Wood Stoves and Fireplace Inserts Save Money, clean the air
Wood burning stoverefers to an appliance which burns wood fuel for heating homes and businesses. Generally such appliances consist of an enclosed fire chamber, made of plate steel or cast iron. Controlled combustion units include an air control system, which is adjustable. The appliance is connected to a chimney, which is used for releasing the combustion gases to the outside. It is important that the temperature of the flue or chimney gases be higher than the temperature outside which helps in drawing out the combustion gases from the wood burning chamber.
Both softwood and hardwood are used as fuel in woodstoves, since both provide similar outputs in terms of BTU's, relative to weight. Hardwoods are more dense and burn at a rate which is slower than that of softwood. Hardwoods also weigh more per volume than softwoods, therefore enabling the user to put more usable BTU's in the firebox.
Another critical factor in the operation of a wood stove is the content of moisture in the wood. Freshly cut wood will have a very high moisture content and should be dried a minimum of 6 month before using. Burning high moisture content wood (greater than 20% moisture) will greatly decrease stove efficiency and increase the potential for chimney fires. .
High efficiency of the closed combustion appliances is attained through control of the air supply to the chamber. When starting fires, the control should be fully open and throttled down only after a period of at least 30 minutes. This process enables the entire stove and chimney to reach good operating temperatures. When the stove is throttled back, it will then go into the most efficient burning process whereby it will burn the gases emitted from the wood.
There are two types of metals used for wood stove construction. Plate steel stoves are the most common and generally the lesser expensive. Cast Iron stoves are more decorative and can have a porcelain finish applied. Cast Iron stoves are generally more expensive that plate steel stoves.
If you are searching for a wood burning stove,then the best place to start your search is the internet. The advantage of buying of the internet is that you can save a considerable amount of money on your purchase.