"Waste not, want not" is an old saying that is still applicable today when it comes to burning wood in your wood furnace! In the United States each year, the amount of wood and paper that is thrown away could actually heat 5 million homes for 200 years. Isn't that remarkable! People discard everything from plastic milk containers, magazines and newspapers, to numerous other household articles that are combustible and could be burned to create heat. This statistic was gathered over 10 years ago, so today there are even more articles thrown away. Depending on their income and lifestyle, there are some people that actually collect tree trimmings and broken pallets and waste wood near their home and carry them home each day to be burned in their wood furnaces as heat.

With the advent of modern stoves and outdoor wood furnaces, burning waste wood as a source of heat is an old technology that has been given new life. With the cost of energy rising, it simply makes sense to use these resources and save money. With their airtight designs and catalytic burners, these furnaces give more heat from the same amount of wood and emit less particulate mass or smoke.

Burning wood and waste material, even in its less efficient form, is more environmentally-friendly than heating with electricity or gas. With today's technology, dramatic strides have been made in wood burning. Modern wood furnaces and combustion-controlled fireplaces are now achieving efficiencies comparable to most wood stoves. In many states, catalytic converters are required to allow materials to burn at lower temperatures. If you have a wood burning stove, you can purchase an add-on catalytic device that will actually improve its efficiency. When installed and operated properly, these devices will reduce wood-burning pollution and increase stove efficiencies. See how much money you can save today by burning as much would as possible!