Wood-burning stoves making a comeback

Pellet-burning Mt. Vernon, ($3,699, warms a home of about 3,500 square feet) and Classic Bay ($2,999, 2,500 square feet) both by Quadra-Fire.

Wood-burning stoves like the ones early Americans cozied up to for warmth are hot again.

Fireplaces that folks have enjoyed in their homes for years are being retrofitted with "inserts" that shoot warmth indoors, rather than up the chimney.

The reason: High heating bills.

"When the news came out that home heating bills were going up 30 percent, we were swamped," says Dale Liskey, owner of Hearth & Patio Shoppe in North Ridgeville. "We had a lot of people looking at wood-burning stoves."

Some free-standing wood-burning stoves are on back order at the Fireplace Shoppe in Northfield, reports owner Joseph Bosze. Word-of-mouth is bringing in business, he adds.

Also here, a question and answer explanation of wood-burning stoves.

Shortly after the 30 percent increase scare, the U.S. Department of Energy sliced the estimated increase of home heating bills to 15 percent, meaning families in the Midwest are now expected to pay an average $1,158 for natural gas for the period from October through March. That's still a burden to most budgets.

Free-standing stoves burn either logs or pellets, but pellet burners, which are powered by electricity, are more sought after. That's because the pellets, made from compacted sawdust and wood shavings, burn more efficiently than logs and don't leave as big of a mess.

According to the Hearth, Patio & Barbecue Association, which tracks shipments from manufacturers to retailers, sales of free-standing, wood-burning pellet stoves and fireplace inserts increased 212 percent in the second quarter of this year compared to the same period in 2007.

For the same period, sales of stoves that burn wood logs and efficiency-enhancing inserts for log-burning fireplaces jumped 54 percent.

Experts such as Bosze and Liskey offer a number of reasons why wood-burning appliances are going from a thing of the past to a thing of the future. So do Web sites that monitor what's happening in the wood-burning world. One of those sites is www.fireplaceandwoodstoves.com/wood-stoves/, described as an independent guide that is written, edited and maintained by Moxy Media, publisher of online consumer information.

Consumer Reports offers a guide to pellet- and wood-burning stoves. Type pellets in the search field.

The Hearth, Patio & Barbecue Association also provides a reference site at http://www.hpba.org/.

Here are some reasons for the trend toward wood, based on these references:

1.Contemporary stoves burn wood more efficiently and cleanly than older models.
Liskey knows all about this. His old wood-burning stove shot so much smoke into the air outdoors, one of his neighbors offered to pay his gas heating bill if he'd stop using the stove, he says, laughing. His newer stove releases much less smoke.

2.Firewood logs and pellets are cheaper than natural gas. See accompanying story for more detail.

3.Stoves come in updated designs, from snazzy sleek models to charming antique reproductions that wink at the old potbelly and box stoves.

4. Stoves come in a range of sizes that can heat an entire home or just one room.
"Some people call this 'European zone' heating," says Liskey. "It's heating the room where the family is."

5. Wood stoves offer independence and warmth when the power goes out. Pellet stoves operate with electricity, but some models have back-up batteries.

If you have a wood- or pellet-burning stove or fireplace, or anticipate getting one in the near future, don't wait until the first sign of snow to load up on fuel.

"This is an ideal time to buy wood," says Ray Swenson, owner of Always Seasoned Hardwood in Strongsville. "In November or whenever there's the first snow, that's when people come out of the woodwork."

So to speak.

The best woods to burn are hardwoods such as oak, maple and hickory that's been seasoned, or aged, Swenson says. Not so good are soft woods like pine, tulip or willow.

Some people enjoy the ruggedness and accomplishment of chopping their own fuel. The problem is, besides the danger of axes and chainsaws, wood that hasn't been stored and seasoned could be infested with ash borer, black beetles, termites, ants or even poison ivy.

