Fireplace
Pro: Biomass fuels reduce reliance on fossil fuels. By choosing renewable wood instead of oil, natural gas or propane to heat your home, you are cutting down on nonrenewable energy consumption. And with the woodstove gaining steam again, it is possible we may even see new homes — or even entire buildings — designed with integrated efficient woodstove heat in our future. Stove: Shaker with short bench, Wittus
Siemasko + Verbridge SaveEmail Pro: Lower long-term heating costs. According to Popular Mechanics, the average annual fuel cost to keep a woodstove going is nearly half the price of oil and still slightly less than natural gas. Those able to responsibly harvest their own wood have the potential to save even more. Stove: Edofocus, Focus
Pro: Some models are carbon neutral. European woodstoves using the Nordic Ecolabel system are so efficient that the carbon emitted when they're used properly is equal to the carbon a tree naturally emits while decomposing in the forest. Some of these stoves (such as the one by Rais, shown here) are also available in America.
Certification. When shopping for a clean-burning woodstove, look for a model that has been certified by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), the Underwriters' Laboratories of Canada (ULC) or an international labeling system such as the Nordic Ecolabel.
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