is broken up into multiple niches and smaller rooms, more than one wood burning stove will probably be necessary.
Condition Three: You need to choose from advanced wood stoves that are certified by the Environmental Protection Agency. This is really no more than a small caveat, since all wood stoves designed after the '90s are EPA-certified, which means they are fuel efficient and have minimal environmental impact. However, if you're not aware of this fact, you could inadvertently sacrifice the carefully engineered benefits of modern wood stoves by buying older, used models. Now you know--so check off that concern.
So, back to our opening question. How many stoves will it take to heat your home? As we've seen, the answer is conditional. But with a little advance planning, heating your residence with just one efficient, powerful wood stove can be a reality.
It may seem hard to believe, but it's actually possible to completely heat an average-sized home using wood stoves. In a best-case scenario, it is even possible to heat your residence with just one wood burning stove. However, this can only happen if several important conditions are satisfied.
What are those conditions? Before we get into that, you first need to understand that wood burning stoves are classified as space heaters. As opposed to the average central heating system, which uses a series of pipes and ducts, modern stoves generate radiant heat that warms a home directly.
This is excellent news for modern home owners, because newer houses are designed to be energy efficient. They require less heating to maintain comfortable air temperatures, which makes it realistic to heat a moderately-sized modern home with a single wood burning stove. Here's how this would happen.
Condition One: The stove needs to be installed in the home's main living area. Ideally, this will be in an open, communal area, where family members spend a lot of time. This is frequently on the floor shared by the kitchen, living and dining rooms-the places where people eat, read, watch TV and hang out. If it isn't possible to do this, you may have to use more than one stove to heat your house.
Condition Two: Heat flow needs to be possible. The one-stove approach works especially well in open-plan houses. If your residence has large rooms with few divisions, keeping everyone warm with just one large stove is really feasible. But if your house is broken up into multiple niches and smaller rooms, more than one wood burning stove will probably be necessary.
Condition Three: You need to choose from advanced wood stoves that are certified by the Environmental Protection Agency. This is really no more than a small caveat, since all wood stoves designed after the '90s are EPA-certified, which means they are fuel efficient and have minimal environmental impact. However, if you're not aware of this fact, you could inadvertently sacrifice the carefully engineered benefits of modern wood stoves by buying older, used models. Now you know--so check off that concern.
So, back to our opening question. How many stoves will it take to heat your home? As we've seen, the answer is conditional. But with a little advance planning, heating your residence with just one efficient, powerful wood stove can be a reality.
Monday, 29 June 2009
Wood Stoves Are A Great Secondary Heat Source
Checking the authenticity and usability of the wood stoves needs to be checked before making any purchase. Wood stoves were used in ancient America for many household and general purposes. A wood stove is a device, which is normally used in the kitchens for the heating of food, keeping it warm and making it palatable. A wood stove is often used for heating rooms or cooking food. Purchasing a free standing wood stove is a great way for anyone who doesn't want the hassle of building in the stove, this makes it easier if you decide to remove. A pellet-stove is very efficient because the pellets that are used are made from scraps of wood and compressed together.
Many wood stove that insert into the fireplace have fans that can blow the warm air and not the smoke into the rooms, this is a great way of getting more heat into the house. The primary reason for installing a wood stove insert rather than a stand alone stove is to utilize an existing fireplace, however there are additional benefits. A stove insert which is installed into an existing brick or stone fireplace will certainly be more efficient than a stand alone unit located within the room. Using glass doors that covers the front of a fireplace is a great way of stopping the heat from escaping, this reduces the heat from escaping but does not stop it completely.
An outdoor wood burning furnace is most well known for its ability to heat on a low budget. This low-cost heating is often most beneficial to homeowners. Wood heat is a comfortable way of heating your home but it does take some safety knowledge and precautions to do so safely. Heat is something that every home needs; unfortunately, it is sometimes difficult to afford.
Buying a certified stove completely reduces the chances of your chimney catching fire. Try to keep the chimney clean, over the years the chimney will accumulate creosote and this can cause a fire if not cleaned frequently. The chimney must be checked for an excess of soot deposited on its inside. The most convenient and preferable location for the installation of the chimney is the center of the house. Every pot belly stove has a chimney that is attached to let the smoke out.
The cost of heating with wood is relatively inexpensive. Many wood stoves come with a lot of accessories but you will need to purchase them because they are not given in the package when the stove is purchased. This adds a personal touch to the customers' wood stove as they can use the leg piece of their choice. Wood stoves come with a nice feature that catches the ashes it is called the ash drawer. Check the manufacturers warranty on all stoves and make sure this is sufficient for your use, many manufactures have a limited warranty period. With its fine design and elegance, a contemporary wood stove is sure to add style and class to any room. Wood stoves were used in ancient America for many household and general purposes.
Many wood stove that insert into the fireplace have fans that can blow the warm air and not the smoke into the rooms, this is a great way of getting more heat into the house. The primary reason for installing a wood stove insert rather than a stand alone stove is to utilize an existing fireplace, however there are additional benefits. A stove insert which is installed into an existing brick or stone fireplace will certainly be more efficient than a stand alone unit located within the room. Using glass doors that covers the front of a fireplace is a great way of stopping the heat from escaping, this reduces the heat from escaping but does not stop it completely.
An outdoor wood burning furnace is most well known for its ability to heat on a low budget. This low-cost heating is often most beneficial to homeowners. Wood heat is a comfortable way of heating your home but it does take some safety knowledge and precautions to do so safely. Heat is something that every home needs; unfortunately, it is sometimes difficult to afford.
