Choosing which wood stove is right for your home can be a challenge. There’s a lot to choose from, and they all have appealing features. Consider the following factors to make choosing yours easier.

How Will You Use Your Wood Stove?

How you use it is the most important factor when choosing a wood stove. Calculate how many square feet you’d like to heat and when you’ll be using the stove. The square foot calculation will tell you how much heating capacity in BTUs you’ll need. When you’ll use it will determine how many burn time hours to look for.

If you’ll be using your wood stove for only part of the day or evening, a long burn time won’t be beneficial enough to offset the higher cost. For overnight heating, look for wood stoves with burn times longer than 10 hours.

Will you be heating one room or several? Heating several rooms may require a blower motor to distribute heat. Or, your home may need more heating capacity than expected.

Type

Two main types of wood stoves meet EPA standards for efficiency and emissions. The first, called non-catalytic, is the most straightforward type. Non-catalytic stoves burn efficiently at high temperatures for high heat output. However, at lower burn temperatures, the emissions increase somewhat. These stoves are easy to maintain and have short, hot burn times.

Catalytic wood stoves, on the other hand, include a component that traps and burns some of the emissions and excess particles after the initial wood burning. Catalytic stoves require more maintenance, produce slightly lower BTUs, emit less creosote and feature longer burn times.

Non-catalytic stoves are excellent for producing a lot of heat for a short time, while catalytic ones generate more moderate heat output for a longer period.

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Heating Capacity

How you use your wood stove will determine the heating capacity that yours will need to produce. Smaller wood stoves with heating capacities of under 1,000 square feet are excellent for heating individual rooms or spaces, or for use as supplemental heat for your primary HVAC system.

Units with larger heating capacities of between 1,000 and up to 2,500 square feet can produce a houseful of heat to supplement HVAC in a large home or act as the primary heat source for a home less than 2,000 square feet.

BTUs

BTU output describes how much heat the stove can generate. Unlike heating capacity, the BTU output quantity only refers to its heat generation, rather than how much space it can condition. Higher BTUs indicate greater heat production, whereas higher heating capacities refer to the distribution of the available BTUs. Look for higher BTU output ratings in colder climates due to the higher temperature variation between indoors and out.

Burn Time

A wood stove’s burn time refers to the amount of time between ignition and practical fuel exhaustion. A stove’s burn time designation is somewhat arbitrary, as you’re unlikely to let your stove completely extinguish before adding more wood fuel.

However, the burn time can tell you a little about the stove’s heat output. Extensive burn times of more than eight hours generally produce less heat over a longer period, while the opposite is true of stoves with burn times of less than eight hours.

Additionally, you can control the burn time to an extent by allowing more or less air to reach the combustion chamber. Less air intake produces a longer burn time at a lower temperature.

Emissions

Burning wood releases pollutants. How well a wood stove expels these pollutants through the chimney is important to your family’s health. The EPA has strict performance standards for new wood stoves regarding their emissions. Be certain to only purchase an EPA-certified wood stove.

Efficiency Rating

Basic efficiency ratings for wood stoves are fairly simple to understand. The percentage rating is an indicator of how much fuel is required to produce a specific amount of heat. The higher the percentage number, the less wood is required to heat your space. To keep your labor to a minimum and conserve resources, look for wood stoves with at least 70% efficiency ratings.

Most Efficient Wood Burning Stoves

Appearance

Finally, a wood stove is designed to be a room’s focal point. There are numerous design styles available, from classic to contemporary. Choose a style that compliments your home, or one that just makes you happy when you see it.

EPA Certification

The vast majority of new wood stoves for sale in the United States are certified by the manufacturer to meet Environmental Protection Agency regulations. Look for the EPA certification marker on the stove’s packaging and on the stove itself to ensure that it meets current health standards for emissions and efficiency.

Weight and Size

The weight of your wood stove is critical to determine if the floor you place it on can handle the load. Wood stoves are heavy at 300 to 700 pounds with all components in place. Ensure your stove’s weight is under the floor’s capacity, which is especially important in a mobile home or older house.

The stove’s size is crucial when determining if the appliance will fit in its intended location while meeting any clearance requirements and aesthetics.

Installation

The installation requirements for the stove you choose are important to maximize the efficient use of space while minimizing installation costs. If the best exhaust method for your home is through a nearby wall, choose a stove approved for that type of installation. If you have an existing masonry chimney, consider a wood stove insert to keep installation costs low.