Often when people think about a wood burning stove it conjures up images of an old fashioned cast iron Ben Franklin stove or a roaring fireplace, but these days wood stoves have evolved in many diverse and interesting directions that sometimes barely resemble the classic images. Fireplaces have been replaced by cozy little stoves and wood heaters (often resting on the tile of the fireplace itself), using science more than the raw energy of burning wood to keep the house warm at night. In fact, these days many stoves don’t burn logs at all, but rather little pellets!
The most familiar model of wood burning stovesthat people are familiar with are radiant stoves. This stove is made up of a layer of thick iron or steel plates that get heated up by the fire inside and radiate the heat out into the room. Most radiant heat stoves also have a glass or plexiglass window in the front to allow you to monitor the fire and let some light into the room.
However the heat generated by a radiant stove has led to many burns, which in turn led to the creation of the circulating stove to address this problem. Circulating wood stoves have multiple layers, often separated by fire brick, allowing the fire to rage inside the stove while preventing the external layer from becoming too hot to touch. Many models then use small fans to circulate the heat out into the rest of the room.
Many modern stoves also incorporate ways to circulate the gases emitted from burning the wood back into the fire, not only increasing the heat but also reducing harmful emissions at the same time. This can be accomplished by adding a catalytic converter such as a platinum covered ceramic piece, or by using a baffle or venting system to reintroduce the hydrocarbon gases back to the flames. These methods can increase heat efficiency by as much as 25%.