Get cosy with eco-friendly fireplaces

Practical pellets
Pellet stoves burn wood in the form of small round pellets measuring roughly 6 millimetres in diameter and 25 millimetres in length. The pellets are made of compressed wood residue. The principal selling point of a pellet wood stove is its convenience: Once the hopper is loaded with pellets, the fire can burn for up to 24 hours, requiring no care since the feed is automatic. Most appliances come with a thermostat as well, which makes it possible to reach the exact desired temperature. (Try stopping a traditional wood stove at 20°C!) Some models can even be programmed to start automatically, which is great for those cold mornings when you don’t want to crawl out from under the covers.

Other than its convenience, the pellet stove offers vastly superior combustion efficiency, transforming 80 percent of the fuel into heat and consequently emitting a minimal amount of particle pollutants (less than one gram per hour). However, the motors that circulate the air and evacuate combustion gases run on electricity, although some models can run on a battery in the event of a power outage. But this doesn’t do much for the pellet stove’s image as an eco-friendly appliance. As well, it’s important to consider how much energy is used in manufacturing the pellets themselves.

While pellet stoves are quite expensive, they don’t require a high-temperature chimney, as do wood stoves. With some models, the installation of an outdoor vent is all that’s needed.

Is gas really that clean?
Energy-efficient (up to 90 percent), clean (they don’t pollute like wood stoves and don’t produce ash) and practical (they include programmable thermostats), gas appliances have the added advantage that they don’t call for a chimney: A simple outdoor vent or vent pipe (much like that of a dryer) will do. Gas fireplaces have everything the consumer can ask for. Better still, manufacturers have worked hard to produce an appliance with a flame almost as attractive as that of a real wood fire. However, these so-called “commercial” advantages belie the fact that gas heating systems present certain inconveniences when it comes to energy efficiency.

While natural gas and propane produce less carbon monoxide and particle emissions than wood, each is still a non-renewable source of fossil energy. Extraction, refining, transportation and fossil energy combustion of this resource all definitely leave an environmental footprint. When burned, natural gas and propane produce mainly nitrogen oxides (which contribute to smog) and carbon dioxide (a greenhouse gas). They also release a great deal of moisture into the air.

As already mentioned, some gas appliances are up to 90-percent efficient. However, Natural Resources Canada cautions that this rate corresponds to the maximum efficiency reached in controlled laboratory settings, where the usual sources of heat loss are non-existent. The best way to determine the real efficiency of a gas appliance is to consult the EnerGuide for its efficiency rating. Testing in connection with this Canadian standard has shown that, among these appliances, the top models only operate at an efficiency rate somewhere between 30 percent and 70 percent, results far lower than those obtained in laboratory settings.