Feeling the Heat, Just Where It's Needed

Until this week, the mid-Atlantic got the cold shoulder from winter, and area residents just adored the snub. Those lower heating costs were as sweet as playing 18 holes on New Year's Day.

During the winter of 2005-06, it was a different story. Then, a nasty collision of weather and world politics sent oil and gas bills through the roof. Suddenly, heating stoves and fireplace inserts were red-hot commodities as the rush was on to find ways to stay warm that didn't burn through the bank account.

With oil prices lower and temperatures higher this winter, at least until now, the interest in alternative heating options has cooled. Yet the zone heating that can be provided by a stove, fireplace insert (basically a stove inside a fireplace) or a high-efficiency wood or gas fireplace still is worth a look.

Wood, pellets and gas, both natural and propane, are the most common fuels in our region for zone heating. Coal-burning equivalents are sold here, but the fuel can be hard to come by. In addition, coal's pollution levels are high when compared with other supplemental heating options, said Alex Wilson, president of BuildingGreen in Brattleboro, Vt., and author of "Your Green Home" (New Society Publishers, 2006).

Electric stoves, inserts and fireplaces, while offering what Leslie Wheeler, communications director of the Hearth, Patio and Barbecue Association, calls "plug-in" ambiance, are generally no bargain as a heat source.

Wood

· Heating value. With an open wood-burning fireplace, "most of the heat goes up the chimney," Wheeler said. Because the damper must stay open until the fire is out, the fireplace not only acts like an open window but sucks warm air out of the house. Open fireplaces are estimated to be 10 percent efficient; the percentage refers to the net amount of usable heat generated from the fuel burned. In other words, open fireplace fires are lovely to look at, but lousy for heat.

Old wood stoves were only marginally better -- 20 to 30 percent efficient. Stoves, wood-burning fireplace inserts and prefab high-efficiency fireplaces made in the past 15 years or so typically have upped that percentage to the mid-60s to mid-70s.

The quality of the stove, insert or fireplace is a factor in its efficiency, Cox said. Thicker materials radiate more heat, and better construction means less leakage. "You get a smoother ride with a Lexus than a Ford," she said.

When Chris Granger was renovating his Greenbelt house, he bought a prefabricated, airtight wood-burning fireplace from Mike Taylor of Acme Stove in Rockville. This heater is basically a firebox or furnace with a hearth and chimney built around it. His fireplace is rated at more than 70 percent efficiency. Granger loads it before going to bed, and it keeps his main furnace from kicking on for much of the night. Even on single-digit days, he said, his living room is "toasty."

Granger's fireplace has an electric blower. Many wood-burning appliances, though, require no electricity to operate, so they can keep a house warm, or at least warmish, during power failures. Even those that use an electric blower can provide heat during a failure; they just won't be able to circulate it as well.

· Initial investment. Cost varies according to the quality of the stove or insert. At American Chimney, the price for a stove that heats about 600 square feet, made by Jotul, a leading manufacturer from Norway, starts at about $800. A stove capable of heating 3,500 square feet, made by Quadra-Fire, another leading stove maker, is about $2,200. A wood-burning insert that heats about 1,200 square feet, also by Quadra-Fire, is about $2,300; one that can heat 2,500 square feet is almost $3,500.

If a house lacks a fireplace, the venting of a chimney can be equal to or greater than the cost of the stove, insert or fireplace, Taylor said. Granger, who did not have a fireplace, said he spent about $4,200 on his Fireplace Xtrordinair and $1,500 more on installation. He built the brick hearth and faux-stone chimney himself.