High Efficiency wood Burning Fireplaces

If you want to help the environment and you live in Alabama, burn the renewable resource known as cord wood. Did you know that when you burn wood in a wood stove it produces the same amount of carbon dioxide as it does when it rots in the forest?

And if you replace a tree for everyone you burn you are actually reducing the carbon footprint you have left on this earth.

I've been in the industry a long time. I have several friends that heat with wood that work at the EPA. Hard to believe? Not so, they know the facts. People that are concerned about air quality are concerned about particulates. Modern high efficiency wood burning fireplaces produce less than three grams of particulates an hour. They contain relatively new technology that allows the stove to burn smoke in addition to the cord wood. No visible smoke exits the chimney when the stove is up to temperature. The only thing you can see is a plume of water vapor.

Let me give you some facts about Alabama's forested lands:

This is an excerpt from the Alabama forestry's commission's "Forest Facts".

"Trees have always been a touchstone for Alabama's viability. The state has one of the most productive timberlands in the world.

Alabama's forest resources are a critical component as a subset of North America's production of wood products. Approximately 93% of Alabama timberland is owned by families, private individuals or companies."

They further state some forest facts:

• Cleaning the air: private forest landowners are sequestering The emissions of 6 million cars annually driven on Alabama's roads
• Growing oxygen: private forests produce enough oxygen for 214 million citizens to breathe each year
• Forests to faucets: 60% of Alabama's surface water travels through private lands.
• Safe drinking water: Alabama's residents get more than half of their public drinking water from Alabama private lands
• Storing carbon: Alabama forests are estimated to have a 'sea' of stored carbon with a volume of approximately 1.16 BILLION metric tons. 

I'm beginning to sound like a tree hugger… I am! But not in the way most folks think. We love our forests and our wildlife. We love our abundance of clean water and our freedoms. We either love to hunt or we love our loved ones who do hunt.

It is nice to know that one of the owners of our company, our CEO,  Trent Simmons, is an owner of timberland himself. He feels like a steward for a major water tributary that runs through his property into one of Opelika Alabama's public drinking water tributaries. 

Okay, enough about the virtues of burning cord wood.

Modern day high efficiency wood burning fireplaces are simply amazing!

Many of them can burn 12 to 24 hours without reloading wood. These new wood burning high efficiency fireplaces have a glass that is large and stays virtually clean. 

Some of these high efficiency wood burning fireplaces have the ability to transfer heat to additional rooms besides the room in which they are installed.

We would suggest that you talk to a NFI Certified wood burning burning specialist about your next high efficiency or mid-efficiency wood burner. There is a big difference between a mid-efficiency fireplace and a high efficiency fireplace!

The biggest thing someone considering purchasing a high efficiency wood burning fireplace needs to know is that they will not operate as advertised with green wood. Remember… They burn mainly smoke. Much like an internal combustion engine, they gasify the wood. Imagine what your car would run like if it had a lot of water in the gas. 

The old timers said it best "wood warms you twice… once when you harvest it and again when you burn it".

Stay safe and warm!