How Eco-Friendly Is Your Wood Stove

How eco-friendly is your wood burning stove?

There is nothing like the flicker of flame from a roaring fire, and the main reason we invest in wood burning stoves is to keep our homes warm all year round.

But did you know owning a Jøtul stove could also help save you money from rising energy costs and reduce your carbon footprint?

Environmental benefits of wood burning

Wood is a renewable source of energy completely grown by solar power and requires no pesticides during its growth cycle.

While burning wood releases carbon dioxide like all fuels, trees have a hidden secret – 49% of dried wood is carbon that has been hidden away during the tree’s lifetime!

Therefore, as the wood is burnt and it releases carbon dioxide, another tree absorbs the gases emitted by the older tree and there is a release delay of approximately 25 years.

Use a local wood supplier

Most firewood in the UK comes from a sustainable source, with every tree cut down another one is planted. This ensures the carbon released by one tree burning is absorbed by another tree.

Try and get the best wood for your stove and where possible source your supplies locally, this will all help towards your carbon footprint as it will not have been transported long distances!

The cost per kW of useful energy from burning wood is approximately 4p, and you can achieve even further savings if you have the facilities to grow your own – the same cannot be said for gas or electricity however.

Burning waste wood

Have you ever considered how much wood gets thrown away when a house is refurbished, or new furniture is purchased? As long as the wood is not painted or treated, you can burn it in your wood stove!

A huge amount of waste wood from demolition sites, packaging and scrap furniture is landfilled each year – why not warm your house with it instead?

Season your wood to burn green

At Jøtul we recommend you burn logs which have been seasoned for 2 years or more to ensure moisture content is below 20%. This improves your wood burning efficiency which means virtually no smoke is produced and released into the atmosphere.

Jøtul stoves and fireplace inserts have been approved to the European standard for both heating efficiency and emissions.