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Comparing Gas and Wood Burning Appliances

With the abrupt arrival of winter and its frigid temperatures, most people have headed indoors in an effort to stay warm. For some, staying warm involves huddling around a fire, its bright flames rippling heat into the room. Few can resist the lure of an indoor fire in the winter time. The radiant heat, shimmering flames, and alluring flicker of light can feel very soothing after a long day, so people flock to fires whenever they have the chance. While most people agree that fireplaces and wood stoves have an inexplicable appeal, they likely have wide ranging opinions on whether the appliance use wood or gas for fuel.

Wood burning fireplaces are what many people envision when thinking about fireplaces. The giant brick hearth is full of freshly split logs, and the fire crackles incessantly, even spitting an occasional ember. Throughout the night, the logs burn down to a pile of hot embers that glow and pulse a soft orange light from the residual heat of the fire. While all of this seems rather appealing, burning wood for fuel comes with some less attractive qualities as well.

For one, burning wood requires gathering or purchasing wood for fuel. In rural areas, homeowners may have the option to gather their own wood, which costs no money but does cost in time and energy expended. In more populated areas, the wood must be purchased from a dealer. Neither of these options promises good wood though. To burn most efficiently, the wood needs to have seasoned, or dried out, for at least one year. Freshly cut wood or wood that has been stored outside is likely too wet to burn safely. In addition, burning wood produces a substance called creosote that builds up in the chimney. If a chimney sweep is not performed annually to remove the creosote, it can cause a hot and dangerous chimney fire. Finally, wood fires produce ash in the fireplace, which needs to be swept or vacuumed out after each fire to prevent it from being blown into the house.

On the other hand is the option to burn natural gas as fuel. For homes with access to natural gas through piping, this fuel is readily available at any time. Gas fuel also burns very efficiently, with up to 99 percent of the fuel used to create fire and heat, while wood burns at a very low efficiency and produce significantly more harmful products. With this type of fuel, no messy wood splitting, creosote buildup, or ash removal becomes an issue. The only downside to gas fuel is that they require ceramic log sets in order to burn, which do not provide the same aesthetic appeal as wood logs burning down to a bed of embers. These logs never change appearance and do not crackle or spark the way wood logs do.

In general, wood burning appliances are becoming more historic and less applicable, despite their visual appeal. Burning gas is healthier, more convenient, and more efficient, so many homeowners are having gas appliances put into their homes, new or existing. If you have questions about wood fuel compared to gas fuel, contact Beach Stove and Fireplace to speak with an expert.

The Importance of Well Seasoned Firewood

Weather experts have predicted this upcoming winter to be as frigid as last year’s record breaking winter, and this has everyone thinking ahead about keeping warm. For some people, staying warm inside the house involves lighting a toasty fire in the fireplace or wood stove. However, burning a fire requires having the right fuel, and if the fireplace burns wood, that means stocking up on the best firewood.

Prior to deciding on the species of tree to burn in the fireplace, the most important aspect of the firewood is actually its dryness. Dry firewood has completed the “seasoning” process in which it has been stored out of the elements and allowed to dry for an amount of time specific to the variety of wood. Lightweight wood may only need about six months to season, while the densest woods could take up to two years.

Do your best to avoid firewood that has been stored outside because it has not had a chance to season. The water content in this wood is most likely very high, which results in cool smoky fires. When the wood contains a lot of water, the fire expends a lot of energy boiling the water away, and this produces less heat, creates more smoke, and costs you money in poor fuel efficiency. In the end, the firewood also burns incompletely.

Incompletely burned firewood leads to the production of creosote. This thick, tarry material first leaves the fire in a hot, vaporized form, but as it travels up the chimney, it cools and clings to the chimney walls. Over time, creosote can build up to the point of closing up the chimney completely, which can cause a backup of harmful gases like carbon monoxide into the home. Creosote is also highly flammable, so a stray ember in a creosote-filled chimney could result in a devastating house fire. Luckily, you can avoid all of this with regular chimney sweeps and by only burning well seasoned wood.

Once you have found the right wood with the longest seasoning time, you have to take it home and decide how to store it. The most ideal way to store firewood is to keep it indoors and uncovered. Storing the wood indoors protects it from rain and snow, which keeps it dry. Seasoned wood, especially, absorbs water very readily because of its dryness, so keeping it out of the elements is vital. Leaving the wood uncovered also permits any trapped water to evaporate. Completely wrapping the wood in a tarp can lead to trapped moisture and an increased water content. If storing the wood inside is not an option, you can store it outside, but be sure to cover the top of the stack. Any kind of water proof “roof” works well in an outdoor storage situation, such as a sheet of aluminum siding. Leave the sides of the wood stack open, so air can flow through to keep it dry.

If you have any questions about choosing or storing your firewood, get in touch with your local chimney and fireplace specialist. For an expert in the Westhampton Beach, New York area, contact Beach Stove and Fireplace.

Pellet Stove vs. Wood Stove

With snow already falling in many parts of the country, now is the time to figure out how to stay warm in the upcoming cold months. Effective and inexpensive home heating options are in high demand right now, and many homeowners face the question of which type to choose. For those looking to stoves to heat the home, another question comes up: wood-burning or pellet-burning stove? Both have great advantages with some downsides as well, so you should take into consideration how you intend to use it, the amount of heat you need, the availability of fuel in your area, and other factors.

How do Pellet and Wood Stoves Work?

Pellet stoves have gained popularity in recent years because they efficiently burn renewable energy. Wood pellets are made by debarking, grinding, drying and compressing wood, and then the pellets are electronically fed into the burning chamber. Wood stoves work just like any other wood-burning unit. Split logs start and maintain the fire and the heat in place of the pellets in a pellet-burning stove.

What Makes Pellets Better?

For one, pellets burn very efficiently, meaning more of the material burns and creates heat. This leads to warmer, more sustainable fires and fewer harmful emissions. Wood pellet fires can burn for as long as 16 hours without requiring a refill, which is ideal for working families who spend long hours away from the home during the day. Compared to a wood-burning stove, pellet stoves are highly efficient.

Another benefit to a pellet-burning stove is purchasing and storing the fuel. First, in the built-up Westhampton Beach area, forests and firewood are harder to come by than in more rural areas, making split wood logs scarce. Wood pellets are ideal options for this situation because they can be shipped into urban areas more easily and economically. Next, wood pellets take up one-third less space than traditional wood. A cord of wood takes up 128 cubic feet, and one ton of pellets takes up just 80 cubic feet. These volumes create the same amount of heat but take up vastly different amounts of space to store. For tight New York homes, this could be a determining factor.

What Makes Wood Better?

Conversely, wood-burning stoves have some advantages over their pellet-burning counterparts. One major factor is that wood-burning stoves do not require electricity to function. In the case of power outages, as is common in winters when ice builds up on power lines, the wood-burning stove continues to run, while the pellet-burning stove simply runs cold. Although battery back-ups can be installed, they only last up to eight hours, making this issue life-threatening depending on the length of the power outage.

Another advantage of burning wood is the cost of the fuel. On average, one cord of wood costs less than $200. Because pellets require significantly more processing, a heat-equivalent amount of pellets might start at $200. The price of fuel, in addition to the price of electricity to run the pellet stove, might make the wood-burning stove more attractive.

For more information and help deciding what type of stove best suits your home and lifestyle, contact Beach Stove and Fireplace of Westhampton Beach, New York. These experts can help you make the most informed decision.