Burning wood, not cash

When Ted and Marybeth Harakas bought their 4,000-square-foot home in Lakewood nearly 20 years ago, installing a wood-burning stove was at the top of their list. The unit heats their large living room where they spend a lot of down time on evenings and weekends. The fire also lends the warm, glowing ambience, and the crackling background music that many people love about burning wood.

The couple keeps their thermostat set at 60 degrees to minimize chill, and they stoke up the stove when they got home from work.

"I'd say our heating bill is about $100 less a month than it would be without the stove," Ted Harakas says.

Tom Nova of Cleveland recently gave up his log-burning stove for a large pellet-burning model that heats his entire home, which is 3,000 square feet. His pellet burner, and other newer models, can burn not only wood pellets, but black-oiled sunflower seeds and other materials. But Nova sticks with wood pellets because those are the least expensive and easier to get.

"My highest gas bill last winter was $90," Nova says. "The burner keeps the house at a nice comfortable temperature. Sometimes in the winter I stand in the window in my underwear and wave at my neighbors out walking their dogs in the cold. They laugh at me because they know why I'm doing it."

This log-burning stove, model 7110 by Morso, will heat up to 400 square feet. Photographed at the Fireplace Shoppe in Northfield

Shopping for a wood-burning stove at a glance:

Q. What are the most important considerations?

A. Know the square-footage of your home, or the room to be heated, to get the right size unit for that space. Buy the highest quality that you can afford, and have the unit installed by a professional who knows the system and can make sure the clearances are correct, the chimney system is proper, and the installation is in accordance with the owner's manual.

Q. Wood-burning stoves are commonly made from cast-iron, welded steel, soapstone or porcelain. Is there an efficiency and/or price difference among the materials?

A. Steel stoves are typically least expensive, and heat is released from steel quicker, so it cools down more quickly. A cast-iron stove is the next step up in price. It releases heat more slowly, which means it stays warm longer. Soapstone is usually the most expensive. The material releases heat slower than cast-iron. Porcelain stoves are cast iron with a colored porcelain finish.

Q. What's the price range of wood-burning stoves, and what do you get for the least and most expensive?

A. The least expensive start at about $800 and are small, heating less than 1,000 square feet. A medium-priced stove costs $1,000 to $2,500 and heats approximately 1,500 to 2,500 square feet. Larger stoves range from $2,000 to $4,000. These typically are cast-iron and soapstone, and heat approximately 2,500 square feet to 3,500 square feet.

Q. Is there a way to compare how much a 1,200-square-foot house costs to heat conventionally versus with wood?

A. It depends on whether the home is being heated with natural gas, propane, heating oil or electric. Typically, when your existing heat source is natural gas, propane or heating oil, you can expect at least a 50 percent reduction in heating bills per month of the heating season. If you are in a 1,200-square-foot home you can expect a larger reduction, as high as 80 percent.

Q. Why are stoves that burn wood pellets instead of logs becoming more popular?

A. Ease of operation. Pellets start and stop on their own. A thermostat keeps the room at a consistent temperature. With a log stove, the fire gets hot and then cools as the logs wither. A pellet stove maintains a more even temperature. Pellet stoves are easy to install; you don't have to have a chimney installed above the roof as opposed to a wood stove. A pellet stove can vent directly out the side of the house and does not need to vertically vent. Pellets emissions create very little smoke. Pellets leave less ash than do logs.

Q. Is there much of a price difference between logs and pellets?

A. For someone who has access to trees, wood costs nothing, except lug work. Wood costs from $175 to $250 a cord or higher, depending on the dealer. A full cord measures 4 feet high by 4 feet wide by 8 feet long and has a volume of 128 cubic feet. An average homeowner that is heating with wood would go through approximately three to five cords of wood per heating season.

Pellets are sold in tons and cost from about $200 to $250 per ton. Average pellet usage is 2 to 3 tons per heating season. Like wood logs, the amount of pellets you'll burn depends on the size of your home, and whether the warmth will stream through one room or the whole house. Pellets are packaged in 40-pound bags; it is estimated that one 40-pound bag will burn for about 24 hours.