Solid Fuel Stoves
Nowadays, stoves are becoming an increasingly popular method of heating compared to gas or electric systems, both for aesthetic and environmental reasons.
Wood Burning Stoves
Wood burning stoves are usually made from welded steel or cast iron, though this makes little difference beyond aesthetics and cost. It is important to note the difference here between wood burners and wood pellet stoves: wood burners take wood in the form of dried out logs, whereas wood pellet stoves, as the name suggests, use wood pellets.
Wood Burners
An important consideration to make when buying a wood burner is that logs, unlike other solid fuel, require seasoning prior to burning. Seasoning refers to the process of cutting the logs to the correct length and stacking the cuts, and then covering the top but leaving the sides open, for about a year. This needs to be done, whether you buy your wood pre-seasoned or do it yourself, as wood that is not properly seasoned will produce less heat and more residue.
Wood Pellet Stoves
Wood pellets are usually made from compressed sawdust, and wood pellet stoves are generally more expensive to run, although where it is possible to place them up against an outside wall, will not require a chimney but may only need something as simple as a steel pipe through the wall to vent the gases. Pellet stoves are also better suited to short, quick heating, as they are most often activated by switch whereas a wood stove requires time to get burning. However, whilst most wood pellet stoves require some source of electricity to power some parts, there are plenty of woodburners which do not require electricity at all.
Wood stoves of any sort are considered more environmentally friendly as their burning gives off less carbon dioxide than many other solid fuels and the growing of trees for wood to replace the wood already used leads to increased absorption of atmospheric carbon dioxide.
Multi Fuel Stoves
Another consideration is whether other solid fuels are readily available in your area. If so, it may be worth considering a multi fuel stove. As the name implies, multi fuel stoves are able to handle different types of solid fuel, and may be appropriate for users with ready access to different fuels, allowing switching between them as prices fluctuate. The ability to handle different types of fuel makes multi fuel stoves very reliable when used to heat solid fuel boilers as part of a solid fuel central heating system.
Coal Stoves
Coal stoves (also known as coal burning stoves) are simpler, in the sense that coal or coke is bought ready to burn. A coal fire will need less maintenance during its burning than a wood fire (most require stoking every 12 to 24 hours depending on the stove), however they produce a fair amount of ash, which will need removing regularly and disposing of, and the blower unit on a coal fire is likely to increase the dust levels in your house. Coal and coke will also need storing inside, whether in the house or a coal shed, and takes up much more room than wood pellets. Coal is more efficient to slow burn than wood, and most coal burning stoves are set up to burn anthracite (coal made up of 90% carbon) which is more efficient still, if more expensive.
Carbon Monoxide
A very important safety note is that with burning wood, coal, coke, or peat, there is a risk of carbon monoxide poisoning, and so any house that has a stove of these sorts must have a carbon monoxide detector.
Carbon Dioxide
Another consideration is that coal (coke and peat included) is a fossil fuel. This means it is non-renewable and is relatively environmentally unfriendly. It produces more carbon dioxide during combustion than many other solid fuels.