The modern day form of heating is an electric fire, but why not go for the traditional, old fashioned wood burning? It provides you with some amazing benefits to you and your bank account. Here are the top ten reasons as to why you should burn wood as an alternative to oil and fuel burners.

1. Renewable energy source

Wood is a natural resource which is naturally grown, so you do not run out of it. You can honestly say that you can never run out of wood to keep you warm and cosy on those chilly nights.

2. There is no global warming

When you are using oil, petrol or some sort of processed fuel for your fire the carbon dioxide emissions pollute the air which is obviously not beneficial for the environment. Naturally burning a renewable source grown from the earth itself will not pollute the earth.

As wood-burning stoves continue to become more popular across the UK there have been a number of misleading articles in the press regarding their pros and cons. There have even been insinuations that wood-burning stoves create dangerous gases above and beyond those created by traditional heating methods. We thought it worthwhile putting these issues to bed with regards to the environment, wood-burning stoves and the real situation.

Before we start

Before we start there is one thing to bear in mind, the use of a wood-burning stove takes in the quest for fuel, the actual burning and the emissions into the atmosphere. These are done before your very eyes whereas when looking at alternative fuel sources such as electric and gas the majority of the environmental damage is done prior to “receipt” of these fuels in your home. This is the element which we don’t see, which is often ignored and not taken into account when comparing and contrasting wood-burning stoves against other heating methods.

A review by the Stove Industry Alliance has cast a very interesting light on the UK carbon reduction and renewable heat energy markets. While some people see wood-burning stoves as novelty items the reality is that they do positively impact carbon reduction and renewable heat energy targets. At this moment in time it is believed that wood-burning stoves account for some 10% of the UK’s carbon reduction targets which need to be hit by 2020. If the forecasts are correct then this could increase to around 25% by 2020 which would be a phenomenal figure.

Growing popularity of wood-burning stoves

It is no surprise to learn that wood-burning stoves have become extremely popular over the last decade with figures suggesting that more than 1 million homes in the UK currently use a wood-burning stove. Annual sales are in the region of 175,000 units and we only need to look at the stove spare parts market to see how popular that has become. If there are more than 1 million homes currently using a wood-burning stove and around 175,000 units sold per year, this figure could increase dramatically in a relatively short space of time.

At some point you will no doubt have come across the magnetic stove thermometers which change colour depending upon the temperature. These are placed on stove flue pipes, a minimum of 300 mm above the stove, and are visible from a distance. When you bear in mind that you can feel the heat coming from your stove it does beg the question, what use is a stove thermometer?

Over fueling

It seems bizarre to suggest that you can over fuel your wood-burning stove but you would be surprised to learn how many people fall into this trap. The idea that you can literally plough was much wood into your stove as possible in order to increase the heat output is inefficient at best and a waste of money at worst.

A stove thermometer will alert you to overheating because quite simply your stove is manufactured to create a specific amount of heat kilowatts. You can pile as much wood into the stove as you want but this will not increase the heat output but it will increase the gas escaping up your chimney – increasing the temperature of the flue and potentially damaging the liner. There is also a danger that it could reduce the lifespan of your stove because put simply it is not manufactured to go above a certain kilowatt output.