Wood Burning

• The net fuel cost is cheaper than heating oil, natural gas, and coal.
• Woody biomass can be grown and purchased locally and promotes local economies.
• Fuel (in the form of logs, wood chips, brush clippings, grasses, and lumber yard waste) is widely available, renewable, and sustainable.
• Fuel prices are relatively stable.

Gas Burning

The popularity of gas fireplaces is only continuing to grow — according to the Hearth, Patio & Barbecue Association, which represents the hearth products industry, nearly 70 percent of the hearth products used today use natural gas or propane as a fuel.

The ease of using gas fireplaces and logs plays no small role in that popularity — instead of chopping and stacking wood, painstakingly building fires and scooping up ash, homeowners are pressing a button and enjoying a warm, mood-enhancing fire.

Pellet Burning

Wood pellet stoves are generally small, and the bags of pellets are about the size of a mulch bag, making them easy to store. They’re also easy to operate; they on­ly require loading pellets and igniting the flame. And depending on what size hopper your stove has, it may need to be loaded only once a day.

Because the fire is contained in a heat box inside the unit, there is a minimum of smoke, which lessens the smell in your home and prevents the outside of the unit from heating up. Pellets create considerably less ash than firewood, giving off less creosote, a flammable byproduct of combustion that can build up and cause chimney fires.