Modern wood-burning stoves add value to your lifestyle
Heating homes with wood-burning stoves is becoming more and more popular. According to LiveScience, the US Department of Energy states the use of wood as the primary residential heating source has grown by 39% since 2004. Half of the homes in the rural Northeast use wood for space heating, cooking, and/or water heating. More people everyday are installing modern wood-burning stoves as either a primary or secondary heating source. People tend to think of this type of stove as dirty and smoky because of the wood-burning stoves of the past. However, technology has vastly improved the efficiency and cleanliness of this type of stove, which is recommended by the US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) as an environmentally-friendly heating appliance. At Blue Ridge Chimney Services, we sell and install EPA-approved wood-burning stoves, and we would like to share some of the benefits of these economical and efficient ways to heat your home.
Modern Wood-Burning Stoves Will Save You Money
An inexpensive source of fuel, wood can even be free if you cut your own firewood. Newer wood-burning stoves use a third of the amount of fuel than the wood stoves of the past, and they produce the same amount of heat. Modern stoves also are 50% more efficient than old wood-burning models. You will save a remarkable amount of money on your winter heating bills when you use a EPA-approved wood-burning stove due to the inexpensive cost of wood fuel and the efficient heat provided.
Modern Wood-Burning Stoves Reduce Air Pollution
In 1988, the EPA began setting performance emissions standards for wood-burning stoves to reduce pollution. The EPA has continued to raise these standards, and they have proposed raising their certification levels from 7.5 grams of fine particulate matter released per hour to 4.5 grams by 2015. Modern wood-burning stoves reduce air pollution by 70% and improve the air quality of your community.
Modern Wood-Burning Stoves Increase Safety
Due to their efficiency in burning wood, this type of stove burns cleaner and decreases the bulidup of creosote in your chimney. Creosote, a highly flammable and hazardous compound, is formed naturally during the condensation process when wood is burned. Varying in appearance, creosote can be brown or black in color and can appear hard and shiny, crusty and flaky, or sticky and gummy. No matter what it looks like, large deposits of creosote can lead to dangerous and deadly chimney fires. Creosote is more rapidly and abundantly formed when the smoke exiting your chimney is cooler due to an inefficient fire. The high efficiency of modern wood stoves helps to prevent large amounts of creosote quickly accumulating on your chimney walls.
Modern Wood-Burning Stoves Can Protect Your Family
Not only do newer wood-burning stoves reduce pollution of the outside air by 70%, but they reduce the same percentage of dirty particles released into the air inside your home. You also have less of a risk of experiencing carbon monoxide leaks into your house when you use a modern wood-burning stove due to its highly efficient performance.
If you would like to learn more about the benefits of a modern wood-burning stove, contact Blue Ridge Chimney Services. Our knowledgeable staff can tell you even more advantages of this economical and efficient heating appliance.