We may be tempted toinstall a wood stove in your home to heat their home with a renewable energy. It’s a good idea. It remains to know which model to choose. Main heating or auxiliary heating, the wood stove is available in different models. Before deciding, it is therefore better to know the main advantages and disadvantages of each and compare the prices, installation included.
Wood stove: for what use?
There are two main families of wood-burning stoves, each meeting very specific needs.
Advantages of the wood stove as main heating
So that it can heat the whole house instead of another type of heating (electric, gas or oil central heating, for example), the wood stove must be able to quickly reach the desired temperature while being economical. . Three categories of wood-burning stoves are recommended for this use, namely:
- The double combustion stove or afterburner stove. It has the particularity of burning the gases in a second specific chamber called the combustion chamber, which makes it an extremely economical and ecologicaleligible for the label Green Flame. In terms of performance, it is again at the top of the list with a yield that reaches 80%.
- The Turbo Stove is eligible for the label Flame Green because it allows better control of combustion and is less polluting than other heating appliances. He quickly rises in temperature thanks to its double air inlet, while being economical. Reasonably sized, it is available in classic and design versions, which allows it to harmonize with all styles of interior decoration.
- The storage stove : it is also called long inertia mass stove. Impressive in size, it is made of refractory materials that retain heat for a long time. It displays a long battery life and its performance is very appreciable. “Long inertia” means that it is a heater with strong radiation. Depending on the model chosen, it can accommodate logs up to 50 cm in length. Thanks to its contemporary design, it brings a touch of elegance to the decor.
Every year, manufacturers improve the quality of their wood stoves. These eco-friendly heaters are becoming more and more sophisticated. Some work completely automatically because they are programmable and have a battery life of up to 3 days.
Advantages of the wood stove as auxiliary heating
The auxiliary heater is a device that provides many services. It allows for example to complete an energy-intensive heating mode or to heat a room when the central or electric heating is switched off. This is the case, for example, outside the winter season, when temperatures drop for a relatively short period of time that does not require the main heating system to be brought back into service. the log stove is very popular to complement a fossil fuel heating. Its use is however restricted because its autonomy is relatively reduced, generally 5 to 6 hours. This is why it falls into the category of appliances spot heating. There are log stoves in steel and others in cast iron, available in various styles. It’s up to everyone to choose the auxiliary heater that best suits their environment.
Disadvantages of different wood stoves
Before investing in a wood-burning stove, it is essential to also find out about the disadvantages of the different models.
To find your way around, you must first remember that the log stove works, as its name suggests, with wood logs, while wood stoves for main use work with pellets or pellets.
The log stove is an auxiliary heater very appreciated by fans of fireplaces. A true creator of atmosphere, it preserves the crackling of the fire and the sight of the flames as well as the smell of the wood fire. However, the heat is not diffused in a constant way, the user can therefore regret certain temperature differences, even if – and this is indisputable – in the immediate vicinity of the log stove the sensation of heat is much higher than that felt when you are next to a pellet stove. This lack of consistency in the distribution of heat is the reason why the log stove is only used as a spot heating and must generally be coupled with another mode of heating.
In contrast, wood-burning stoves used as main heating are fed with granules or pellets, more expensive than logs. They offer a constant temperature and long-lasting, because the heat is diffused thanks to a ventilation system which can however be criticized for not being perfectly silent. On the other hand, pellet stoves require a power supply, which can be a disadvantage when you want to reduce your annual bill.
Should I buy logs or pellets?
Logs or pellets? All are made of wood, a cheaper fuel than gas, electricity and oil. Logs – to be reserved for the wood stove used as auxiliary heating – are even less expensive than pellets, although the cost of transport must still be added to the price of a stere. Practical, they are stored outside, possibly under a log shelter. Pellets or pellets are used to fuel wood stoves used as main heating. They are marketed in bags that must be stored inside.
Prices of the different categories of wood stoves
The characteristics that determine the price of a wood stove are mainly:
- The category (main heating or auxiliary heating),
- The yield,
- Technology,
- Le design,
- The brand.
The budget to devote to the purchase of a wood stove therefore varies considerably from one model to another.
- A log stove costs between 250 and 400 €.
- A pellet stove can reach 6,000 €.
Au wood stove priceit is of course necessary to add the installation cost from the stove including work to be done before installing the device. This can be the installation of a flue or a chimney hood. A budget between 300 and 800 € may be necessary. The cost partly depending on the configuration of the premises, it is essential to ask for a quote before making a decision.
The fuel price (logs or pellets) should also be taken into consideration before investing in this type ofheating appliance, whether for occasional use or for main use. Here are some examples of pellet and log prices.
- A pallet of 126 bags of 8 kg, i.e. 1 ton of pellets, costs between 280 and 350 €. Some suppliers offer their customers the option of grouped transport, which allows for a small saving.
- The stere of wood is between 55 and 100 €. It depends on the dimensions of the logs, the origin of the wood and the species chosen. Thus, logs from a heavily wooded region are less expensive than those from a geographical area with fewer forests. Likewise, a stere of oak wood is more expensive than one stere of fir wood but their specificities are different.
Once the wood stove is installed, it is in the user’s interest to optimize the performance of your stove so that its comfort does not weigh too heavily on the household budget. Using very dry wood, maintaining your stove regularly, fueling your fire at the right time are all good habits to adopt. We should also consider reviewing thehome insulation if it is no longer sufficient, because a poorly insulated housing consumes energy.