Buying a certified stove completely reduces the chances of your chimney catching fire. Try to keep the chimney clean, over the years the chimney will accumulate creosote and this can cause a fire if not cleaned frequently. The chimney must be checked for an excess of soot deposited on its inside. The most convenient and preferable location for the installation of the chimney is the center of the house. Every pot belly stove has a chimney that is attached to let the smoke out.
The cost of heating with wood is relatively inexpensive. Many wood stoves come with a lot of accessories but you will need to purchase them because they are not given in the package when the stove is purchased. This adds a personal touch to the customers' wood stove as they can use the leg piece of their choice. Wood stoves come with a nice feature that catches the ashes it is called the ash drawer. Check the manufacturers warranty on all stoves and make sure this is sufficient for your use, many manufactures have a limited warranty period. With its fine design and elegance, a contemporary wood stove is sure to add style and class to any room. Wood stoves were used in ancient America for many household and general purposes.
Wednesday, 3 June 2009
3 Ways Wood Stoves Save Money & the Environment
If you're reading this article, you probably own one or more wood stoves. Or maybe you've started exploring today's stove market, and wonder how easy it is to get a maximum return on your investment in radiant heating. Either way, you're in luck. Here are three suggestions that will help you stretch your heating budget to its limits while benefiting the environment and enjoying your stove in the process.
Before we dive in, you need to know that the primary cause of inefficiency in wood burning stoves is the incomplete consumption of fuel. When wood doesn't burn completely, overly smoky fires and decreased heat output are the results. Fortunately, by ramping up wood burning efficiency, you will be cutting down on both airborne pollution and fuel waste. Here are three ways you can use your wood stove with best results.
First, only burn seasoned wood in your stoves.
This is actually a familiar concept, similar to eating lean meat or low-fat yogurt. Recently cut, green wood, is full of moisture, which makes it hard to burn. Up to 50 percent of the weight of green wood can be moisture, which means that your stove has to work overtime to evaporate all that liquid before radiant heat is produced.
Dry, seasoned wood, by contrast, burns steadily and hot, causing top-rate heat output, money savings, and cleaner air. Therefore, when you purchase wood for your stove, buy the previous year's harvest for the current year's burning. If you have the foresight, you can also buy new wood and let it air dry for six months to a year (depending on the type), after which it will be ready for burning.
Second, make "Indian fires" in your stove.
Watched any Western movies lately? Back in the frontier days, Indian fires were the lean, green solar panels of back country heating. By burning small and hot, they were easily kindled, efficient to tend, and good to the environment. Today, not much has changed. Making small, hot fires allows your stove to dispense with unstable gases at an optimum pace, burning them off quickly. That results in better air quality and virtually no safety risks--not to mention better fuel economy. By carefully building a smaller blaze, you'll be a little more involved in tending your stove. But great heating efficiency and better air quality are such good dividends that you probably won't mind.
Third, feed your wood stove the right fuel.
This is basically common sense, but since common sense is so frequently uncommon, I'll go ahead and say it. When your stove is blazing in the corner, it's possible to get over enthusiastic and start treating it like an all purpose Master of the Blaze. Materials like plastic trash and junk mail can get thrown on the fire, in addition to more fuel-like items like charcoal briquettes, hunks of water-proofed wood from your decking project, etc. Admittedly, it's kind of fun to throw all manner of things inside your stove (especially if you love pyrotechnics!), but by doing so, you can damage your stove's inner workings, causes your heating efficiency to plummet, and release dangerous chemicals into the air. So resist the temptation. After all, they're called "wood stoves" for a reason.
Before we dive in, you need to know that the primary cause of inefficiency in wood burning stoves is the incomplete consumption of fuel. When wood doesn't burn completely, overly smoky fires and decreased heat output are the results. Fortunately, by ramping up wood burning efficiency, you will be cutting down on both airborne pollution and fuel waste. Here are three ways you can use your wood stove with best results.
First, only burn seasoned wood in your stoves.
This is actually a familiar concept, similar to eating lean meat or low-fat yogurt. Recently cut, green wood, is full of moisture, which makes it hard to burn. Up to 50 percent of the weight of green wood can be moisture, which means that your stove has to work overtime to evaporate all that liquid before radiant heat is produced.
Dry, seasoned wood, by contrast, burns steadily and hot, causing top-rate heat output, money savings, and cleaner air. Therefore, when you purchase wood for your stove, buy the previous year's harvest for the current year's burning. If you have the foresight, you can also buy new wood and let it air dry for six months to a year (depending on the type), after which it will be ready for burning.
Second, make "Indian fires" in your stove.
Watched any Western movies lately? Back in the frontier days, Indian fires were the lean, green solar panels of back country heating. By burning small and hot, they were easily kindled, efficient to tend, and good to the environment. Today, not much has changed. Making small, hot fires allows your stove to dispense with unstable gases at an optimum pace, burning them off quickly. That results in better air quality and virtually no safety risks--not to mention better fuel economy. By carefully building a smaller blaze, you'll be a little more involved in tending your stove. But great heating efficiency and better air quality are such good dividends that you probably won't mind.
Third, feed your wood stove the right fuel.
This is basically common sense, but since common sense is so frequently uncommon, I'll go ahead and say it. When your stove is blazing in the corner, it's possible to get over enthusiastic and start treating it like an all purpose Master of the Blaze. Materials like plastic trash and junk mail can get thrown on the fire, in addition to more fuel-like items like charcoal briquettes, hunks of water-proofed wood from your decking project, etc. Admittedly, it's kind of fun to throw all manner of things inside your stove (especially if you love pyrotechnics!), but by doing so, you can damage your stove's inner workings, causes your heating efficiency to plummet, and release dangerous chemicals into the air. So resist the temptation. After all, they're called "wood stoves" for a reason.
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