| As part of trying to reduce our footprint on this | | | | stove will continue to put off heat. This alone |
| glorious earth, we have invented new ways of | | | | makes it very economical to use as a stove. |
| heating our homes. In truly frigid locales, many | | | | Gas is frequently used now to burn in the stoves, |
| find that using home heating stoves augments the | | | | for instance a gas stove that burns gas will use a |
| efficiency of their furnace, and may even be used | | | | maximum BTU per hour of 18,000 BTU, can heat |
| for entire home heating when the temperature is | | | | up to 850 SF with the use of its fan. That means |
| not quite as cold. | | | | that it has a steady state efficiency of |
| Home heating stoves come in a myriad of | | | | approximately 80.1%. That's such a tremendous |
| choices, cast iron being the most commonly used | | | | difference compared to the efficiency of a plain |
| as it was back in the days of the all around | | | | "old" fireplace for instance, which lost the majority |
| heating and cooking sources in many cabins. | | | | of its produced heat up the chimney and polluted |
| Interestingly enough though, the "old days" | | | | the environs for miles. |
| pioneers came up with some exceedingly | | | | The newer gas stoves may have the efficiency |
| fascinating and out of the ordinary thinking about | | | | of gas, but often they have the heartwarming |
| heating with home heating stoves. They actually | | | | "look" of the old traditional woods stoves. Some |
| used soapstone to retain the heat better in their | | | | of the stoves come with porcelain enamel sides |
| stoves. Soapstone if you are not familiar with it, is | | | | or even soapstone! Modern conveniences are |
| a metamorphic rock. It was created by heat and | | | | frequently built in depending on what model you |
| pressure contained in the world's tectonic plates. | | | | choose, so you can have modulating remote |
| The rock will retain heat for an incredibly long | | | | control to control your stove, or a wall unit |
| time, but will not burn. Native American Indians | | | | thermostat. You can also "hype" it up with a |
| used soapstone to make cooking slabs from it, | | | | convection fan, or an aromatherapy tray! |
| and even constructed fireplaces from it for the | | | | One of the best features of a gas stove is the |
| white man. They already knew that soapstone | | | | fact that when the weather gets really bad, and |
| could never be degraded by the application of | | | | the streets are darkened by power blackouts, |
| heat. This is why even today we can find | | | | your room will remain toasty warm and you'll be |
| artifacts such as soapstone smoking pipes left | | | | able to enjoy the dancing yellow flames that |
| over from the American Indians. | | | | seem to lick at the charred logs and the glowing |
| Today the "new and improved" home heating | | | | wood embers inside the stove. All man made; yet |
| stoves are found to be substantially improved by | | | | they look so very real that most can't tell the |
| the use of soapstone. Soapstone, if you'll recall | | | | difference. |
| hold heat longer, thus even when put out the | | | | |