5 Reasons You Should Add a Wood Stove During Your Remodel | Rules of Renovation

Long before the inventions of the furnace and electric ranges, we had the wood stove. Our forebears used it to heat the home, to cook food, boil water for tea; practically everything that required heat was done on a wood stove. They were often the center of a home, and main living spaces were built around them.
Since the advent of modern heating and cooking systems, however, wood stoves have fallen out of style. Living rooms are centered around TVs now, rather than wood stoves, and it’s uncommon for a household to need to chop wood as in days of old.
Wood stoves have changed over the years, though, and there are some good reasons to consider putting one in your home, if you’re doing a remodel.
They Fit the Style of Old Homes Perfectly
The traditional aesthetics of older homes lend themselves well to the addition of wood stoves. After all, if the home is old enough, it probably had one in there originally. Wood stoves bring a certain rustic charm to a home that older properties benefit from, and with the designs that are available now, you don’t have to settle just for what was in style back in the 1800s. There are more bold, contemporary styles these days, as well as some styles that bridge the gap between.
They Keep You Warm Even When the Power is Out
Nasty weather — especially during the winter — can wreak havoc on electrical systems, leaving you without power sometimes for days, depending on the damage done. While power companies work hard to minimize the time you spend blacked out, on a particularly bad winter you might find yourself without power for an extended period, and no power means no heat from the furnace or boiler.
Wood stoves can rescue you from the big chill, keeping your home warm whether you have electricity or not.
They Cut Down on Your Heating/Electric Bill
These days, people heat their homes via a variety of fuels: gas, diesel, electricity. The problem is these all run up your energy bills. In many cases, acquiring firewood is easy and much cheaper than paying a fuel bill, allowing you to save some cash with just a little bit of work.
Even if you have a gas fireplace, you’re still using the fuel, which is still adding to the bill. In most cases, wood stoves are still more economical for bringing heat to your home.
It Adds a Cozy Cottage Feel to Your Home
For thousands of years, humans have associated small fires with the warmth and safety of home. That instinct has stayed with it, and to this day there are few things as cozy as curling up by the fire. It just brings people together in a unique way, uniting them like the families and houses of old. With a wood stove in your home, you can recapture some of that magic, and spend some quality time together, rather than spreading out and separating into individual rooms.
Stoves are More Advanced Than They Used to Be
We tend to think of fire as a wasteful thing that’s harmful to the environment. But advances in technology have resulted in the creation of wood stoves that are actually carbon neutral. This means that the stove is only releasing to the outside an amount of carbon that’s comparable to what a living tree produces.
Even with less efficient stoves, you’re still likely to produce a far smaller carbon footprint using it than other heating sources. So if you care about living a greener lifestyle, you might actually get there more effectively by installing a wood stove.
