Wood Burning Furnace Types

If you are trying to cut energy costs or are concerned about the type of energy you use in your furnace to heat your home and its effect on the environment then a wood burning furnace may be for you. Wood burning furnaces will save you a considerable amount of money in energy bills however, you need to keep in mind that it does require stocking up on the proper type of wood or coal which requires more work than using fuels like gas or oil that are supplied by your utility company.

For best results with your wood furnace, it is best to use seasoned hardwood or coal for burning. Seasoned hardwood is wood that has been split for use as firewood. Seasoned means it was split last season and not this season. In short, if you want clean burning and wood that burns as hot as possible then you need last year’s wood and not this year’s firewood.

Indoor Wood Burning Furnace

There are two main types of wood burning furnaces these include the indoor wood burning furnace and the outdoor wood burning furnace. An indoor wood furnace works in the same way as furnaces that use other energy sources like oil or gas. They are most frequently installed in an out of the way area such as the basement. Many people are concerned with air quality from a wood burning furnace. A quality furnace will use furnace filters just as any other type of furnace does which will ensure air quality in your home as long as the filter is cleaned or replaced regularly. Thermostats in the wood furnace control heat distribution. These types of furnaces generally use forced air as their system for heating and this type of system uses any standard type of heating ducts.

Outdoor Wood Burning Furnace

People who live in mobile homes or in a home without a basement may think that they will not be able to utilize a wood burning furnace for lack of a place to house it. Outdoor wood burning furnaces solve this problem. This type of furnace takes your space (or lack thereof), safety and also your convenience into account. By using your outside space, you can easily install your furnace and also store your firewood. You need to make sure that the unit you purchase is built to weather the elements. An improperly insulated or weatherproofed furnace will both rust or otherwise get damaged and also run much less efficiently.

Add On Wood Burning Furnace

If you want to cut your energy bills but don’t want to completely re-do your furnace set up then you should consider an add on wood burning furnace. The unit itself may be cheaper but where you save most of your money is in the fact that it uses the duct work that you already have installed without the need for installing a new system.

An add on wood furnace uses your current furnace’s infrastructure to heat your home with wood heated air instead of the gas or oil that your primary furnace ordinarily uses. You connect your add-on to your existing furnace. As long as it keeps the temperature above what is set on your thermostat of your original furnace then no gas, oil or electricity will be consumed. The only non-wood type of energy that will be used is what is required to operate the blower that distributes the hot air to your home. What is nice about this system is that if you run low on firewood or the wood does not produce enough heat, your original furnace will kick in and heat your home instead.

A wood furnace is an inexpensive way to keep warm and it doesn’t emit any carbon dioxide into the atmosphere. Since wood is a renewable energy source, it’s good for the environment since it is not using fossil fuels. Wood furnaces have been used in cold climates for a long time to provide heat for the very cold and long winters. A wood furnace is for someone who lives in a cold climate where there is plenty of firewood available.

An outdoor wood furnace is located in a building outside of the home to keep the smoke mess away from the home. The wood produces heat which is transferred through insulted pipes underground into the home. Outdoor wood furnaces can also heat other buildings and areas such as greenhouses, pools, and spas. The benefits of the outdoor wood furnace are that you will not be bothered with smoke or ashes while still keeping warm all winter.

In the old days, the only choice was to burn wood in a fireplace. It didn’t warm the entire house, but only the room where the fireplace was located. Now, the entire house can be kept warm in the chilling winter with an outdoor wood furnace, which is much more convenient. The entire house gets heat distributed throughout it and nobody has to breathe the smoke that can come from firewood. The heat is controlled with a thermostat so you can heat the home as warm as you like. This method of heating is much cheaper than electric heating.

There are other types of wood furnaces besides the outdoor variety. There is a Central Wood Furnace which is placed inside the home. It either uses forced air or hot water to keep the home warm. There is also the Multi Fuel Furnace which can either be located inside or outside the home and it can also burn other types of fuel besides wood such as gas or oil.

If you choose an indoor furnace, you can decide between one that burns only wood or one that burns wood as well as wood and gas or wood and oil.

As with everything the price depends on what type of furnace you want, the manufacturer, and more. The price of a wood burning furnace can average from $1,000-$8,000. The prices can also be lower or higher. Used furnaces will be cheaper while the top notch ones to keep large homes toasty warm will be at the high end.

While a wood burning furnace is cheaper than other heating alternatives, it does require work and tends to be messier. You will have to keep a supply of firewood and also stack it and replenish the furnace with wood when needed. Obviously it also produces smoke and ash, which other heating alternatives such as gas or electricity do not do. You need to make sure to use the right type of furnace filters for a wood furnace. If you don’t mind this extra work, then you will benefit greatly from the monetary savings, environment friendly benefits, and the reliability of a wood furnace.