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Heating your home with wood
Learn about successful and economical wood heating for your home
One-day course
Heating your home with wood
During the chill of a British winter, there are few things more satisfying than a warm fire. Heating your home with wood can be less expensive than other sources of home heating energy, and firewood is a renewable resource. Prices of heating fuels vary considerably, but non-renewable fossil fuels and electricity are commonly 2 to more than 10 times more expensive than firewood for the same amount of heat. Success heating with wood depends on two things: selecting the right wood and the right wood burning stove.
But there are a few other things to know before you start. What’s a cord of wood? Where do I get wood? And what kind of wood should I choose? While heating with wood can be pleasant and cost effective, it has a reputation for being “dirty” and producing a lot of air pollution. Old equipment and careless users can combine to produce nasty conditions, and the health concerns associated with excessive exposure to wood smoke are real. However, a conscientious firewood user can safely enjoy the benefits of heating with wood. Small hot fires built from well-seasoned split, clean, and dry firewood produce minimal smoke if any. Additionally, modern equipment is significantly cleaner. Modern air-tight high-efficiency wood stoves produce roughly half the smoke of stoves built as few as 10 years ago. Combine a modern stove with a conscientious firewood user, and you can produce heat that is significantly cleaner than many common heating options including coal and electricity.
