Are you one of those people that enjoys cuddling up in front of a fireplace with a loved one and absorbing the heat – but don’t like the cost, environmental effects or inconvenience of wood fire stoves? Then perhaps you moved on to a stove that specializes in burning more environmentally-friendly fuels, such as pellets of super compressed wood chips, or maybe even corn and wheat. Well, if you have not, then you should definitely think about it.
Multi fuel stoves are becoming the way to go when it comes to heating your house off the grid. These stoves allow you to burn, as the name says, multiple fuels, rather than just one or the other. More specifically, these stoves are engineered to burn multiple types of fuels; shelled and dried corn, hulled and dried wheat or wood pellets. This alternative fuels appeal to the green crowd, just as an electric car would, except you do not look like a goof if you use multi fuel stoves.
Companies like Stovax (who carry a whopping 48 different styles of multi fuel stoves) and Aarow (who carry a much smaller number) are paving the way for multi fuel stoves by offering them as an option just as they would any other stove. Multi fuel stoves are a new technology to most of the market, and quite possibly the best way to go if you are going to have a stove or a fireplace.
As mentioned, there are inset multi fuel stoves, which you can get to look like the traditional fireplace or have it as the centerpiece of a room, much like a television. These are a little more costly, obviously, as you can’t just set them in a corner, they take actual construction, but the space that’s saved by getting an inset is probably well worth the money.
The best multi fuel stoves to keep an eye on are the ones you wouldn’t mind having around your house for more than ten years – these stoves are built to last, and can easily save you hundreds, if not thousands, of dollars on heating bills. They are especially ideal if you have ready access to corn or wheat, say on a farm, so that you would not have to pay out anything extra to get your fuel.
Overall, these stoves are a great idea, and hopefully catch on to be the number one source of non-electric heat, as they look good and cater to the traditional fireplace fans, and they are definitely much better for the environment than traditional wood burning stoves.
