According to Greek Mythology, it was the Titan, Prometheus, who brought the gift of fire to humankind, and along with this, the uses for it. Prometheus also invented mathematics and introduced mortals to crafts such as metalworking, architecture and writing. Clearly, it was Prometheus? gifts for mankind that made humans far superior to animals. Prometheus, after giving man the gift of fire against the will of the Greek God Zeus, was sentenced to a terrible torture: to have his liver pecked out by a vulture each morning, and have the liver grow back each night until his release.

For thousands of years, mankind has survived through the use of fire. From the basic electric to the digital and electronic, to the classic residential heating, Prometheus? legacy, as observed in today's use of technology, is never out of style.

Residential heating has always been a concern for people in the cold. And what better way of increasing room temperature than by using real fire. Of all methods in home heating today, the use of wood burning stoves is the classiest way to go.

Over 2,000 years ago, cities in the northern Roman Empire used a system for central heating called hypocaust, where air heated by furnaces is conducted through empty spaces under the floors and out of pipes in the walls. In Korea, a similar system, known as ondol, was practiced as early as perhaps AD 668. By the 12th century, a new system was introduced where heat travelled through under floor pipes from a furnace room. Today, the use of wood burning stoves is developing as a trend for the residential heating technology in architectural structures.

Unlike other stoves that require coal or gas, wood burning stoves offer a more environment-friendly way of heating up your room. Compared to energy sources such as electric, natural gas, fuel oil, kerosene, LPG or coal, wood produces the least amount of carbon equivalents of greenhouse gases per quad of heat delivered. It also produces the least amount of acid equivalents emitted per quad of heat delivered. This only means that wood burning stoves are currently the most efficient and environment-friendly way of residential heating. Unlike fossil fuels, wood is sustainable and renewable. You don't have to wait millennia for the next supply.

Unlike the conventional fireplace, wood burning stoves are enclosed. This makes for a more efficient method of combusting fuel. In an open fire, far too much oxygen is being fed to the flames that they roar and more heat goes upwards the chimney rather than to the room. With enclosed stoves, combustion in the chamber can be manipulated through air control devices; this means the rate of wood burning can be controlled, minimizing the amount of smoke released into the air.

Wood burning stoves are offered in a variety of designs aimed to please the homeowner both functionally and aesthetically. More efficient and environment-friendly, it is the technology now best used to heat up your home.