Stove - Wood Burning Stove

Wood Burning Stove

A wood burning stove consists of a sealed combustion chamber (in which the wood is burned) connected via a stovepipe to a flue that vents smoke and other combustion products to the outside. It is the fact of being sealed that is one of the main distinguishing features of wood burning stoves. They are popularly believed to have their origins in the Franklin Stove though this itself was derived from earlier designs, and ironically initially employed an open, rather than sealed, design.

The ability to maintain control over the airflow to the fire (by virtue of the combustion chamber being air-tight) allows for much greater combustion efficiency (in other words, more heat for less wood and with fewer emissions). Modern designs incorporate a secondary burn process that re-ignites unburnt gases and particles that would otherwise be vented to the outside. This further improves efficiency and heat output while also reducing emissions. Many modern wood burning stoves produce less than 1 gram of particulate emission per hour which in many countries renders them exempt from smoke control restrictions.

Wood burning stoves have increased enormously in popularity thanks to the fact that running costs can often be at least half those of gas or oil fired heating systems, plus their favored status with regards to government sponsored incentives to reduce carbon emissions. Although burning wood does emit CO2, the process of "growing fuel" in the form of trees results in a nett absorption of atmospheric CO2 that nearly balances the emissions.