Wood Stove, Fireplace or Pellet Fireplace - What Exactly Is a Wood Stove Used For?
What exactly is a wood stove used for? How can they compare to a gas fireplace or electric fireplace? Can they actually burn better than wood fireplaces or pellet fireplaces? Are there really such things as a pellet stove? How about a corn pellet stove?
A wood stove actually uses a small amount of wood, coals and other medium heat sources to create a sort of furnace like environment in which heat is produced, used and released in the form of hot air. The actual process of heating and air circulation is done through a chimney which is usually located in the roof of the house or within a crawl space. This air supply and process of combustion are what actually gives this type of stove its ability to produce large amounts of heat over a long period of time, and it is also why they are quite capable of heating large rooms.
Pellet stoves use what is called a "reducing agent" to create larger quantities of heat by burning smaller, more dense gasses, these gasses being combusted in a sort of combustion chamber, and the result being a very large amount of heat which is released to the environment. While these stoves are fine for home use and can often be found in older homes, the modern stoves which use a wood stove have completely changed the way we use fireplaces and are better at creating large amounts of heat without all of the harmful gasses and waste. Also the amount of gasses that are created has decreased as companies have begun to use better technology to reduce the amount of gasses that are produced, as well as better methods for their disposal.
-.png?imageView2/2/format/jp2 "DS02-Clear Glass Wood Burning Stove")
