Fuel bills have increased astronomically over the last few years. You can combat these increased costs with a dual-fuel / woodburning stove. These stoves are usually made from cast iron or steel and can be routed into existing chimney systems. They can be operated with many different kinds of fuel. From simple wood and paper fuels to woodchip and bitumen bricks. They can also burn heavy grade tar if it is first preheated in a bowl in the stove by already burning wood.
As a result, this kind of stove is really appealing to survival nuts who feel they'll need to be able to burn anything 'when the end of the world comes'. http://www.diy.com/diy/jsp/bq/nav.jsp?action=detail&fh_secondid=11297564&fh_location=//catalog01/en_GB/categories%3C{9372014}/categories%3C{9372037}/categories%3C{9372162}/specificationsProductType=stoves/specificationsSpecificProductType=solid_fuel_stoves&tmcampid=4&tmad=c&ecamp=cse_go&CAWELAID=754382696
Fuel
For normal people, this represents a really useful stove which can provide (after purchase) nearly free heat over the winter months. I say nearly free as you must invest in a hand axe http://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B002W5VM8A/ref=asc_df_B002W5VM8A3821946?smid=A3P5ROKL5A1OLE&tag=googlecouk06-21&linkCode=asn&creative=22206&creativeASIN=B002W5VM8A to obtain the fuel for your stove. This can be any wood that isn't treated with chemicals as these will be released into the air if you burn it. You can obtain wood from fallen logs in forests and old fence posts which haven't been treated with preservative. This act also serves to protect the delicate ecosystem in a forest to
ensure that no one species get the upper hand in that environment. To ensure an uninterrupted supply of wood, pile loads of dry wood up under a water proof tarp near your house. This will make finding wood in winter easy and ensure you don't have to go for to get it.
Use
Obviously, a stove can be used to heat your home but it can also be of another use, heating water. some stoves come with a built in hotplate which you can use to heat an iron kettle. This allows you to avoid using electricity during the winter months as it is charged at a higher rate. It can be safely used as central heating overnight while you sleep too. To do this safely, you will need a carbon monoxide alarm to ensure that you're stove isn't malfunctioning. position this near the stove and test it regularly. To use overnight, simply load up your stove with fuel then close the air intake to half way. This will reduce the burn rate of your stove and allow it to burn through the night. To continue use in the morning, simply add more fuel and open the intake to full to give full burn of fuel.
Savings
Over about a two year period, your stove will have paid for itself through gas and electricity savings. This goes forward on the premise that you'll use a few hundred pounds in energy to heat your home over winter. As these stoves are normally of very high quality, you can be sure to save that figure annually. The money saved will soon mount up on paper though in reality, you'll be able to use it for other things you want, rather than need.
Environment
Some of you may think that using a woodburning stove harms the environment but consider this, a woodburning stove uses fuel from local surroundings and ensures that waste wood doesn't build up. It also takes the transport energy costs out of heating your home. What I mean is that the natural gas you would have used formally, would have come from the Middle East or Australia or Russia. At least some of this gas will have arrived via pipeline which involves large machines to compress the gas for transport. This is without mentioning the energy costs involved in obtaining the gas in the first place. Drilling for gas is very energy intensive work and is another negative which is avoided totally with the use of a woodburning stove.
