In recent years, the environment has been at the forefront of people’s minds. Many of us want to do our part in tackling climate change.
Burning wood can release large amounts of particulates into the atmosphere, so many people think wood burning stoves are bad for the environment. However, wood burning stoves may not be as bad as we think, and they could even be a better option than more modern ways of heating our homes.
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Are Wood Burning Stoves Bad for the Environment?
The answer to whether wood burning stoves are bad for the environment or not depends on whether they’re being used properly.
Assuming that you’re using your stove correctly, wood stoves can actually be a solution to help reduce emissions when compared to using traditional open fireplaces. However, burning firewood to help warm a home can still release smoke and other harmful particulates, so they will never be “good” for the environment.
How to Make a Wood Burning Stove more Environmentally Friendly?
There are some ways you can make your wood burning stove better for the environment, including:
1. Planting a new tree
If you plant a new tree to replace the one that is cut down for the wood burning stove wood, it makes the process both carbon neutral and sustainable. (Only really applicable in rural environments)
2. Use wood that’s already fallen
Instead of cutting down wood from a tree, you can use wood that has already fallen from a tree, and then you don’t have to worry about planting a new tree.
3. Keep your chimney clean
When soot and creosote build up in your chimney, it can cause a blockage. Getting your chimney swept regularly (once a year) will allow your home to heat more quickly and use less fuel, which helps your wood-burning stove to be more eco-friendly.
4. Insulate your home
Having a well-insulated home will stop heat from escaping and will keep your home warmer for longer. This means you won’t have to use your wood burning stove as often or for longer periods.
5. Use free wood
As long as the wood hasn’t been painted or treated, you can use free wood that would otherwise be disposed of.
6. Season wood
Leave the wood you’ve collected to air and dry for more than a year. This will reduce the moisture content and stop heat from being wasted on evaporation. The energy saved will go into heating your home instead, so you need less wood to keep your home warm.
7. Close the air vent
When you’re using your wood stove, if it has two air vents, close the bottom one. This will reduce the amount of oxygen getting in the fire and prevent the wood from burning too quickly.
8. Have big fires
Many people think that it’s more eco-friendly to have small fires, but that isn’t the case. When you have a small fire, the top of the firebox may not be that hot. When the wood is burned it releases flammable gasses. Some of these gasses will escape up the chimney without being burned if you only have tiny flames at the bottom of your stove, which is a waste of energy and not very eco-friendly.
Traditional Open Fireplaces vs Wood Burning Stoves
Traditional open fireplaces have many flaws in their design which mean that firewood can’t be burnt efficiently, and emissions can be high. Wood burning stoves are designed to overcome these flaws. They are more efficient and eco-friendly.
Efficiency:
Open fireplaces have an efficiency rating of only 10% because more heat escapes out of the chimney, which leaves your home feeling cooler (which defeats the object of a heating source). However, wood burning stoves provide three times more heat with only a third of the firewood, which means that they are more efficient at heating your home without using as much wood.
Eco-Friendly:
Using an old-fashioned fireplace to heat your home can cause a steady stream of toxins, emissions, and cancer-causing substances to be released into the air, such as formaldehyde, benzene, benzo-a-pyrene, and microscopic soot particles. A fireplace can emit up to 8 times as much global warming CO2 per unit of heat as an efficient wood stove.
As long as you don’t buy an older, less eco-friendly wood burning stove, they are much more eco-friendly than an open fire. When buying a wood burning stove, ensure you check that it is EPA certificated. This means that they produce very few harmful emissions due to the closed combustion burn system.
EPA certification means that the United States Environmental Protection Agency has examined the work that the company does and has certified that they are meeting the EPA’s standards for protecting the environment.
Wood burning stoves can be a good heating alternative for the environment if you take precautions and the stove is EPA certificated.
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We hope this provides more detail on the environmental impacts of wood burning stoves, but also the possible efficiencies that can be implemented to improve the situation.
For everything else home heating, stick with CosyWarmer.com