Heating with wood is a wonderful experience and way to keep you and your family warm during the winter. However, there are many things to learn before you run out and buy your first wood stove. It makes sense to educate yourself so you can make the best decisions.
From personal experience I can tell you that there is more involved than one might think at first glance. I grew up in Colorado, where there is basically no good firewood available for a high quality cast iron wood stove. My only experience with burning wood was in our fireplace, and nobody expected this to be efficient.
After moving to Wisconsin, I realized that not only did using firewood make economic sense, but it was a secure source of warmth, enjoyable and a lot of good, wholesome hard work. Not only that, but all of my friends heated with wood and we shared many great memories cutting, splitting and stacking the wood we gathered from local farmers.
Before buying a wood stove, look around at the ones in use by people you know. This is an invaluable source of knowledge that can save you from a costly error. Most people love to talk about their stoves and how it performs, what it's weaknesses and strengths are, and how much they love or hate it.
It is one thing to casually walk around in a store, looking at the statistics and listening to the salesman, who probably doesn't know too much either! Quite another thing is to see the thing in use and listen to the owner.
Perhaps it is not possible to check out the stove of a friend, for any number of good reasons. In that case you can read reviews, ask local store owners who have been in the business for years, or gather information from the manufacturers themselves.
The internet offers endless amounts of information on anything imaginable, and wood stoves are no exception. There are forums, chat rooms and review sites as well that can give you guidance.
Keep in mind that if you are planning on using your stove as the primary source of heat for your house, you are making a substantial commitment in time and effort. A well planned program is a thousand times better than a make-it-up-as-you-go-along approach. It is no fun digging wood out of the snow, for example, or having no kindling, no ash bucket, a smelly house and so on.
You need numerous accessories as well. Some of the things you must have include:
Splitting maul
Fireproof floor covering
Ash bucket and shovel
Wall protector to prevent fire
Adequate stove pipe and chimney
Storage shed
Steamer to add humidity to the house
Area to keep the day's supply in
Fire proof gloves
There are many other items you will need, but these are the essentials. Of course, if you cut your own wood, you need many more things, such as a gas chain saw, chain saw sharpener, files, wedges, ear plugs, goggles, gloves, ropes and more.