Stove Efficiency
The extra logs required (possibly more than three times as many) to produce the equivalent heat output, are a considerable waste of money, labour, transport and storage.
Recognise this? Just look around your area and see how many chimneys are smoking. Now you know why.
Stove types and efficiency
Wood differs from other fossil fuels such as coal, gas and oil because it is part of the carbon/carbon neutral cycle. Although the fuels produce CO2, trees absorb CO2 and store it as carbon which makes up half the weight of the tree.
When the wood is burned it releases only the same amount back into the atmosphere, exactly the same as if the tree was left to rot.