Environmentally friendly, a wood burning stove is ideal for anyone seeking greater heat efficiency. The energy rating of the average modern wood burner is in excess of 70%, compared to the maximum energy rating of an open fireplace which is 25%. This means you get almost three-times the heat from the same amount of logs because of the increased efficiency, saving you money and helping you to be kind to the planet at the same time. Plus, wood is virtually carbon neutral as it only releases the same amount of carbon dioxide when it’s burned as it absorbed during its lifetime – and if you buy your logs from a sustainable source, a new tree is planted for every tree that is felled, maintaining the carbon neutral cycle.
With a woodburning stove, you can even make your own logs from unwanted papers, newspapers and cardboard.
It is little wonder that business owners seeking to reduce their carbon footprint are opting for wood burning stoves to heat their premises and generate hot water. Recently, two new stoves were installed as part of the Hardwick Hall renovation – and now a hotel in the New Forest has incorporated a wood burner into its green design.
The hotel’s owner Christine Simons said: “Customers love cycling the bike that we have had installed to produce energy for the TV. They want to light the fire to warm their water and also enjoy sleeping in a stunning hand-made four-poster bed constructed from a locally felled beech tree. It is sensual, inspirational, and quirky. I wanted to show that being green can also be exciting and fun.
“I focussed on three things when constructing the eco room: reducing waste, minimising pollution and using resources with the lowest whole life impact possible. Reducing my impact is a lifelong commitment and a labour of love.”
In addition to the room’s stove keeping hot water warm in the winter months, there are solar panels on the roof to produce hot water in the summer. Another key green feature of this hotel is its bicycle which enables visitors to generate their own power for the TV – and if they get too tired, the photovoltaic cells on the roof also create power. So there should be an opportunity for hotel guests to unwind in front of the woodburning stove and watch TV guilt-free, knowing that some of the power was generated by their efforts on the bike earlier!
The bed and bedroom furniture were crafted from wood recycled from the local area, and the windows, doors, tiles and piping are all reclaimed or recycled.
Are you more inclined to stay at a hotel that has taken measures such as installing a wood burning stove to be environmentally friendly?
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