Fire works: stylish and efficient, today's wood stoves go for the slow—and clean—burn

Residential Architect, July, 2003 by Nigel F. Maynard

Almost everyone loves to cozy up to a roaring fire. That's why no fewer than 60 percent of all new homes built in 2000 had at least one fireplace. The appeal is primarily an aesthetic one, though: A fireplace is a truly inefficient source of heat. If your clients want a fire that actually warms the house as well as their hearts, suggest a freestanding wood-burning stove.

"From a purely functional level, unless a fireplace is specifically designed to provide heat to a house, most don't do it well," says Gary Parsons, AIA, principal of Gary Earl Parsons, Architect, in Berkeley, Calif. "A free-standing stove is much more efficient because it is lightweight, easy to install, and provides 360-degree heat to a home. And if a homeowner moves, it can move, too."

"The stoves are designed as space heaters," says Rob Sidoroff, sales manager for Pacific Energy Fireplace Products, based in Duncan, British Columbia

"However, you can heat an entire home with one, provided the home can circulate the heat produced. There are stoves that will heat areas as small as 500 square feet and as large as 2,500."

internal combustion

Unlike a traditional fireplace--which bums quickly and pulls 80 percent of the warm air up the chimney--a stove slows down the fire by limiting the amount of combustion air used, resulting in an efficient burn, Sidoroff says. Stoves are a more environmentally conscientious choice than fireplaces, too. In addition to boasting heating efficiencies between 65 percent and 80 percent, stoves approved by the Environmental Protection Agency emit no more than 4.1 grams of particulate matter per hour for catalytic-equipped units, and no more than 7.5 grams for non-catalytic-equipped units.

But do stoves radiate that same comforting aura as traditional fireplaces? John Crouch, director of public affairs for the Arlington. Va.-based Hearth Patio & Barbecue Association, says they do. "People who live with a wood stove find it cozy," he says, adding that the slower fire is "very mesmerizing." Stoves--commonly made from cast iron, steel, ceramic, or soapstone--are increasingly popular throughout the country, but Crouch says they are particularly appropriate for vacation homes and in remote areas. Architect Joe Levine, a fan of the products, put one in his Brooklyn residence and another in his Pennsylvania vacation home. "One reason I use the product has to do with the conservation and production of heat," says Levine, principal at Bone/Levine Architects in New York City. "Wood-burning stoves also offer more design flexibility than traditional fireplaces."

heat sources

Some of the most highly regarded stoves among architects come from Rais & Wittus, a Pound Ridge, N.Y.-based company that imports sleek Danish-designed units. Rais stoves are made from either steel or soapstone and feature a double-chambered burning compartment with an adjustable air control. The company says this setup ensures the cleanest burn and an efficiency range near 74 percent. The Malta, Bando, and Bora models are EPA-certified.

Quality wares are available at other companies as well. Jotul North America, a Norwegian company with U.S. offices in Portland, Maine, has been manufacturing cast iron stoves for 150 years. Available in a variety of colors, Jotul's units feature a traditional look. Many also employ a non-catalytic clean-burning technology designed to reduce particulate emission. All current Jotul wood stoves are certified to meet or exceed the emissions standards allowed by the EPA.

Danish manufacturer Morso offers traditional and modern-style cast iron and soap-stone wood stoves, with heating ranges from 800 to 2,400 square feet. Distributed by Hearthlink International in Randolph, Vt., Morso products meet EPA requirements without the use of a catalytic combustor.

Sidoroff's company, Pacific Energy Fireplace Products, produces a handful of wood-burning stoves. Made from vitreous porcelain enamel bonded to metal, the Summit line of stoves uses a non-catalytic burn system featuring "Extended Bum Technology," which the maker says regulates the flow of combustion air and thereby reduces fuel consumption. Available in four colors, the stoves release less than half the emissions allowed by the EPA, says the company.

And then there are ceramic stoves. "Our product is a decorative piece as well as a fireplace," says Earthfire USA's Toby Chance. The special ceramic material has good thermal properties, Chance says, and will not crack even under extreme heat. "It heats up and radiates heat to a house very quickly," he says. "In some ways, it is superior to cast iron because iron cools quickly, but ceramic remains hot alter the fire has been put out." Earth-fire, a South African manufacturer with an office in Naples, Fla., sells the ceramic stove in six colors. The units meet EPA emission requirements.

Yet another high-end product that will heat a house hails from the Finnish company Tulikivi, whose U.S. headquarters are in New York City. Tulikivi's all-soapstone masonry heaters are heavier than wood stoves and their contents burn quicker. Thus, they are not technically wood stoves and are not regulated by the EPA. The company says, however, that the units are clean-burning and have efficiency ratings near 90 percent. And, like stoves, they store heat and radiate it to the house--in some cases for up to 24 hours, says custom fireplace designer and distributor Walter Moberg of Moberg Fireplaces in Portland, Ore.