When choosing a new wood stove, there are different factors to consider, such as the correct size and type of heating. It is very easy to get so wrapped up in technicalities that you forget how the stove will make your home feel.
You can choose two kinds of wood-burning stove heating: convection and radiant. The difference between these two comes down to how they distribute heat in a room.
Convection Wood Stove
This type of wood stove distributes heated air evenly in a room via air channels. First, cold air is drawn into the wood stove using a fan and heated. As the air heats up, it expands and comes out of the shielding around the stove. This creates a convection air current cycle where hot air rises and warmer air is pushed down. This cycle continues and keeps the whole room evenly heated.
A convection wood stove is great for a room with standard height ceilings and is well insulated. To distribute the heat more efficiently, you can install ceiling fans to spread the heat pool at the top to harder-to-reach areas in a room.
Advantages of Convection Wood Stove
- Heat distributed is even and comfortable
- Heat can spread to adjacent rooms and harder-to-reach places
- The use of a fan can distribute heated air faster
- The stove is safe to use around materials and children without the risk of burning or accidents.
Radiant Wood Stove
Most people are familiar with radiant wood-burning stoves. This type of stove emits infrared heat directly from the heater’s surface onto objects in close proximity. This results in uneven and localized heat in a room. With a radiant heater, the further away you are from it, the colder it gets.
Because it gets hotter near a radiant wood stove, you should keep combustible objects and children further away to avoid any accidents. If you have a crawling baby, try the Bonnlo configurable baby gate fireplace to keep them from going near the wood stove.
Radiant wood stoves are great for homes with less insulation, high ceiling heights, and large open plan areas. Apart from heating your home, radiant wood-burning stoves can also be used for cooking. Radiant heaters can take longer to heat a room, but they keep the heat down where it is needed more, so you’ll feel warm faster.
Advantages of Radiant Wood Stove
- It makes you feel warm faster
- Better heat distribution in high-ceiling homes
- Unmatched ambiance where it feels like sitting in a real wood fire
- Suitable for homes with higher ceilings and no insulation
Which Should you Choose?
The type of wood-burning stove you choose will depend on your preferences and what you want it to do.
Radiant wood burners are great if you want to be warm and cozy sitting close to them. A radiant wood burner creates a place to gather with family and share the warmth of the fire and each other’s company.
A convection wood stove is an excellent choice if a wood-burning stove is your primary source of heating your home. It is also a great option to keep your home warm regularly. It is a safer option for those with children in case they come into contact with the wood stove than a radiant wood stove.