One course I took recently was a great course put on my Gerald Moore, RSM Building Consultants. He spoke on being WETT certified.
WETT stands for Wood Energy Technology Transfer. Basically it's a certification for those who inspect fireplaces, wood stoves, etc. He had a lot of information for agents, but also had some great tips for homeowners in general.
The building code in Ontario did not come about until 1975 and has changed quite a bit since that time. If you have an older home with a fireplace or woodstove, it may be a good idea to have an inspector who is WETT certified come and take a look at your chimney and wood burning appliance. There's a good chance that if your home was built before the 1960's it may not have been built to any particular standards at all.
Wood Burning stoves should have some sort of certification label on them somewhere. That label indicates how that particular stove should have been installed..and of course it's slightly different for every apparatus.
As far as energy efficiency is concerned a great wood burning stove can be an efficient way to heat a home. Most wood-burning fireplaces on the other hand are pretty to look at, but aren't the most efficient way to heat a home as most of the heat goes straight up the chimney.
One last tip, that I found interesting is that getting yourself a flue thermometer is a great way to be efficient and keep your fire at the right temperature. Gerald suggested using some newspaper and start your fire and warm up the chimney. Then get your fire going to between 300-500 degrees F. It's best to keep the fire between that temperature. A smoldering fire will create creosote which is what builds up in the chimney and can cause chimney fires. The less smoldering, the safer fire.
If you have any other questions or would like to be referred to a WETT certified inspector for your fireplace or wood burning appliance, just let me know!
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