Burning Money
A fire in an open hearth is only 10 percent efficient at best, which means that 90 percent of the heat energy you’ve paid for goes up in smoke. Heated room air is drafted up the chimney as well, so your main heating system actually works harder to keep the house warm. Glass fireplace doors raise the efficiency somewhat but only to about 20 percent.

With heating oil at $4.00 a gallon many homeowners are considering to, at least partially, heat their homes with good ole Maine firewood at a fraction of the heating costs. The pay back time for investing in an EPA clean burning wood burning fireplace insert is usually less than two years. Here is how to get started. 

When it comes to wood stoves, new is definitely better. An approved stove that meets or preferably exceeds EPA standards is a must.

A wood-burning appliance for space and/or water heating and/or cooking.

A wood stovesits on the floor of a room, usually away from the wall - though some of the newer models may now be placed as close as 8 inches (20 cm) from the wall. All new wood stoves are clean burning and have relatively high heating efficiencies that range from 65 to 78 percent. They may be catalytic or non-catalytic.

By KATE GALBRAITHMAY 1, 2012

AUSTIN, TEXAS — A century ago, rural homes in the United States and Europe commonly relied on wood for heating. Now wood is making a comeback, thanks largely to pellet technology.