I am looking at new woodstoves. Currently, I am working with a Heartland kitchen cookstove as our main source of heat, so I'm pretty comfortable with using wood heat.
I am comparing stoves from Hearthstone, Jøtul, Vermont Castings, and Quadra-Fire, and looking at the efficiency and the emissions numbers. Since my DH has asthma, minimizing emissions is fairly important to us.
Looking at the numbers, the emissions reported range from 0.7 to 3.2 grams/hr. I am certain this is substantially better than the current stove. But how good is it? Will I notice a difference between 3.2 and 0.7? What about say 3.2 and 1.5? Can I expect these numbers to stay stable over the life of the stove (these are all non-catalytic).
Obviously less is better, and I'd prefer to add as little to the atmosphere as possible.
Similarly, efficiency numbers range from 81% to " > 75%" to 68% (although still an EPA qualified stove) to 77%. It seems to me I might not notice 5% but at 10% I might notice. Or then again, perhaps these numbers aren't so consistent that over time, when I'm using it, that I'll notice. (Certainly it will be better than what I have.)
It surprises me that the stove with the lowest reported thermal efficiency also reports the lowest emissions per hour. That is counterintuitive.
Any thoughts?
I am comparing stoves from Hearthstone, Jøtul, Vermont Castings, and Quadra-Fire, and looking at the efficiency and the emissions numbers. Since my DH has asthma, minimizing emissions is fairly important to us.
Looking at the numbers, the emissions reported range from 0.7 to 3.2 grams/hr. I am certain this is substantially better than the current stove. But how good is it? Will I notice a difference between 3.2 and 0.7? What about say 3.2 and 1.5? Can I expect these numbers to stay stable over the life of the stove (these are all non-catalytic).
Obviously less is better, and I'd prefer to add as little to the atmosphere as possible.
Similarly, efficiency numbers range from 81% to " > 75%" to 68% (although still an EPA qualified stove) to 77%. It seems to me I might not notice 5% but at 10% I might notice. Or then again, perhaps these numbers aren't so consistent that over time, when I'm using it, that I'll notice. (Certainly it will be better than what I have.)
It surprises me that the stove with the lowest reported thermal efficiency also reports the lowest emissions per hour. That is counterintuitive.
Any thoughts?