The wood burning in the fireplace is a romantic image, which immediately evokes a feeling of welcome, warmth, and relaxation. Unfortunately, not everyone is lucky enough to have a fireplace at home, and building one later isn't a practical solution, but you can always opt for an excellent alternative: a wood-burning stove.
Combining the aesthetic beauty of crackling wood with excellent energy performance, the wood-burning stove is probably one of the home heating devices that comes closest to the charm of a fireplace—even more so than the pellet stove - with a whole series of significant advantages.
First of all, the fact that it is powered by the energy source par excellence: wood.
But let's proceed in order, and let's try to understand how it works, what the advantages of this solution are, and how to choose a wood-burning stove based on the square footage of your home.
How a wood-burning stove works
Wood-burning stoves have been around for a long time, dating back to the 1500s. and have been used ever since to heat homes around the world.
Typically, this solution is chosen in areas with colder and harsher winters, as an alternative or supplement to central heating systems,although their increased efficiency over the years has made them attractive to homeownerswho want an alternative to gas.
Wood stoves are made of cast iron, stone, or steel, and, naturally, burn wood, like a fireplace.
The components of a wood stove are:
- Burner;
- Chimney;
- Damper/Damper;
- Baffle;
When you light a fire in a wood stove, The heat warms the stove and the air in the room, while the smoke is expelled through a flue.
The damper, or damper, allows you to control the airflow to the stove, which affects the size of the fire and the amount of heat it emits.
A baffle(some models have more than one) one) increases the burning time of the fire gases. This is an important feature, since partially burned gases are highly polluting.
To summarize, we can say that:
- a wood-burning stove allows you to burn wood inside a closed compartment surrounded by fireproof materials;
- The size of the firebox determines the amount of wood that can be added to the fire and influences the amount of heat that can be generated.
- The Airflow to the fire can be controlled by using the vents on the stove to burn the wood more slowly and efficiently.
- The exhaust gases produced by the fire are retained inside the stove longer and at a higher temperature to produce more heat through the. data-mce-fragment="1"> secondary combustion(we'll see what this consists of in a moment);
- heat is radiated into the environment thanks to metal bodies placed on the stove.
We have explained, in a simplified way, how a wood-burning stove works. Let's see now how and why to choose one to install in your home.
Wood stove vs. traditional fireplace
As mentioned in the introduction, no device will ever surpass the beauty of the traditional fireplace, but from the point of view of energy efficiency, the wood stove It is, however, preferable.
The main problem with open fires in traditional fireplaces is that much of the heat produced is lost up the chimney, because the amount of air reaching the fire cannot be managed, and therefore the fire cannot be controlled effectively.
Open fireplaces are therefore much less efficient at providing heat to a room, and if we really want to stay warm, we need to sit close to the fireplace.
Wood-burning stoves help solve this problem, allowing you to control both the amount of wood and the air supply to the fire.
Furthermore, while a traditional fireplace is typically made of stone and brick, heat tends to disperse more easily, wood-burning stoves are built with materials that can retain it and distribute it more efficiently.
Then, to keep the flame alive in a fireplace, it is necessary Always add new wood, and to rekindle the flame, you often add air, producing a lot of smoke that spreads throughout the room. The wood-burning stove, on the other hand, is closed and sealed, and the air is introduced through a special device, without opening the glass.
Secondary combustion
In addition to helping the wood burn more efficiently, A wood stove typically also burns the exhaust gases from the fire to produce even more heat through a process known as secondary combustion.
Higher temperatures and pressures are needed to burn the exhaust gases from a fire, so a wood stove achieves this by providing a closed environment where air can enter the stove only through the vents and exit the stove through the flue.
Wood stoves are designed to prevent This prevents exhaust gases from exiting the firebox too quickly, allowing more time for secondary combustion.
How do you choose a wood-burning stove that's right for your needs?Size and power of the wood-burning stove
The location of your wood-burning stove is equally crucial. It's best to place the stove in a well-insulated room, preferably on the main floor of the home (if it has multiple floors).
Wood-burning stoveswork best when placed in the center of a room, but this will obviously affect the furniture arrangement; For this reason, it is important to ensure there is enough space for various needs.
The power of a wood-burning stove is usually expressed in kW. On average, 1 kW heats approximately 10-20 square meters, depending on the insulation of the home, although newer models are more efficient.
So, if you're looking for a wood-burning stove that suits your needs, you can start by doing a simple calculation starting from the square meters of the home or room. Select a model with sufficient kW.
To give you an idea, a 12 kW wood-burning stove can heat an apartment of 120-140 square meters.
Check out the models for sale on our e-commerce site by visiting section dedicated to wood-burning stoves.