Stove

A stove is a wood or coal burning room heating device. The first primitive stoves were the masonry heaters, which used heat produced by periodic burning of fuels (primarily wood) to keep the house warm. Masonry heaters radiated the heat over a long period of time at constant temperatures. These stoves were made of stone, and were often built on top of a foundation as a part of the building's structure, though they could also be independent free-standing structures.

Benjamin Franklin created a metal stove, called the Franklin stove, in 1742, which featured a labyrinth-like path that allowed the smoke and hot exhaust gases to escape, hence preventing the heat from escaping through the chimney. The Franklin stove became very popular and was later perfected by Franklin to make it more efficient. A Franklin stove could also use coal, and at that time was at most six times more efficient than open fireplaces.

Modern wood stoves are designed so as to ensure complete burning of wood. Some expensive wood-burning stoves also feature a catalytic converter which captures the gas and smoke particles not actually burned, and sends them back to the combustion chamber. Some designs also make use of firebox insulation and a large baffle to ensure a longer and hotter gas flow path. Camping stoves are designed to be portable and as such are very light and compact.