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The Dim Future of Wood Heat

The Dim Future of Wood Heat

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I was talking to a man the other day who was considering purchasing a wood stove for his new home. I asked him if he had a good source of firewood, he smiled. He told me that firewood would not be a problem because his father had given away firewood to his children for years. I asked if he just cut more firewood than he needed and he told me that his father had a gas furnace for heat and had not used his fireplace for years. He just enjoys splitting wood. “That’s a first!”, I said. He laughed and told me that his father sees splitting firewood as good exercise. I thought about that later and I can see that to some, splitting wood sounds like miserable work. However, providing heat for one’s home brings a great feeling of accomplishment. I myself could easily afford to buy firewood. I could afford heating my home with gas or electricity for that matter. I still spend many days each summer cutting and splitting firewood for the coming winter. I do not do this because I have to. I do this because I like the feeling of self-reliance. I like knowing that no matter what, whether it be a power outage or energy crisis, my family will have a warm home each night.

Aldo Leopold once wrote, “There are two spiritual dangers in not owning a farm. One is the danger of supposing that breakfast comes from the grocery store, the other is that heat comes from a furnace.” This is very true.  Last year when the weather was predicted to be extremely cold and there was a possibility of power outages, we had dozens of calls the day before from people wanting a wood stove installed that day! Unfortunately for them, we were booked out several weeks already and had no plans to work in a freezing rain and snow storm.

Aside from the self-reliance of a wood stove, there really is nothing that beats wood heat. My wife and I are so used to our toasty living room that we are always freezing when we visit family around the holidays. Wood heat is the best kind of warmth. Those who have a stove know exactly what I am talking about. Then, there is also the appeal of beautiful dancing flames of a wood burning fire. If I am watching television in the evening, no matter how interesting the show, my eyes are always being drawn to the fire in my wood stove. There is something almost hypnotizing about the slow-moving flame in a low-burning stove.

I could not imagine living in a world without my wood burning stove. That is why the new proposed EPA regulations on wood stoves is such a terrifying idea to people like me. Not only because I am in the wood stove business, but also because I want my children to grow up and also have the opportunity to be self-reliant. It seems like the EPA would rather our country be hooked on fossil fuels than clean burning wood heat. The new regulations being proposed do not make any sense. Firewood is one of the truly carbon-neutral sources of energy available in this country. The EPA is concerned with smoke particles and health effects, but the new regulations will have little effect if any on smoke pollution. Many experts also say that the new regulations may increase smoke pollution. One thing that we know for sure is that the new proposed regulations will shut down many United States manufacturing jobs, just as they did last time wood stoves were regulated.

These new proposed regulations will also make wood burning stoves unaffordable for most working class families. Consider the last time the EPA created new regulations for wood stoves. This forced nearly all United States wood stove manufacturers to go out of business. Tens of thousands of jobs were lost. The cost of a wood stove went from a few hundred dollars to a couple thousand dollars in just a few years.

When the new law goes into effect in 2015, you will likely see the same effect if not worse. In the next few years, wood stoves may not be affordable for the average American family. If you can afford a wood stove, you will also most likely be purchasing one from an overseas manufacturer. For now, I will keep splitting wood and waiting for cold weather. We as Americans now have one more thing we should cling to: our guns, our religion, and our wood stoves.

Thank you for reading,

Shawn Lee

800-845-0608

www.hearthstoveandpatio.com

www.southernchimneysweep.com

  How to start a fire in a wood stove!

Starting a good fire that will burn for hours can be tricky, so we asked Anna and John to show us how to properly start a fire in a wood stove. 

Snapshot 1 (7-10-2014 2-36 PM)

 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uV4qDkTyIYY&feature=youtu.be

*Children should not start or play with fire without adult supervision!*

We hope you enjoyed our “how too video,” please check out our www.southernchimneysweep.com website for information on fireplace and wood stove cleanings and inspections, as well as installations.

Thanks!

