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Wood stoves aren't just for the cottage any more. Today, many Canadians are opting for clean, renewable wood energy to heat their primary residences.

I should know: I'm one of them.

Anxious as we were to get off the natural-gas roller coaster, my partner and I switched not long ago to a wood stove as our primary heating appliance.

We wanted the warmth, self-sufficiency and classic style that only a wood stove could bring to our 1925 two-storey home; we just didn't want the neighbours to think that a smoke-puffing Mississippi paddle wheeler had docked next door.

To send less greenhouse gases skyward, we bought a model approved by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. These fashionable, technologically advanced wood boxes reduce emissions by 90 per cent, produce the same amount of heat with 30 per cent less wood and last some 15 to 30 years.

High-efficiency, controlled-combustion stoves are recommended for areas of 500 to 3,000 square feet (46 to 149 square metres). EPA-approved wood stoves start at around $700 for a basic cast-iron model (about $200 to $300 more than non-EPA stoves).

Quebec's SBI International, which builds the Drolet (http://www.drolet.ca) and Flame (http://www.flame-intl.com) brands carried by retailers such as Rona and Home Hardware, offer the largest number of EPA-certified models. SBI is also one of the top three wood stove manufacturers in Canada.

For our home, we chose Drolet's jet-black Celtic model ($805) with its cast-iron firebox, Queen-Anne-style legs and stainless-steel baffle that preheats air for better secondary combustion. We spent another $800 for exhaust piping and important accessories such as a fresh-air intake kit to avoid competition for oxygen.

There are more than a dozen quality EPA wood stove brands in Canadian retail outlets to fit any budget or aesthetic.

Besides SBI, other Canadian manufacturers such as Pacific Energy (http://www.pacificenergy.net) and Regency (http://www.regency-fire.com) offer both cast-iron and enamel-covered models. These start in the $1,100 range and can be sourced at specialty stove shops across the country.

That's where you'll also find ornate, enamel-covered cast-iron models from Vermont Castings (http://www.vermontcastings.com) or contemporary steel brands such as RAIS (http://www.rais.com) and Wittus (http://www.wittus.com). They're all priced in the $3,000-to-$5,000 range.

If these are more your style, knowledgeable retailers such as Alan Baroey of Marsh's Stoves & Fireplaces in Toronto (http://www.marshfireplaces.com) will guide you through their collections.

What's the difference between North America and Europe when it comes to wood-burning appliances? "North American wood stoves are better heaters. They actually have a better capacity than European products," says Baroey, who devotes one floor of his 6,000-square-foot space to wood-burning units and another to gas-burning appliances. "However, Europeans aren't used to heating such large spaces. They primarily use radiant heaters for zone heating 500 to 1,000 square feet."

To keep Southern Ontario's wood smoke emissions in check, Baroey refuses to sell non-EPA wood stoves. "It's a company policy. We promote clean wood-burning products to buyers primarily in the 35-to-55 age group," he says.

Torontonian David Muller, 38, bought his Danish RAIS Pina model ($4,000) from Marsh's three years ago; he uses it to heat the 100-year-old Upper Annex home he shares with his wife and two children.

"The Pina is interesting because it rotates like a turntable. You can actually put it in the centre of a room and turn it to face towards you," Muller says. "My younger brother bought two of them - one for his garage/boy's room and one for our family cottage in Georgian Bay. Even my brother-in-law bought a RAIS Pina."

Like Marsh's in Toronto, Vancouver's Vaglio Fireplace (http://www.vagliofireplace.ca) sells both gas- and wood-burning appliances and the most popular cast-iron models from both American-based HearthStone ($2,995 to $3,300) and rounded, steel-constructed brands like the Danish-manufactured Scan ($2,599 to $3,999).

Are Vancouverites partial to certain brands and models? "We get an entire cross-section from wealthy young gay guys building their castles to people taking our stoves to the Gulf Islands and to their mountain hideaways," Vaglio sales specialist Jeff Shaw says. "People who are building new places tend to buy contemporary models, so the Danish Scan stoves work really well for them."

Some of Vaglio's buyers want to upgrade to newer low-emission technology. Retired North Vancouverites Paul Frangos and his wife, Lynne, prefer the antique style of their U.S.-made HearthStone Phoenix, which they bought in October of 2007 to replace a 20-year-old non-EPA stove.

The Phoenix's exterior contains 1¼inches (3.5 cm) of polished soapstone, which holds onto heat in the same way that a stone wall absorbs passive solar heat. "As the fire is going down," Paul enthuses, "my wood stove still holds onto the heat instead of cooling down like a regular cast-iron stove."

Tips for cleaner burning

Jeff Shaw at Vaglio Fireplace in Vancouver has been certified under WETT (Wood Energy Technology Transfer) standards for 20 years, so he is able to legally install and inspect wood-burning appliances for insurance companies.

"Wood stove sellers are leaned on pretty hard these days by insurance companies, but a properly installed, certified wood-burning system cannot possibly burn your house down. It won't happen," he says.

Yet Shaw also stresses the importance of using moisture-free wood to keep creosote levels low in your exhaust pipes. The best wood to burn? "Any cured hardwoods like maple are best for longer burning and more heat, but birch, larch and Douglas fir are good as well," he says. Cured wood refers to wood that has been dried for at least one year. Shaw says that pine, which has high pitch levels and therefore causes creosote build-up, should be avoided.

EPA wood stoves operate effectively via a "baffling system" through which the smoke and fumes emitting from the fire rises into the baffle's air tubes, ignite instantaneously and create an efficient secondary combustion. "You can burn any dry wood in an EPA wood stove - except for chemically treated wood," warns Alan Baroey of Marsh's Stoves & Fireplaces in Toronto.

He also suggests cured maple or other available hardwoods for the best heat generation.

DGW