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Burning wood is one of the most environmentally friendly ways of heating individual rooms, or indeed your whole house, because timber is a carbon neutral fuel. It absorbs as much carbon whilst growing as it releases when burnt. Leaving wood to rot naturally releases as much carbon dioxide as it does when used for burning.
Heating with wood is not only environmentally friendly, but can also make good economic sense. Timber for fuel is typically up to 30% cheaper than oil or gas and with recent price rises in both, the savings are only likely to increase. An additional environmental benefit is that timber is usually sourced locally, so transport miles and associated emissions will also be kept to a minimum.
Apart from the suns rays, open fires are probably the oldest form of heating known to man and are a real pleasure on cold winter evenings. They can make a very attractive focal point to a room, but are the least energy efficient form of wood-based heating. They are not always that practical and need care to ensure they do not present a fire risk. Wood-burners can be a great alternative being 3 or 4 times as efficient. They come in a wide range of different shapes, sizes and heat outputs (usually rated in terms of kW).
Wood burners / Multi stoves operate at around 75% efficiency meaning that 75% of the heat generated by burning the wood is radiated out into the room and only 25% is lost up the chimney. By comparison an open fire is likely to operate at around 15-20% efficiency - so to get the same heating effect an open fire will need 4 logs for every one put into multi fuel or wood burner! A further advantage of stoves is the less frequent need to have your chimney swept.
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