Shawn Lee

800-845-0608

www.hearthstoveandpatio.com

www.southernchimneysweep.com

It’s Grilling Season!

Hope everyone had a great Memorial Day Holiday!

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With 4th of July coming up soon, don’t forget that we have some awesome gas grills available! We carry top of the line brands like Broilmaster, Swiss Grill and Firemagic.  

Check out this short video and see for yourself why these grills will outperform and outlast your current grill: Swiss Grill Arosa Series

New for this season, we are starting to carry a large ceramic cooker and a pellet grill options!                                            

Also remember that we have an expert full time mason on our staff so we can handle your built in grill install or outdoor kitchen project.                                                                                                                              

Stop by our showroom or visit our website to see what we have to offer this summer!     We are also offering FREE DELIVERY AND SET UP for the month of June! Offer expires 6/30/14.

Thanks,

Shawn Lee

HearthStoveandPatio.Com

800-845-0608  

How To: Increase Your Fireplace’s Efficiency

 

How To: Increase Your Fireplace’s Efficiency

Do you use a fireplace for heat? If so, how much do you think you save on your winter heating bills?

Most people are surprised to learn that all the work they put into splitting and stacking wood and tending fire probably does not save them anything on their heating bills. Actually, in many cases, using an open fireplace will actually raise your heating bill! That does not seem possible, does it?

Here is the reason why:

Most energy experts say that a traditional open fireplace, whether masonry or manufactured, is about 20-30% efficient when in use. This means that although radiant heat is felt in the room with a fireplace, about 70-80% of the fire’s heat is lost up the chimney.

That may not seem so bad, but here is the part that really counts….

Most fireplaces are going to have a 2-3 hour burn time per load. Shortly after you go to bed, your fire dies out. You are left with a heated flue and an open damper. Your fireplace chimney will literally suck any heat in the house up the flue. When your furnace or heat pump turns on, much of that heat is lost up the flue as well.

Another reason fireplaces are so inefficient is because they require a large amount of combustion air to burn.

The fireplace draws its air from somewhere in the house. That is why you may experience some heat in front of your fireplace, but the rest of the house is cold. You many even notice a draft coming through the house. That is because the fireplace is drawing cold air from outside all the way from one side of the house to the other for combustion air. For these reasons, most experts say that a fireplace’s true efficiency is really more like 0% at best and -20% at worst.

So how did people heat homes with fireplaces 100 years ago?

They either had a small house with a central fireplace or a house with many fireplaces throughout. Someone would also have to get up all night long, every 2-3 hours, to keep the fire tended. This way, there was constant radiant heat felt near the fireplace. Imagine the amount of work that went into gathering firewood!

Luckily, technology has improved today’s fireplaces and some EPA certified models are 75% or more efficient. These high-efficiency fireplaces will burn 10+ hours per load of wood and require little combustion air.

I personally like a fireplace by Flame called the Monaco. We install many of this model and homeowners are thoroughly satisfied. We have a Monaco fireplace that we use to heat our showroom.

Check out this video of a recent Flame Monaco that we installed:

Another option to increase your fireplace efficiency is to simply install a high efficiency insert directly into the opening. When installed correctly, this can increase your fireplace’s efficiency by as much as 90%! Since all of today’s wood burning inserts have large glass doors, you can still see the fire in your fireplace.

The last option is to install a rear-venting wood stove in front of your fireplace, vented up the flue with the correct size chimney liner. This is the set up I chose in my home. I prefer this option simply because the wood stove gives us a cooking surface in case of a power outage.

Whether you are looking to install a high efficiency fireplace, an insert, or a wood stove, there hasn’t been a better time to replace your inefficient fireplace. With rising fuel prices and uncertainty, more and more people are becoming energy independent. There is also currently a $300 tax credit to install a 75% + efficient wood burning appliance. That tax credit will expire this year.

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Cold weather is almost here! Call us today to discuss your options. We look forward to hearing from you soon!

Thanks,
Shawn

800-845-0608