When looking at different models of Napoleon stoves , you need to keep in mind each model has its own requirements. First, you will need to have a chimney used with wood burning models or a direct vent with gas models. The next thing you need to do is determine the required amount of clearance and space needed for the stove. You can do this by measuring the area around where you want to place the stove in your home. Should you have limited space, there are models available which only require about eight inches of clearance.

Wood Burning Napoleon Stoves Do Not Need a Traditional Exterior Chimney

Modern wood burning Napoleon stoves, like those available on our website, here at Copperfield Chimney Supply, will require a chimney. Unlike traditional fireplaces of yesterday, today's chimneys can be run through just about any location in the home. You can choose a traditional exterior wall chimney or even place the chimney along an interior wall in your home.

While staying warm in the winter is a priority for most people, those with chimneys may not consider fireplace cleaning nearly as important. Neglecting a fireplace or stovepipe, though, can have devastating results when buildup leads to uninvited fires that could destroy homes - and in some cases, lives. More

When you are looking for an alternative to a fireplace due to room size restrictions or placement issues, then you should look into a wood burning stove . There are all different sizes of stoves available making it easy to obtain one to fit into a small area. Chimneys can be ran directly out of the top of the stove and out through the ceiling, even when placed in the middle of the room. You can even use a stove to update your old fireplace to have a more energy efficient heating system in your home.

Getting a Wood Burning Stove Home Can be An Issue

When you are shopping for a wood burning stove, your main concern can be how to get it home. Wood stoves weigh a lot because of they are made out of cart iron or steel. Rather than having to spend money renting a truck and other special equipment, you can get free delivery on orders over $500 when you shop here at Copperfield Chimney Supply . You will find wood burning and gas stoves, accessories and other quality hearth items for your entire home available on our website.

Posted on Oct 19 2011 by Tristan Roberts

Nobody speaks of this contest but everybody knows who’s winning. It’s how we get out the competitive impulse in rural Vermont: we race to have the neatest woodpile. Admit it: even as you’re reading this, saying “that’s not me,” you’re mentally comparing your woodpile with the neighbor’s.

There is no question about who is the winner in my neighborhood — the toymaker — and he flaunts it, building these perfect stacks in the middle of his lawn, near the road. After Hurricane Irene, I had a conversation in passing with someone I had never talked to before, from a different part of town. I was inquiring if the toymaker’s house, situated on the river, was okay. Yes, he said — even the woodpile is untouched. We understood each other perfectly.

If you heat with wood, you’re a competitor, like it or not. I am in this game, and I do poorly. I cut a lot of top wood that others would leave behind, and it doesn’t make for neat stacking. That’s fine with me — I put my extra effort into keeping my wood off the ground and well covered. Dry wood wins my game.

Why wood heat remains popular

It’s the season to look at the popular practice of heating with wood. I heat with wood and have for my whole life. I like it for several reasons. I can cut and split my own wood, keeping my costs to a minimum, and giving me a sense of control over my family’s heat source. I’m not subject to the fluctuations of heating fuel prices, and I won’t have any problems from power outages or mechanical problems.

I also like the fact that I harvest firewood from the healthy, managed forest around my house — so at least in theory, there are no net carbon emissions (or minimal, when counting the chainsaw and some minimal transportation).

Downsides to wood heat include the labor involved and the fact that most homes need a backup system if you expect to be away for a few days in the middle of winter. Another downside is the problem of air particulates.

Don’t move firewood

Before getting into some of the safety details of stoves, let’s touch on a key item of ecosystem health: invasive insect species. Yes, I like eating insects, as discussed recently, but this is an area where I don’t mess around with them.

As the website DontMoveFirewood.org reports, “Tree-killing insects and diseases can lurk in firewood. These insects and diseases can't move far on their own, but when people move firewood they can jump hundreds of miles. New infestations destroy our forests, property values, and cost huge sums of money to control.” Those insects include the emerald ash borer and the Asian longhorn beetle—feared pests that threaten economically and ecologically important hardwood forests in Eastern North America.

The recommendation is to use firewood from the most local source possible—under 10 miles is ideal, and over 50 miles is probably too far.

Watch out for hazardous air pollutants (HAPs)

Smoke resulting from incompletely burned wood contains hazardous air pollutants or HAPs (which may cause cancer), fine particle pollution, and volatile organic compounds (VOC). Particle pollution in smoke can damage lung tissue and lead to serious respiratory problems when breathed in high concentrations.

In low concentrations, particle pollution in wood smoke can harm the health of children, the elderly, and those with existing respiratory diseases. Burning seasoned wood in an EPA-certified wood stove minimizes this risk, but doesn’t eliminate it: where there’s fire, there’s smoke.

