Understanding Today's Wood Stoves
Today's
wood stoves and wood stoves of the past vary greatly in their design
and efficiency. Wood stoves built prior to 1986, typically had between
30 and 50% heating efficiency and belched out between 40 and 60 grams,
per hour, of particulate. Today's clean burning wood stoves heat at
75-85% efficiency and emit 7 grams of particulate per hour or less.
The difference in the amount of heat that you get in your home from the
wood you burn is dramatic. Today's stoves require a much smaller space
in your home while maximizing the heat output. The amount of wood that a
person will burn today compared to stoves of the past will be half,
resulting in the same amount of heat. Possibly the most important
characteristic of today's clean burning wood stoves is that they are
carbon neutral. This means that these stoves, burning wood, emit the
same amount of carbon as the wood would produce rotting in the forest.
To summarize, burning a wood stove today is a clean, efficient and
environmentally conscious choice.