Get 26% Back on Your Fallon’s Wood Stove or Insert Purchase & Installation.

Purchase and install a qualified Wood Stove or Fireplace Insert from Fallons and receive a 26% tax credit of your total cost. Fallons offers many qualifying wood stoves and inserts from Stuv, Quadra-Fire, and Vermont Castings This is a great opportunity to save thousands on your heating bill while getting thousands more back on your purchase.

The 26% tax incentive ends December 31st, 2022. It then drops to 22% for 2023, with the entire program scheduled to expire on January 1, 2024.

 

Wood Stoves and Fireplace Inserts

The glow and warmth of a wood fire always draw family and friends to the hearth. A wood stove can truly help transform a house into a home. Given the advanced heating options available today, does a return to our original heating fuel make sense for your household?
The benefits of heating with a wood stove are numerous: comfort, beauty, environmental responsibility and, of course, cost savings. In fact, if you live in a reasonably well constructed, average-sized house, you probably can heat the whole place with a single wood stove, provided it is located and installed correctly. Below are some of the main things to consider when determining which wood stove is right for you.

 

Cast Iron vs. Steel Wood Stoves

The two main options for modern wood stoves are cast iron or welded steel. There is no performance difference between them, so the decision has to do with aesthetics and price. Graceful curves and artistic relief patterns make cast-iron wood stoves pleasing to the eye, rather like fine furniture that heats your home. Cast iron wood stoves cost more than steel wood stoves, but will need to be “rebuilt” every few years to reseal the panels. Too much air leakage could cause the fire to burn out of control. Although steel wood stoves are less fancy, most are still attractive enough to be right at home in a nice living room.
In terms of durability, there often isn’t much difference. Cast iron wood stoves used to have the advantage since parts could be replaced more easily than steel wood stoves. However, most of today’s steel wood stoves are constructed so that many internal parts are replaceable. However, not all wood stoves are built for years of continuous winter use (as opposed to occasional heating), so it is good to understand which parts on your preferred wood stove models are replaceable.

 

Wood Stove Combustion

Wood stoves use either catalytic or non-catalytic combustion. While both approaches are effective, there are performance differences. Catalytic combustion – in which smoky exhaust gases pass through a catalyst-coated ceramic honeycomb buried inside the wood stove where they ignite and burn – tends to produce a long, steady heat output. All catalytic wood stoves have a lever-operated catalyst bypass damper, which is opened for starting and loading. This tends to make the operation of these stoves a little more complicated. In addition, the catalytic element degrades over time and must be replaced every two to six years, depending on how diligent you are with cleaning and maintaining your wood stove before each use.
Non-catalytic combustion does not use a catalyst, and simply creates a good environment for combustion right inside the firebox. Three key features create this environment – firebox insulation, a baffle to divert gas flow and preheated combustion air introduced through small holes around the upper part of the firebox. Non-catalytic wood stoves produce a more “peaks” in their heat output, but are prized for the beautiful glowing flame they display. Since higher temperatures lead to better combustion, the baffle and other internal parts will need replacement as they deteriorate from the heat.
Which type of wood stove is better? Both types of wood stoves have their proponents – and their detractors. However, as a general rule, catalytic wood stoves are better suited for long, stable, continuous heating, whereas non-catalytic wood stoves are better suited for intermittent or supplemental heating.

 

Wood Stove Emissions

In the 1980s, the EPA established smoke emission limits for wood stoves at 7.5 grams of smoke per hour (g/h). Today, all woodstoves and fireplace inserts must be tested to meet this limit, with many certified in the 1 to 4 g/h range.

 

Wood Stove Efficiency

On average, new wood stoves are about 30 percent more efficient than older box, potbelly or step stoves, and even many of today’s central heaters. That’s 30 percent less cost if you buy firewood, or 30 percent less cutting, hauling and stacking if you cut your own!
Unfortunately, none of the performance ratings shown on wood stove brochures are standardized and regulated, so they can’t always be taken at face value. The EPA does not require wood stove efficiencies to be reported, but it still assigns default values of 63 percent for non-catalytic and 72 percent for catalytic wood stoves. While some wood stove manufacturers pay for independent efficiency tests, testing methods are not standardized and regulated – so it is hard to compare between results from different testing sources.
The good news is that all EPA certified wood stoves are more than 60 percent efficient and some can deliver up to 80 percent of the wood’s potential heat to the house. This is far better than low-tech, uncertified wood stoves, many of which are in the 50 percent range or even lower. However, despite higher efficiency being deemed “the gold standard,” efficiencies over 80 percent should be avoided because the lower exhaust temperature means a weaker draft and a risk of water vapor condensation, potentially damaging your chimney.

 

Wood Stove Heat Output & Capacity

Most popular wood stoves provide between 25,000 – 80,000 BTU’s of heat. However, the full output of a wood stove should not be used often since continuous high firing can damage to the stove’s interior. In fact, an average medium-sized house needs only 10,000 to 20,000 BTUs per hour of continuous heating, even during cold weather. Also, keep in mind that some wood stove manufacturers use heat output rates from the EPA, which uses softwood fuel. Other wood stove companies may use the results of their own tests, which can produce a higher peak output depending on the fuel used. Still, a comparison of the maximum heat output will give you some idea of relative heating capabilities among various models.
Wood stove companies always state how many square feet the unit will heat. Some give ranges like 1,000 to 2,000 square feet or suggest the maximum area a unit will heat. The reason for the big range is that a particular stove might heat a 2,000 square-foot house in Georgia, but only a 1,000-square-foot house in New Hampshire due to temperature differences. Older houses also may have more heat loss than newer homes, reducing a stove’s maximum heating area. Plus, a stove burning softwood, such as spruce, will put out less heat than it would burning a hardwood like maple.
In practical terms, wood stoves come in three sizes: small stoves, for heating a large room or a seasonal cabin; medium, for heating a small- to medium-sized house; and large stoves for heating larger and/or leakier houses. Your Fallon’s representative can help you determine the correct-sized wood stove to suit your home and heating needs.

 

Wood Stove Loading & Other Things to Consider

For convenient loading, the firebox should be about 3 inches bigger than your longest pieces of firewood. A wood stove that can handle 20-inch firewood isn’t necessarily bigger or better than one that can take 18-inch logs, as standard stove firewood length is 16 inches (given its ease of handling).
There are other wood stove features to consider as well. These include whether the stove can be operated with open doors and a fire screen, the inclusion of an ash pan, whether it has a cooking surface, aesthetics (like colors, plated doors and trim), and pedestal stands versus legs. None of these influence heating performance, but may enhance your enjoyment.