Disappointed that the virtues of Morso wood stoves were overlooked in this article. Their models are appropriate for both modern and traditional architecture. Long a favorite of Europeans, Morso is gaining traction in the US. We did a lot of research before settling on the Morso 3440, including seeing the Shaker by Wittus, the Malm, and several Jotuls in person. They couldn't compare to the utility and muscular durability that the Morso offers. Easy to load, easy to clean, Morso has a cast iron construction that keeps you warm hours after you've gone to bed at night. It isn't hard to get a good coal bed going and then it burns easily for hours.
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In 2015, New York City banned the construction of new wood-burning fireplaces. See this article in the Times for more information:
https://www.nytimes.com/2015/12/20/realestate/fireplaces-new-york.html
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Keep in mind this is a "style" home-decor article. Most of these wood burners will be for show & glow, not for heat, so any contribution to poor air quality will be minimal. Many will never see a fire, and have the same 12 birch logs artfully arranged nearby for decades.
No open fireplace or woodstove produces net heating to a home as they draw in more cold outside air for combustion than they warm - but they can add warmth and ambiance to a room. For home heating you need an airtight stove or insert.
Plenty of rural folk depend on wood for heating and while it may not be the greeneest choice (or even as green as claimed) newer woodstoves are cleaner and more efficient than older ones. The worst air-quality offenders are the external whole-house wood-fired boilers, but if you have a poorly insulated 200-year-old farmhouse with 50 acres of trees at hand, it's hard to resist that option.
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The $200 blower I had attached to our living room gas fireplace makes it much more efficient. With that, after the fireplace is on for 10 minutes or so, the extra heat isn't wasted, but rather dramatically warms the house. Down to 35F, it is sufficient to warm the first floor rooms we mainly use--1,400sq, feet. Then some of it rises and by afternoon, our reading lift is cozy, too.
So it is very efficient, since we live in one of the places with most plentiful supplies of natural gas.
There are many attractive options for electric fireplaces for those like myself who live in condos or apartments where other types of fireplaces are prohibited. It is possible to have a contractor build a masonry frame, mantel and hearth to give the unit a built in appearance. Electric fireplaces can provide heat or just a pretty realistic flame using LED technology and with the right installation, provide a warm and inviting focal point for the room, with no soot and next to no operating costs.
Great to save on heating costs also with a great stove.
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I hope the NYT stops touting this. Soot from wood burning in the N.E. U.S. is a major contributor to the darkening of the snow cover in the Arctic, and speeds the melting. Here in New England, particulate matter from wood burning is a major health hazard. There is no safe level, and no way to truly enforce any type of safety or health standards for this. There is a major movement here against wood stove burning and biomass. Forests left undisturbed and allowed to compost are actually a beneficial way to sequester carbon, as well as being sinks for existing CO2.
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Well, for say New England winter heat what do you propose burning instead? Wood can be cleaner, not all is. But oil has CO2 emissions, gas too. Electric just puts the pollution somewhere else, or its nuclear which is a big mistake. Coal is a mess.
Leaving I guess only geo-thermal.
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I think you may have your facts incorrect. When a wood burning stove is burning at the optimal temperature there is nothing but a colorless, soot-less billow of hot steamy air leaving the chimney. Something akin to a cooking stove venting out the side of a home. I too used to think the same, but then I did some research before installing a small, cast-iron, Danish stove in our small home. If you doubt me, call Cracker Mill Hearth & Emporium in Shokan, NY. They'll explain it to you.
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Are you sure this isn't "Wood Stoves and Fireplaces for the Fabulously Wealthy"?
$4,976? for a steel fireplace?
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@Kip Hansen: Not as bad as $5350 for a "Shaker style" steel woodstove when you can buy an authentic cast iron Shaker woodstove for about 20% of that price! And it'll be worth a good portion of that when you want to sell it. I know, as I've been a dealer in Shaker artifacts and furnishings for 0ver 40 years!
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It is very important to check building codes and municipal regulations before installing a fireplace. In many municipalities and metropolitan areas (e.g. Montreal) new installations of wood-burning fireplaces are being banned because of the particulate emissions. Particulate emissions contribute to smog, especially in very cold conditions. With respect to CO2 emissions, the CO2 will be released into the air whether the (cut or rotting) wood degrades in the forest or whether it is burned.
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Don't forget about pellet stoves.
Also, if your roof where the stove will be located is not as tall as other roofs, you may not get proper draw for the chimney which will limit your choices.
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How much CO2 and other greenhouse gasses are produced by a wood burning fireplace? Carcinogenic particulates?
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wood stoves vary in efficiency - some super clean - wood used effects burn -
you can look it up - in a well insulated home a wood stove or furnace can be a low emission low cost option -
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Many. So I light up my fireplace only on special occasions even though I love it.