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Wood burning stoves are a very good way of heating, being highly efficient and essentially environmentally friendly. Wood burning or multi-fuel stoves are as much as nine times as efficient as an open fire (i.e. three times as much heat with a third of the wood burnt). And most of the heat stays in the building. Modern stoves reach temperatures at which most of the substances in the smoke are also burnt, in a process called double-combustion, making them clean to use.
Not all solid fuel is carbon neutral, however there is a diverse selection of fuels available. You should check with the manufacturers manual regarding whats fuels are suitable in your stove. Expert installation of your stove ensures that you avoid many of the potential pitfalls of self-installation. A professionally installed stove will operate at its' peak efficiency and be a safe, reliable source of warmth for many years.
Essentially the difference between a dedicated wood burning stove and a multi-fuel comes down to efficiency. A wood burning stove will usually be slightly more efficient in burning wood, but will not burn many other fuels.
This is due to the fact that most solid fuels requrie ventilation from beneath, whereas wood burns best on a bed of ash. The firebox in a wood burning stove is also likely to be larger.
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Multi-fuel stoves use a grate in the bottom of the firebox to coal and man-made solid fuels to burn, these fuels have a greater energy density (more heat for less mass of fuel), but they are more expensive than wood.
Although there are differences in efficiency, this gap is being reduced and many modern multi-fuel stoves are almost as efficient as their wood burning rivals. Many wood burning stoves do come with a simple to fit adaptor grate whcih can be fitted in the base of the firebox (sometimes simply by cleaning out the ashes and dropping it in) to allow a the use of other fuels.
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