High oil and gas prices got you spooked?  
If you are thinking wood heat,
read this first.

"Firewood becomes ash and it does not become firewood again. Yet do not suggest that ash is future and the firewood is past."
Eihei Dōgen 1200 - 1253
A non-commercial service in support of responsible home heating with wood
We can help you to burn wood better

 

Why heat with wood?  

Stoves, fireplaces, inserts, furnaces and so on . . .

All about chimneys

Firewood

Planning your new hearth

An online wood heat booklet (82 pages)

Wood Heat Videos

Wood heat safety

Heating Water with a Wood Stove  

Maintenance

Tips and techniques

Woodburning and the environment

Outdoor air supplies  

Wood Heat Wisdom


A reader's comment by email:
October 10, 2009
I helped my Dad with the wood, and now, as an adult, have my sons and wife help me with our winter heating fuel of choice. I have never lived in (other than the Army) or owned a home not heated by wood, and I don't envy those who have gas, oil, or coal, even if it easier. I enjoy my time cutting and splitting our wood supply. I truck it with a restored 1963 International 1 ton 4 x 4, and skid most firewood with our 1942 Farmall M. Keep on telling people the benefits of not being dependent on foreign oil!  Good job!  (By the way, I am a Forest Management major).
Frank
More reader's comments.


Welcome to the home of the Wood Heat Organization Inc., a nonprofit, nongovernmental agency dedicated to the responsible use of wood as a home heating fuel.

We start from the premise that heating a house with wood, partly or totally, is environmentally appropriate (conditionally) and economically beneficial. That doing it is physically healthful, and that experiencing it is comforting to the body and soothing to the spirit. Big claims for a heating fuel.

Like any other human endeavor, wood heating can be done badly or well. Wood can be harvested poorly, burned dirty and its heat wasted. Or, wood can be harvested sustainably, burned cleanly and efficiently, and its energy used to reduce the greenhouse gas emissions that cause global warming. 

Here, you will find support for your efforts to use wood well. We'll also clear up some misconceptions about wood heating – there are a lot of them around. Here, you'll get a balanced view of the merits of wood heating.

Whatever energy source you choose, its use will have an impact on the environment. The best energy sources are renewable and the best of those are solar power and wind power because their environmental impacts tend to be low. As good as they are, though, they do have their problems and limitations. Wood is another renewable energy source with its own problems and limitations, some of which can be managed and minimized, others of which cannot. But when it is used effectively, wood is a fine fuel compared to the fossil fuels like oil, gas and coal, whose consumption leads to global warming.

We hope you learn something useful and enjoy your visit.

 

 

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"People love chopping wood. In this activity one immediately sees results."
- Albert Einstein

This site was put on line 09/17/99 and last updated 03/11/2009
It replaces wood-heat.com, which was on line from 08/96 to 09/99