Wood is the original
alternative
renewable energy source

Why not wood for energy? It's the original renewable energy source and has been used since "fire" was first discovered. Today's woodburning stoves are very efficient and can also be very attractive.

Wood stoves come in a wide variety of styles. Those that are installed in the main living areas are generally very pleasing to the eye as well as being very energy efficient. They come in both free standing styles and also as fireplace inserts. Many have built-in "windows" to allow viewing of the fire without comprimising their efficiency or safety. The ones that are installed in the basement are generally not designed to be as visually attractive, but instead are made to be used either the as the primary heating source or as a supplimental source of heating. They usually are installed in parallel with the original heating plant so that they can easily be switched back and forth. Another variation is to locate the wood stove outside in a separate, detached enclosure completely separate from the living area. This is particularily appealing to those that may be concerned about any fire danger that may be associated with wood burning stoves. Of course, this requires extra expense in bringing the heat back into the living area. It's usually accomplished by heating water and then pumping that back into the home for heating there. This is naturally less efficient, but some are willing to sacrifice that for increased peace of mind on the side of their safety concerns.

However you look at it, there's a very large source of completely renewabe energy producing material in the form of wood. There have been studies done in the state of Michigan that showed that all of the energy requirements for the entire state could be supplied without ever cutting down even one tree! There are so many trees down in that state's forests from storms and other natural causes that just those already downed trees could be harvested and used to supply all the energy needed to meet their current demand!

Of course, we're primarily dealing with what are referred to as "airtight" stoves. We're not concerned with the cheap "Franklin" style stoves that do burn wood, but don't give much heat back into the living area. Most of the heat from these simply goes up the chimney and use a lot of wood inefficiently. Forget those. The good "airtight" stoves come in many sizes and shapes. Generally speaking, the smaller ones work well, but don't have big enough fire boxes to be very practical for serious heating of large areas. They only burn for about 4-8 hours and require a lot of tending to keep them burning hot. I recommend getting one with a medium to large firebox. They can use larger logs and can be "stacked" to burn overnight without tending.

Another interesting idea is the "Pellet" burning stoves. They can be set up to burn for days without tending with their optional automatic feeding systems. The drawback is that you can't "harvest" these pellets in your own woods. They must be purchased from a retail outlet at the going market rates. A variation of this idea uses dried corn kernels which are much less expensive and burn very well. They have the disadvantage of causing many more "jams" that stop the automatic feeding of the stove. However, if you're already a corn farmer or have enough land to grow your own, this is certainly a very practical way to go if you don't mind clearing an occaisional jamming of the feeder system. And, of course, this is also a renewable source of energy.

As you can see, I really like the wood stove as a very efficient and inexpensive form of alternative energy for creating heat. Also, once again in the State of Michigan, there has been some research into using wood to fire boilers for creating steam to turn turbines for electric generating plants. These preliminary studies concluded that a very significant percentage of the state's electric power needs could be produced using wood as the energy source. This involved a unique system of using wood "chips" to be used to make a very efficient and hot fire to create the steam. It's a very interesting idea that never got very far primarily due to the fact that fossil fuels remain relatively inexpensive.

There's one other very nice advantage to using wood for heating your home. It provides a very pleasing atmosphere and it gives off a steady source of heat. You don't have the ups and downs of forced air heating that can be uncomfortable and irritating. The steady supply of warm air from your wood stove is very comfortable and reassuring. And, there's nothing like looking into the fire and seeing all the interesting shapes and glows that are so relaxing. There's nothing like coming in from the cold outside and kicking back with your shoes off and soaking up the heat from the fire!

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