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If youre in the market for a wood-burning stove or fireplace insert theres good news. And there's bad news. Buy a stove and installation package now and youll get a 30 percent tax rebate. Thats the good news. But if you wait until the new year, the rebate will be last year's story.
Scott Robinson at Nordic Stove & Fireplace Center in Stamford says that right now, wood stoves are selling fast. People are taking advantage of the tax rebate that's about to expire, he explains. Usually, sales are divided evenly between wood and gas stoves, but the rebate does not apply to gas powered units.
Trying to decide between a wood or gas-fired stove is no easy task for some customers. I tell people to think about their lifestyle, Scott says. Questions to ask yourself, he says, include whos going to bring in the logs and clean out the ash? I also tell people to think about the fact that theyre only going to use the stove four months of the year. So make sure the stove looks good for the other eight months, he adds.
Nordic has a roaring fireplace business in both wood and gas inserts. An open fireplace is only 12 percent efficient. "Most of the heat goes up the chimney, says Scott. If you convert to a wood insert it becomes 75 percent efficient, and with gas that number goes up to 80 percent.
Nordic has a large selection of fireplace needs. And they do all their own installations and repairs.
Scott and his wife Martha have owned Nordic Stove since 1997, when they bought the business from the previous owner. We met when we worked for Vermont Castings, says Martha. Weve been in the business a long time. The couple enjoys life in Fairfield, where they live with twin sons Alex and Michael, but they're philosophical about one pitfall. We spend a lot of time sitting in traffic on the thruway, quips Scott.
I'm curious - how many of you have taken advantage of the tax rebate for installing a wood burning stove or fireplace insert? Leave a comment below or email me at fpearson@mainstreetconnect.us.
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