Wood-Burning Stoves: Helping People Heat And Cook For Hundreds Of Years

It is said that that the art of cooking was accidentally discovered long ago by the first humans when one of them dropped a piece of meat on a crackling fire and liked the smell of the piece of meat. And since then, cooking has gone a long way from its simple beginnings, thanks to the invention of certain appliances that allow people to modify their cooking to suit their preferences. And one of these aforementioned appliances that have made cooking easier for people are wood burning stoves, which have been used by people in their kitchens and homes since the eighteenth century.

Instead of utilizing electricity, a wood-burning stove instead burns wood fuel and similar forms of biomass fuel, such as wooden pellets, in order to heat up the stove. And ever since this type of stove was invented hundreds of years ago and even preceded the discovery of electricity, the composition of a wood-burning stove has changed little. It is generally made up of an enclosed fire chamber that is usually made of steel or cast iron, an adjustable air control level, and a base that is usually made of sturdy materials such as bricks.

The stove is then connected to a set of ventilating pipes, which are then connected to a chimney or an external outlet for the smoke on the stove to come out of. Once the fuel is ignited, it is these pipes and chimney which will be filled with combustion gases that have high temperatures. The temperatures of these pipes and chimneys should ideally be warmer than the external temperature in order for the stove to function properly and the aforementioned gases to rise up to the pipes and out the chimney.

Aside from aiding people in cooking their meals, wood-burning stoves can also help people in heating the living rooms, kitchens, and other specific areas in their house. This type of stove can likewise be used to accomplish certain tasks, such as effectively drying wet clothes and being used outdoors as an evaporator. In addition to this, a wood-burning stove can even be transformed into a multi-fuel stove once a grate is added to the stove.

Given its rich history and development, it comes as no surprise that there are many different types of wood-burning stoves that have been developed through the years. One of the first types of these stoves was invented by no less than US statesman Benjamin Franklin. Aside from the Franklin stove, boiler stoves are yet another type of a wood-burning stove that gives people space heating and also hot water. And finally, a fireplace insert is also a type of wood-burning stove that features an added fireplace for an enhanced efficiency for the stove.

There are truly many different types of stoves that can be purchased by people out there, but a wood-burning stove is one of the most trusted types of stoves as it has helped people in heating their houses and cooking their meals for many several hundreds of years and continues to do so even in this day and age.