How to Buy a Wood Stove

Beyond their romantic glow and homey crackle, modern wood stoves produce low-cost heat, and burn cleanly and efficiently, producing minimal ash and smoke. You pick the technology and choose the ideal-size stove to match your heating needs. Buy the most efficient stove you can afford. It'll pay for itself in the long run.

Difficulty: Moderate

Instructions

1. Evaluate your home's floor plan to determine where you should install a wood stove. Some stoves can heat an entire house; others work best as zone heaters for the most-used areas. A stove placed in one room will heat adjacent rooms if there's good airflow at the ceiling and floor.

2. Show a dealer a sketch of your home, the area that needs heat, and a description of the insulation surrounding that area. The dealer will help you calculate the proper stove size, expressed in British thermal units (Btus). You'll waste money if you buy too big a stove, and it will either create a smoky fire or use more fuel than necessary.

3. Talk to one or more professional chimney sweeps (csia.org) about the brands you're interested in, and get their recommendations.

4. Understand the technology in catalytic stoves ($1,000 to $2,000). A catalytic combustor cuts normal burn temperatures in half for a slow, controlled fire with the fewest emissions. Look for a castiron or plate-steel stove body 1/4 inch (6 mm) thick and a tightclosing bypass plate 5/16 inch (8 mm) thick. Also look for a design that protects the combustor from direct flame.

5. Consider noncatalytic (recirculating) stoves ($500 to $2,200) for their two-chamber combustion, which injects jets of preheated air into the fire to boost heat and reduce emissions. Look for a cast-iron or plate-steel body 1/4 inch (6 mm) thick. To resist warping, the fire chamber's baffle should be 5/16-inch (8 mm) plate steel with V-shaped supports. These models have no combustor to maintain, but their smaller fireboxes mean you'll have to use shorter logs and load them more frequently.

6. Buy a super-efficient pellet stoves ($1,700 to $3,000) for the cleanest-burning option. They burn easy-to-handle pellets formed from wood waste. A thermostat-controlled auger delivers fuel from a hopper to the firebox. Fans pull air in and exhaust gases out through a house-warming heat exchanger. Pellet stoves need battery backup during power outages.

7. Get toasty warm beside stylish stoves in steel or soapstone. Design options to consider include legs or a pedestal base, colorful porcelain finishes and tile accents. Check out well-known brands such as Vermont Castings (vermontcastings.com) and Hearthstone (hearthstonestoves.com).

Tips & Warnings

• Look for two labels. One certifies that the stove meets Environmental Protection Agency emissions standards; the other lists efficiency range and heat output in Btus.
• Look for standard features including self-cleaning glass, hidden hinges and reversible flues, as well as optional accessories such as fans, gold-plated accents and heat shields for walls.
• Your home's air will become very dry when heated with a wood stove. Combat this with a humidifier or by placing a kettle of water on the stove.
• Ordinances regulating wood stove use vary by city and sometimes within cities. Check the back of the stove for the EPA certification label to see if you comply with local ordinances.
• Dirty chimneys can cause catastrophic chimney fires. Hire a chimney sweep for regular cleanings.