| Wood boilers take the idea of the traditional wood | | | | coming home to a cold house and, in extremely |
| stove and improve on it, solving some problems | | | | cold weather, dealing with the possibility of frozen |
| inherent in wood burning and making wood a | | | | and burst pipes. Also, walking away from a house |
| clean, safe, and efficient source of heat. | | | | with an active fire burning in the wood stove |
| Wood stoves have been used for centuries; a | | | | doesn't necessarily inspire a lot of peace of mind. |
| very famous American, Benjamin Franklin, | | | | Enter the wood boiler. Designed to burn cleanly, |
| invented the Franklin stove in the 1700s as a safe | | | | with a minimum of creosote build-up, a boiler can |
| alternative to fireplaces, which were dangerous - | | | | be loaded with enough wood to burn for hours |
| likely to catch the mainly wooden homes standard | | | | without having to replenish the wood supply. The |
| back then on fire - and not particularly efficient. | | | | boiler, which can be located inside or outside the |
| The stove provided radiant heat in a relatively | | | | home, heats water which can be used in hot |
| safe manner compared to the open fires of | | | | water heating systems and, combined with a hot |
| fireplaces. | | | | water storage system, can be stored for long |
| While wood stoves were supplanted by central | | | | periods of time (from seven to ten days) |
| heating decades ago in urban and suburban | | | | between firings. |
| environments, in the country many people | | | | Some boilers are constructed to be used with a |
| continue to heat their homes, as well as cook | | | | variety of fuels, including wood, oil, and gas, |
| their meals, partly or entirely with wood. But | | | | offering a lot of flexibility to the homeowner, |
| problems remain in the use of wood as a fuel; | | | | particularly with the fluctuations in the availability |
| while a properly maintained and operated wood | | | | and pricing of different fuels. Other boilers are |
| stove is relatively safe, the build-up of creosote in | | | | designed to burn corn or wood pellets, two more |
| stove pipes and chimneys can still result in | | | | fuels which are increasing in popularity as |
| dangerous fires. | | | | alternatives to traditional fuel oil or natural gas. |
| Another problem is time. In an era when at least | | | | With more consumers waking up to the problems |
| one person in the family spent the majority of | | | | inherent in heating with oil and natural gas, people |
| the time at home, feeding a hungry wood stove | | | | are looking with renewed interest at alternative |
| was not a big problem; now, however, with adults | | | | sources of fuel for heating their homes; and more |
| working outside the home at least forty hours a | | | | and more are choosing wood boilers as a safe, |
| week, if not more, having a fire go out means | | | | sensible, and moneysaving solution. |