Pellet or Wood Stoves for Greener Homes!
It’s summer, so heating your home is probably the farthest thing from your mind – but it’s actually a really good time to think about it, because you’ve got a few months to make changes before winter arrives again. At Quadra-Fire, we’re passionate about biomass because it’s a green alternative to fossil fuels, which makes us big supporters of heating homes with renewable fuel – namely pellets and wood.
Commit to Heating with Renewable Fuels!
According to the U.S. Department of Energy, heating and cooling accounts for more than half the energy use in a typical U.S. home. By heating with renewable wood or pellets in a stove or insert, you can help reduce that number and your consumption of fossil fuels.
Cordwood is derived from forests that replenish year after year, making it an exceptional renewable fuel for all time. If you have access to inexpensive or free wood, or live in an area where cord wood is abundant, burning wood may be particularly attractive. Some tree species produce better logs for heating than others, so keep that in mind when making wood selections. For more information, see Quadra-Fire’s April 9 blog about choosing the best wood species.
Neither wood nor pellets require energy-intensive processes to harvest and process them into fuel, unlike fuel oil or propane. Fuel oil is derived from crude oil, which in the U.S. is generally extracted from the earth through frack-mining, then transported via rail or pipelines to refineries for processing. It’s then distributed through additional pipelines or tanker trucks to dealers who deliver it to homes’ storage tanks. Hardly an efficient process! If you’re burning wood, simply cut down a tree, split the wood and burn it. And pellets are readily available at retailers. See how easy it is to reduce your carbon footprint?
Cost advantages
In addition to peace of mind knowing you’re heating with a renewable fuel in a highly efficient Quadra-Fire stove or fireplace insert, financial benefits can be derived for years to come. This is especially true if you’re one of the 48 million households heating with propane, or the 8% of Americans using fuel oil.