In the right situations, heating with wood is not only good — it’s ideal. In cold, rural environments, a wood stove, wood furnace, or pellet stove can be the most efficient and cost-effective way to heat your home.
But wood heating isn’t necessarily for everyone.
At HY-C, we manufacture wood burning furnaces under our Fire Chief and Shelter brand names. And whether you’re considering a furnace or a stove, we know the kinds of situations that are most conducive to wood heating (and the kinds of situations that aren’t).
In this guide, we’re going to cover some of the pros and cons of heating your home with wood. By the time you’re finished here, you’ll have a much clearer sense of whether or not a wood heating appliance is the right choice for you.
Three Pros of Wood Heating
1. Wood Heating Can Save You Money
Besides wood, there are several sources of energy used to heat homes in the United States. Natural gas is the most common by far, but other sources include electricity, oil, and propane. Depending on where you live, these sources of fuel can cost much more or much less than cordwood.
For example, in a suburban area, you may pay $130 to heat your home with natural gas for a month during the winter. In that same area, the cost to heat the same space with wood fuel may be $300 or higher (depending on the cost of cordwood and the efficiency of your appliance).
Conversely, in a rural environment, heating a home with natural gas may be $300 per month or higher, while heating the same home with cordwood fuel costs much less. It all has to do with which fuel source is scarcer or more abundant around your home. Which leads to our second pro…
2. Wood Fuel Is Readily Available (in Some Areas)
In places with dense tree coverage, cordwood is much cheaper than it is in suburban or urban areas. And if you own your own land, all you need is some time, a chainsaw, and a bit of elbow grease to gather and split enough firewood to heat your home for free.
People who heat their homes with natural gas tend to take its presence for granted. But a quick look at a map of the natural gas pipelines throughout the United States show that they don’t even come close to covering the entire country.
Large swaths of Vermont, Maine, New Hampshire, Montana, and more states have little to no access to natural gas heating. In these same areas, propane and electricity tend to be pricey. But a good wood heating appliance and access to acres upon acres of cordwood means low-cost heating all winter long.
3. Wood Heating Is More Reliable in a Blackout
When it’s -20 °F outside, the last thing you want is a blackout. In temperatures that cold, any heat that was present in the house will dissipate quickly, and with the power out, there won’t be a supply of heat to replenish the house.
Some wood heating appliances will still work well in a blackout, though.
Forced-air wood burning furnaces and pellet stoves require electricity to produce heat — but not much. In the case of a power outage, a generator or a battery backup can provide enough power to continue to run the unit for multiple days.
A wood stove, on the other hand, utilizes radiant heat. As such, it can continue to supply heat to your home indefinitely, even in the event of a power outage.
In all, wood heating appliances are much more effective at continuing to supply heat during a power outage than their natural-gas counterparts.
Three Cons of Wood Heating
1. Wood Heating Takes a Large Upfront Investment
For all of its benefits, wood heating isn’t just something you can take on overnight. Getting set up safely takes a good deal of investment both in terms of finances and time.
A wood-burning furnace or stove can cost thousands of dollars just for the unit itself. If you’re buying a furnace, you’ll need to hook it up to your ductwork, which may require the help of an HVAC contractor. And whichever wood heating appliance you buy, you’ll need to build a chimney, which requires additional investments in material and labor.
The IRS does offer a tax credit up to $2,000 for applicable wood stoves and furnaces. Also, the relatively cheaper cost of cordwood fuel means that for most wood burners, the unit will pay for itself eventually in savings.
But make no mistake: it takes time, money, and patience to buy and install a wood heater. It’s no small project, so make sure you’re ready.
2. Wood Heaters Require More Work to Operate
Any veteran wood burner knows that you can’t just cut a tree down and throw its wood directly into your stove or furnace. You need to follow good burning practices and allow firewood to sit and season for six months to a year.
This means maintaining a constant seasonal schedule of either buying or cutting firewood and allowing it to cure before you burn it for heat. This process obviously requires much, much more work than a natural gas furnace that automatically supplies the right level of fuel the very second you need it.
You’ll also need to add wood to your stove or furnace on a regular basis. Wood heaters typically have burn times between 8 and 12 hours, but this still requires you to reload the unit two or three times a day.
Wood heating appliances require much more care and attention to operate than natural gas furnaces (which essentially run themselves). If you’re thinking about heating with wood, be ready for that reality.
3. Wood Heaters Require More Upkeep
If you own a natural gas furnace, the most upkeep you can expect is changing the air filter once or twice a year. Maybe you’ll have it inspected when you move in or out of the home, but in all, most homeowners tend not to think about or interact with their gas furnace much.
Wood heaters, though, are a different story.
For one, it’s essential to keep your wood heater’s chimney clean. Over time, creosote, soot, and other combustion byproducts build up in the chimney, inhibiting its draft and hampering the efficiency of the appliance. It’s good practice to clean your appliance’s chimney at least once a year.
On top of that, you’ll need to keep the area around the heater clean, too. It’s good to sweep up wood chunks and scrub away any ash or soot that escapes from the unit. Also, most wood heaters have an ash pan that needs to be emptied at least once a week.
Wood stoves and furnaces need proper upkeep and maintenance to ensure their safe operation. If you’re considering one, make sure you’re up to the task.
Should You Try Wood Heating?
There you have it: some of the pros and cons of heating your home with wood. You may still be wondering, though: “Is wood heating right for me?”
To answer that question, consider which fuel sources are common or scarce in your area. If you have little or no access to natural gas, propane, or oil (or if these sources are too expensive), wood heating may be a viable option for you. It becomes an even more viable option if you have cheap or free firewood nearby.
If the fuel access and costs make sense, the next thing to consider is the price and installation of the unit. Make sure that buying a stove or furnace and having a chimney built are within your budget (or will at least make financial sense in the long term).
Finally, be sure you’re up to the task of operating and maintaining the unit. Make sure you’ll have a supply of good, seasoned firewood on hand each season, and that loading and cleaning the appliance on a regular basis won’t be a problem.
And if you’re wondering which appliance is right for you, take a look at our guide on wood stoves and wood furnaces. It compares and contrasts each kind of wood heater to help you decide which one is the right choice for your home.
