Chimneys: Firewood, Biomass, Gas Or Bioethanol Which Model Suits Me?
Nothing brings more warmth to a room than a good fire around which to relax. Beyond its aesthetics and how to integrate it into the environment, it is worth taking into account other practical issues such as the calorific performance of the chimney chosen, its installation requirements, the most appropriate type of fuel in each case or the ease of use, cleaning, and maintenance. The good news is that there are more and more options that we can find, with better benefits and a much more efficient performance than traditional homes.
Experts consulted
False beliefs. A traditional open fire offers low performance, since a significant percentage of the heat produced escapes through the chimney along with the flue gases and combustion gases. That is why it is recommended to choose watertight models, with glass doors, to increase the calorific performance, which will always be much higher than the open models. “Without any doubt, homes must be closed,” says Antoni Massanet. The open do not exceed yields of around 50%, while the closed ones exceed 80% in firewood and more than 90% in gas and pellet systems “. 
The latter also allows controlling the fire with greater precision. Even, among the technological innovations that incorporate, stand out the systems of double combustion that, when using the gases generated to produce more heat, not only reduce the polluting emissions, but they save fuel.
The wood burning fireplaces are the most popular. But despite the unparalleled elegance of its flames, the wood fireplaces pose some problems, such as the price of fuel, the weight of firewood or, as Massanet say, “that it is not possible to program the temperature or the opening times.”
Vintage revival: Wood stoves return to the country house
With all the advantages of a wood model but an energy efficiency of up to 95%, biomass models, fed by pellets (small cylinders made of residual wood, sawdust and pressed chips without any additive or agglomerate). It is an entirely green fuel that is considered neutral regarding CO2 emissions into the atmosphere. Also, as this type of fuel hardly generates waste in comparison with those of firewood, these are chimneys that greatly simplify the cleaning and maintenance tasks.