Wood Stove Buyers' Guide
If you’ve been eyeing an upgrade to your current heating stove or considering acquiring one for the first time, you might consider a wood stove. This guide will help you decide on a solution right for your needs.
Popularity of Wood Pellet Stoves
Hundreds of thousands of wood pellet stoves are in use in the United States today, and approximately 70,000 pellet stoves are sold in North America each year. Pellets are made of wood or other natural waste, so heating with them is a great way of recycling this waste. You might be surprised at the variety of pellet stoves on the market and the types of fuel they burn. There are stoves designed to burn wood, corn, hulled wheat, cherry pits, grass, wastepaper and other materials. This discussion will focus on stoves that burn wood pellets. We’ll look at upfront legal concerns, cost and heating capacity, electricity requirements, safety, cleanup and other considerations.
Check Laws Prior to Purchasing a Wood Stove
It should be noted upfront that because wood smoke contains several health-adverse chemical compounds that contribute to air pollution, some municipalities ban the installation of wood-burning appliances in new construction. Or a municipality may restrict the use of a wood-burning appliance when air pollution reaches unacceptable levels levels. For these reasons, the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) recommends checking state and local laws on wood pellet burning stoves upfront to save yourself from unexpected problems.
Cost and Heating Capacity
You can expect to pay between $500–$5000 for a wood stove, depending on its type, size, construction and aesthetics. Installation costs can range from as little as $200 to as much as $2000 or more, depending on whether your stove is freestanding, wall mounted or created by installing an insert into an existing fireplace. Typically, freestanding stoves cost the least to install, wall-mounted units are a bit more and installing an insert into an existing fireplace tends to cost the most of all these options.
As far as the cost of firewood, this amount will vary depending on the availability of split, dry wood, size, and heat output of your stove.
According to the DOE, a 2000 sq. ft. home requires a stove that delivers 60,000 British Thermal Units (BTU), and a 1300 sq. ft. home requires a stove that delivers 42,000 BTUs. A conversation with a reputable dealer would help you choose a stove with the right capacity for your space. The average life expectancy of a wood stove is roughly 20 years but can be as long as 50 years if the stove is maintained regularly.
Safety
As with any source of heat, it’s critical to ensure that it’s properly installed with adequate venting. Carefully consult manufacturer’s information to ensure your installation meets all safety requirements. In addition, as with any heating source, it’s important to position a carbon monoxide detector on every level of your home and to place a detector 5–20 feet from your pellet stove, according to the manufacturer’s instructions. In addition, it’s critical that you position your pellet stove on a non-combustible floor protector, such as a hearth pad. The floor protector should extend out beyond all four sides, as far as recommended by the manufacturer of your stove.
Cleanup
Many people use a rule of thumb on when to clean their wood stove: after you’ve burned one ton. Be sure to consult manufacturer’s instructions on how to clean your specific stove model. The parts of a wood stove that accumulate buildup and need to be cleaned are the following: the ash tray, chimney flue, combustion chamber, fresh air inlet, glass door, and stove pipe. If you’re reluctant to clean your stove yourself, hire a reputable professional to teach you or to do the job for you, so you can be sure your stove remains in safe working order.
Possible Tax Credits
Starting in 2023, if you buy a high-efficiency stove or biomass heating system, you may be eligible for a 30% tax credit, which is capped at $2000 per year and based on the total purchase and installation cost. This credit runs through December 31, 2032.
Home Insurance
If you install a wood stove for the first time, be sure to notify your insurance company. Your insurance cost may rise slightly, but you want to be sure your home is covered with your insurance company’s knowledge of your wood burning stove.