New wood stoves are worth the cost

I bought my first two wood stoves with the goal of saving money: they were relatively inexpensive, reconditioned units. Only last year did I give in and buy an EPA-certified wood stove, and I am glad I did.

EPA-certified wood stoves have to meet a limit of 4.1 grams per hour of particulate emissions for a catalytic stove, and 7.5 grams per minute for a noncatalytic stove. On average, this amounts to at least 50% less pollution, and possibly depending on how old and inefficient your particular model of stove is. Minimum efficiency rates are 63% for “noncat” and 78% for “cat,” although some stoves boast higher efficiency. Given the health risks of wood smoke, those reduced emissions numbers really make a difference. And the effort saved in a more efficient stove helps pay the cost difference.

Stoves built before 1989—less efficient, more polluting

Any wood stove built before 1989 is not EPA certified, and is likely to be much less efficient and much more polluting then a stove built since then. While older wood stoves tend to rely on pretty basic baffles to burn as cleanly as possible, newer stoves do this better with insulated fireboxes that keep the fire hot, and more sophisticated after-burn systems. And they are laboratory-tested, so we know they work as designed, unlike older stoves that rely on someone’s half-baked idea of how wood smoke “ought” to travel.
I can say from experience that the new models work a lot better, and the $300 federal tax credit can help pay for them. When you install it, have a professional do it to make sure it’s done safely.

Dry firewood, and professional cleaning are key

Burning only clean, dry, and seasoned hardwood that has been split and dried for at least six months is also essential for clean, efficient burning. Properly seasoned wood is darker, has cracks in the end grain, and sounds hollow when smacked against another piece of wood.

Another step that I have been less-than-religious about in the past, is to have a professional chimney sweep inspect my wood stove and chimney on an annual basis. Here again, I have learned my lesson: wondering why I couldn’t get a fire going this fall, I called my local chimney sweep, who promptly removed the creosote blockage from my cap and chimney. Chimney sweeping is a pretty easy DIY job for many homes, but it's only a DIY job done if you actually DIY... if not, time to call the pros, who do a great job.

Hot gases from the fire condense on the chimney to form creosote, particularly in cold locations like the cap. Keeping your chimney clean may not be as visible an effort as keeping that wood pile neat, but it can help prevent a dangerous chimney fire or an unpleasant back draft. Oh yes, it’s common sense, but worth saying: when removing ashes, deposit them in a closed metal container. Stay warm, and stay safe!

Hearth manufacturers say consumers want to save money on energy costs.

American consumers are so concerned with their rising energy bills that they are purchasing various types of wood-burning hearth products at an astounding rate for supplemental warmth and to help save money on energy.

A recent consumer survey by the Arlington, Va.-based Hearth, Patio & Barbecue Association (HPBA) finds that more consumers are turning to efficient EPA-approved wood stoves, fireplace inserts, and pellet stoves and inserts to heat their homes. Shipments of pellet stoves and inserts for the first six months of 2008 increased by an amazing 212 percent as compared to the same period in 2007. Wood stoves and inserts increased 54 percent for the same period.

Unlike a fireplace, an EPA-approved freestanding wood stove performs an efficient, controlled burn that generates substantially less smoke than a traditional wood fireplace. These units, made of cast iron or soapstone, store heat, radiating it into the house. This allows the stove, depending on the size of the unit, to heat a space as large as 2,500 square feet. A pellet stove or insert accomplishes the same feat using a renewable, clean-burning fuel made from sawdust or other wood waste.

These hearth products are typically used for zone-style heating of the most frequently used rooms in a home, allowing homeowners to turn down the thermostat on the home's central furnace. This reduces fuel consumption, providing energy savings of up to 20 percent to 40 percent, HPBA says.

According to the HPBA survey, roughly 70 percent of buyers upgraded their fireplaces for energy efficiency; 51 percent did so to help save on heating costs. Additionally, consumers upgrading to an EPA-certified wood stove found that their wood use dropped by one-third because the units improved efficiency over older fireplaces, according to the survey.

Demand for stoves and inserts could continue into next year. Beginning in January 2009, homeowners can take advantage of a $300 federal tax credit to purchase a new pellet or 75-percent-efficient wood stove.

Nigel Maynard is senior editor, products, at BUILDER magazine.

Enviva LP currently has a biomass wood pellet manufacturing plant under construction in Ahoskie, N.C., and recently announced that it will soon be building another plant in Garysburg, N.C. According to a recent release, the Garysburg plant will create 62 green jobs, reimbursed at an average annual salary of $38,484, not including benefits, (as compared to the Northampton County average annual wage is $27,976). Enviva also expects to invest $60 million in the plant in the next three years. More