How to Pick Out a Wood Burner
- 1). Measure the rooms that need to be heated. Although the wood stove will be used in one main room, many models are equipped with blowers that will circulate the heat around the home. Each room should be measured for length and width, as well as ceiling height. Write these measurements down.
- 2). Calculate the BTUs needed for each room, using an online calculator (see Resources). For example, a room that is 12 feet long by 18 feet wide with 8-foot ceilings would require a heater capable of producing 13,000 BTUs.
- 3). Begin shopping for a wood burner. Antique models are harder to gauge in terms of the number of BTUs that they use. In this case, it is necessary to go by size. A small wood burner stove will be able to heat only one room. A very large stove that is at least 4 feet wide would be necessary to heat a larger space. Newer models, however, come with a BTU rating.
- 4). Determine which model is right for your home. If you are using the wood-burning stove for ancillary heat, simply use the BTUs required for that particular room. Otherwise, add up the BTUs necessary for whole house heat and make your decision based on that rating. For example, a 1,260-square-foot home would need a wood burner that has a 50,000 BTU rating.
- 5). Look for an Environmental Protection Agency certification. Older wood stoves will not be certified by the EPA and could cause issues inside the home with ash and soot. Newer models that are certified by the EPA will operate more efficiently and cleanly and require less maintenance and cleaning.
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