This blog will explore how to choose a wood stove, the benefits of heating with wood and tips and reminders for adding a wood stove or insert to your home.
What is a Wood Stove?
A wood stove is a free-standing heating appliance using firewood as the fuel source to create warmth, ambiance and cost savings. Many designs and sizes of stoves exist, offering a wide range of options for homeowners to choose from depending on factors such as floor plans, heating spaces and design preferences. A wood insert is another popular wood-burning heater installed into an existing traditional fireplace to create a more cost-efficient burn than drafty traditional wood fireplaces.
Benefits of Heating with Wood
No matter what your initial reason is for looking into an alternative heating fuel source, wood stoves provide more than heat to your home. Here's a list of why homeowners love wood heat:
- Cost efficiency
- Sustainability
- Self-sufficiency
- Electricity-free
- Ambiance
- Tax Credit Eligibility (on pre-approved stoves with over 75% efficiency)
How to Choose a Wood Stove for Your Home
Choosing the best wood stove for your home depends on your lifestyle, needs and priorities. Since there are many wood stoves on the market, there's bound to be one (or more) perfect for your home. When choosing a wood stove, keep these considerations in mind:
Cost
The cost of a wood stove is widely dependent on the brand and features, with most stoves on the market costing $2,000 to $4,000, plus additional installation and labor. Installation costs vary depending on the location within the home and the complexity of the installation; however, Quadra-Fire's network of certified local dealers are happy to provide an estimate of the total cost.
Technology
Thanks to the technologies and efficiencies on the market today, you'll enjoy warm, radiant heat all season long while saving money on fuel. Coveted wood stove brands, such as Quadra-Fire, offer technologies built to extract the most heat out of your wood. Cost and fuel savings with more heat? Yes, please!
Quadra-Fire's key technologies include the following:
- The Quadra-Fire® patented Four-Point Burn System burns and re-burns wood, gases and fumes four times. This technology keeps your fire going longer (nice for overnight burns) and produces steady, rolling flames with less wood.
- Automatic Combustion Control (ACC) makes start-up easy and gives you control to "set it and forget it." Load your wood, light your fire and walk away.
Size and Heat Output
The bigger the stove, the stronger the heat. The square feet of space you are looking to heat, your home's insulation efficiency and layout affect the size of the stove you will need. Remember, the climate also determines the heat output required to sustain a comfortable temperature in your home. A home in upstate New York will likely need a higher BTU stove than one in North Carolina.
Wood stove heat output is measured by British thermal units (BTUs), which is the amount of heat required to raise the temperature of one pound of water by one degree Fahrenheit. As a general rule of thumb, you'll want 20 BTUs of heat output for every square foot of space. For example, if you're going to heat 2,000 square feet of your home, you should invest in a stove with a heat output of around 40,000 BTUs.
Furthermore, most wood stoves on the market offer an optional fan kit accessory that quietly spreads heat out into the room, serving as an inexpensive, yet effective method to get the most out of your wood heat.
Maintenance
All wood stoves require maintenance and regular cleaning to ensure the unit's longevity, efficiency and safety. Also, with more efficient burns come cleaner burns. Stoves with technologies that can burn wood more efficiently, such as Quadra-Fire's Automatic Combustion Control technology, produce less clean-up than stoves with average efficiency.
Three Tips for Adding a Wood Stove to Your Home
Purchasing a wood stove for your home is an exciting addition. We have a few recommendations to keep your home cozy for many winters to come.
Zone Heating
If you are looking to add supplemental heat or wish only to heat specific areas of your home, zone heating saves on fuel and heating costs by only warming the locations of your home you frequently use. By installing a wood stove in the area you use the most, you can focus your fuel on your favorite living spaces and lower the thermostat in areas such as attics, spare rooms or other under-utilized areas.
Preparing for Winter
A warm ambiance is all in the planning. First, determine how much wood you will need this season. With our guide, you can determine how much wood you need by considering your heating space, climate and usage.
Second, preparing your home for the winter months by performing a home energy audit is equally essential for the efficiency of your home. Home energy audits are usually offered by local energy companies to evaluate the efficiency of your home. They will measure heat loss through windows and doors and suggest extra insulation in certain areas of your home that are prone to heat loss. With this information, you’ll be able to prepare your home to keep the heat you pay for inside where you need it.
Maintenance and Care
Want to enjoy the glow of your fire for many years to come? Proper maintenance and care increase the longevity of your wood stove. From routine cleaning of the glass and burn pot to annual inspections and a deeper cleaning, our guide to maintaining your wood stove is the best source for increasing the lifespan of your wood stove or insert.
Next Steps
The winter months are best enjoyed next to the rolling fire of a wood stove or insert. Whether you want to add a wood stove to supplement your home's heating or fully heat your living space with a wood stove or insert, Quadra-Fire's wood products are here to make your wood heat dreams a reality.
Ready to embark on your wood stove journey? Explore our wood stoves and inserts online or visit one of our certified Quadra-Fire dealers.
