20.6.14

GREEN BENEFITS OF A WOODBURNING STOVE


Choosing a woodburner for your home will offer you many benefits, allowing you to improve the look and style of your home, whilst simultaneously reducing energy bills and increasing how comfortable, valuable and attractive your property is. However, the benefits of owning a woodburning stove are not limited to your own finances and comfort, and whilst sourcing such an item will be great for you, it will also be great for the environment.
Even those who do not think they have the money to purchase such a luxurious and appealing item may be surprised out how accessible they are, and there are plenty of grants available for those who want to reap the financial and environmental benefits of a woodburner.
Wood is Green
Burning wood can allow you to utilise waste wood that might otherwise simply clog up landfill sites and in turn go to waste (although be careful not to burn painted wood - always ensure that the wood you do reclaim is completely safe to use). As such, by using a stove in the colder months not only will you be helping to conserve finite energy reserves, but you may also be ensuring that natural resources do not get wasted either. Whilst burning logs in an ordinary fireplace may seem appealing, it is not an efficient way to use such an energy source, seeing as the air in the room will be used to fuel the flames - warm air that may subsequently be replaced by cold air from outside. A woodburning stove will utilise oxygen from outside the room ensuring that you get the maximum heat from the minimal amount of fuel.
The fact that woodburners may help you to avoid using up fossil fuels and instead help you to utilise resources that might otherwise go to waste are not the only reasons that woodburners are so environmentally-friendly. Not only will they heat an area more effectively than a radiator (whose heat may predominantly be lost through windows), but many stoves can also double up to serve other purposes. From boiling kettles to cooking food right through to heating an entire household’s water supply, different styles and models will allow homeowners to achieve very different, but equally green, benefits. Therefore, instead of needing energy to cook, more energy to heat the home and even more energy to boil the kettle, one piece of wood could allow you to do the lot.
Of course, besides the benefits offered by the stove itself, wood is by its very nature an eco-friendly fuel, being completely renewable and being a carbon neutral option. Yes, burning it will release carbon dioxide, but during the time that a tree was growing it would have been taking carbon out of the air and replacing it with clean oxygen. The sourcing of wood can be done in a sustainable way and in a way that will cause very little damage to the environment, especially when compared with other alternatives. Of course, where you choose to source your wood supplies from can make a big difference to this, so always try to utilise wood that has been reclaimed or has been sourced in a sustainable way (preferably from local supplies to cut down carbon footprints even further).
Choosing the Right Stove
For a woodburner to be green, it will need to be efficient, to ensure that logs are burnt cleanly and effectively. As such, it is wise to do a little research before you rush in and buy, both in terms of the models you choose and the companies you buy from. By choosing ethical companies such as Woodburner Warehouse who stock HETAS accredited solutions, you will be able to ensure that not only are you getting value for money but also that you are going to end up with a solution that will help you lower both your energy bills and the damage your family’s carbon footprint will do the environment.
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