They produce almost no smoke, minimal ash, and require less firewood. They can heat a family room, a small cottage, or a full-sized home. What’s more- they're better for the environment.

"We are not adding a lot of fossil fuels and adding to greenhouse gasses and environment. when we chop a tree down and burn it, all the exhaust is getting consumed by new trees that are growing," Brad Vander Heyden of Advanced Chimney Systems says.

A wood stove is the most popular, flexible and economical wood heating option.

"All of a sudden 4 or 5 hundred dollars to heat their home in the middle of winter and they wanted some control," Vander Heyden adds.

A wood stove is defined as a space heater. It's intended to heat a space directly. A traditional furnace supplies its heat to the house through a system of ducts.

"The advantage of a wood burning stove is you can zone heat a portion of your home. you can keep it comfortable in your living room and kitchen area, maybe your bedrooms are a little cooler," he says.

Modern homes conserve energy more effectively than older houses and need less heat to stay warm.

It's now possible to heat an average-sized home with a single wood stove but it needs to be located in the main living area.

"These stoves are four, five, ten times cleaner burning than any fireplace out there," he says.

All new wood stoves are EPA-certified. They burn wood more efficiently and emit 60-to-80 percent less pollution.

Also make sure you install smoke and carbon monoxide detectors in your home. When wood is not burned completely, the smoke contains a number of chemicals. One is carbon monoxide and it can be deadly.