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If you have read about woodstoves heat and decided it might be right for your home and your family you will probably want to learn more about woodstoves.  The advantages of wood heat are many and saving money is just one of them, but it's a good one.  So let's take a look at some of the many options you have available and what they might be going to cost you.

Before making any major buying decisions like a woodstove you will want to visit several dealers, look at many different models, and read lots of brochures.  While you are visiting with sales people they will surely want to know where you plan to use the unit and what type of chimney you will be using.  Hopefully you will tell the sales person your new woodstove is going to be located in your living room or family room, the room most used by you and your family.  I'm sure you will also tell the person you plan to install a chimney that goes straight up and through the roof, no bends and elbows and out the wall kind of thing.  They will think you are pretty smart and more than willing to help you find the perfect stove for your money.

While you are looking at the products on display you will have the option of going with a more expensive cast iron version or a less expensive steel one.  As far as efficiency goes there is not much difference.  Steel stoves have come a long way in the looks department so you might even find one that appeals to you more than a cast iron.  It's mostly about looks and price, so there is no wrong choice.

A more technical question you will have to answer is to go cat or noncat.  This means do you want a stove with catalytic combustion or noncatalytic combustion.  Both versions have been used for years and the debate still goes on as to which one is better.  Catalytic stoves have a lever operated catalyst bypass damper that gets opened when starting the fire.  The catalytic element needs to be changed every 5 - 7 years under normal operating conditions.

Noncatalytic stoves do not use a catalyst.  Instead they create a perfect environment for combustion in the firebox using several design methods.  The market has been leaning slightly towards the noncats over the years but many of the high end stoves still use catalytic combustion.  The option will be yours to learn about and explore.

Woodstoves come in several different sizes so it is necessary to asses your needs.  In the stat sheets for each stove they will till you how many square feet the stove will heat.  Keep in mind these are very flexible figures to be used for comparison only.  Your house, your climate and the fuel you burn will dictate the amount of heat you get from your new stove.  However, for a general guideline you can count on a small stove adequately heating a single room or a small cabin.  A medium sized woodstove is fine for heating a small to medium sized house and a large stove is required for heating a larger home.

Be careful when comparing performance ratings for different stoves as these can, at time, be very misleading.  Ratings for burn time, heat output, heating capacity and efficiency are not standardized or regulated so keep this in mind when comparing figures.  The heat output for any particular stove should be given in BTUs.  Most stoves will fall into the range of 25,000 to 80,000 BTUs.  An average sized home needs between 10,000 to 20,000 BTUs per hour of continuous heat so it appears that most of the popular stoves would do the job very nicely.

The most important number in my mind is the smoke emission limit.  The maximum allowed is 7.5 grams of smoke per hour (g/h).  The lower this rating is, the cleaner the stove burns, and the less emissions you are putting out into the atmosphere.  Buying a stove in the 1 to 4 g/h range will be a clean burning stove.  Wood is primarily stored energy, burning it returns the energy back into the air.  Do it wisely and enjoy this plentiful, renewable energy source.  Use your woodstove wisely and enjoy.

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