Wood is an old-fashioned, dirty way to heat, right? Everybody used to say and believe just that. Back in the day, your grandparents traded out antique wood stoves and furnaces for the latest gas or fuel oil models as soon as they could. But the times they are a changing. Modern wood stove efficiency allows current generation models to perform far better than anything our forefathers ever relied on. But how much better are they really?

Shocking Performance!

The fuel efficiency average on a modern gas furnace, the nation's most popular heater, is around 80%. Which means it turns 80% of its gas fuel into heat. The remaining 20% is waste that the unit must vent outside of the house. Wood stoves must be way more wasteful than that, right? Not really. The latest generation of wood stoves can reach similar efficiencies. Which is really impressive when you consider the fact that old wood stoves created 70% more pollution than even a basic modern model. So, yeah, the technology has really come a long way. And that's definitely a good thing. As the cost of heating oil has risen, more and more people have invested in wood stoves to heat their homes. The EPA estimates the number of households using a wood stove as their primary heater has grown by 39% since 2004. Regionally, they can be even more popular with adoption rates reaching almost to 50% in states with large rural areas like Vermont and Maine. So when it comes to choosing your next home heater, it's definitely worth your time to take a look at the latest generation of wood stove systems. They're not for everyone, but today's models can fit into many different lifestyles that previous generation units just couldn't.

Anything Else About Wood Stove Efficiency You Want to Know?

Do you have questions or comments about wood stoves or other types of heaters? Just ask here, on Facebook, or on Twitter.