Wood stoves are one of the cheapest forms of renewable energy that you can incorporate into your home. With
"renewable" we mean that wood used as fuel easily by simply grows
longer be replaced - in fact wood experts tell us that if everyone on
wood stoves UK could quickly become self-sufficient in wood fuels once
our forests are properly managed and coppiced . The
provision of fuel wood is harvested from a sustainable source of wood,
then there is no net increase in CO2 emissions (the main greenhouse
gas). At the moment, in most woods to rot wood and is considered as waste.
The Woodland Trust, the UK's leading woodland conservation charity that promotes the planting of trees for firewood and State: With wood as a fuel to generate heat can be an excellent low-carbon alternative to coal, oil and gas, but it depends on a local sustainable supply. The carbon released when wood is burned efficiently recaptured by growing replacement trees. This is much better than using fossil fuels that add carbon dioxide to the atmosphere: wood fuel avoids these additional emissions. A well-managed timber provides a diverse habitat for wild life and even a pile of wood left to season a home for insects, which can then attract creates a variety of different birds.
Wood stoves are also very efficient. A high quality cooker operating system with efficiencies of up to 85% loses very little heat through the chimney and produces very little smoke pollution. Compare this to an inefficient open fire, at about 10%. The more the inefficient then polluting it. Although furnaces in the production of heat as a modern boiler, they effectively have a zero carbon footprint, since any carbon dioxide produced by the burning of wood as a fuel, is simply the same carbon dioxide that was absorbed by the tree is not quite as efficient when it grew, and you can not say that about a gas or oil boiler. A good wood stove is more efficient than a typical gas fire or space heater, which only works with about 60% efficiency mark and between 20% to 30%.
Studies in Australia and the U.S. have shown that an open fire large quantities of warm air moves out of the room to "feed" themselves, thus generating a negative efficiency. The warm air, the open fire is in use, replaced by cooler air from inside the house, or even from the outside, so that the house usually colder despite the appearances of a roaring fire. It is no wonder that in today's new homes, it is almost impossible to have a fireplace, without specifying for its inefficiency and poor environmental record with additional, often expensive, compensate for insulation.
In contrast, recent changes in the Building Regulations now highlight the specific benefits of installing a wood stove, both in meeting the government 20% carbon emissions reduction targets, and also to homeowners appeal. The new rules, more stringent requirements on the energy efficiency of homes reached levels set. Will be omitted from now on secondary heaters, including wood burner, must be an integral part of the completion of the standard assessment procedure (SAP) that calculate to calculate the total energy efficiency and carbon output of a house. The performance of these devices are connected and flues and components such as thermal insulation and glazing now all considered together to arrive at a calculation of carbon emissions. All items that are suitable are to increase the use of energy, must be offset elsewhere by a higher thermal efficiency in the house. For example, an open fire, then higher insulation with increased costs may be required to compensate for this.
An important element within the SAP calculation method is the adoption of electric heating as the 'default' secondary heating source. But as we all know, a current carbon intensive energy source. So this means that secondary carbon heaters with efficiency better than electric fires, as wood stoves is a significant carbon credits 'traded off' can offer design in other areas of the house. Due to the specific choice in this important area, significant savings in carbon dioxide emissions can be achieved, which used a much better result than the SAP standard electric heating in the calculation. Aside from wood stoves are just a great looking visual asset in every home, which, as any wood stove owners will tell you, you save money on your heating bills and a pleasure to live with his .....
