No rustic, culinary-forward home is complete without a wood-burning stove. From baked potatoes to chicken stroganoff, the possibilities with a wood-burning stove are virtually endless. However, avid home cooks may be twiddling their thumbs over skyrocketing energy bills—will a wood-burner work to your advantage or manifest an abundance of new issues?
Consult the Energy-Saving Trust
If you’re concerned about household energy use, consult the Energy Saving Trust, a well-respected independent body with in-depth access to the appropriate information. According to experts at the Trust, wood-burning stoves can reduce energy bills by up to 10%.
Naturally, this number will vary from user to user, though you can study rich information to determine how best to utilise your new appliance.
Burn the Correct Fuel
Running a wood-burning stove is an art. Incorporate a non-recommended fuel and wet wood, and you could be negatively impacting its longevity. As you would expect, damp wood will force your machine to work double-time to dry the material before it burns.
If you aren’t carefully researching the appropriate materials for use with your brand-new wood-burner, you could be unknowingly creating harmful gases.
Maintain Your Stove Well
A well-maintained and regularly-inspected machine makes for a reliable and long-lasting household appliance. At face-value, a wood-burning stove may appear particularly robust—and it is—but any damage can impact its ability to maintain heat within the system.
Remember, your appliance is doing more than it looks—it’s maintaining and releasing heat in a controlled manner. Suppose your fire bricks are cracking and are in desperate need of a repair or replacement. The longer you leave the problem to linger, the more heat will escape in an uncontrolled manner.
Loose heat will affect the outer later of your wood-burner and can cause a plethora of inefficiencies and further damage.
Consider a Boiler Stove
The jump from a traditional boiler system to a wood-burning machine isn’t as wide a gap as most people assume. Nowadays, commercially available wood-burning equipment is far more efficient than they once were.
Use Your Stove Correctly
It should go without saying that improper use can directly impact your household energy bills. While your durable machine can pack on some intense heat, you don’t want to drown your firebox in fuel. If your stove overheats, it won’t be able to maintain its optimal temperature effectively.
Equip your flue pipe with a thermostat to create better control over the heat you apply to your system. With one, you’ll learn the right amount of fuel to fill your firebox with.
Don’t Brush Off Minor Damage
A small crack on the stove glass door or slightly loose seals are nuances you might brush off as “no big deal.” However, damage mounts over time, and you may find yourself having to replace your entire machine.
If a part needs replacing, replace it immediately. Your short-term fee will make for long-term savings when you realise you can avoid costlier repairs in the future.
Conclusion
While there is no hard number regarding the potential savings you’ll make with a wood-burning stove, you can rest assured that it makes for an excellent addition to your culinary set-up. Overall, by maintaining your system well and learning how to use it best, you’ll save a buck on your energy bills regardless.
For wood-burning stoves that never fail to satisfy, shop our wide array of equipment at Stove Scotland. Our experts are well-equipped to install your brand-new machine. Does your existing wood-burner need an inspection? Don’t hesitate to call us up!
