Keep Warm With a Soapstone Woodstove

Perhaps you are concerned about this winter and facing the possibility of heating oil priced at $5 - $6 a gallon or more.

Unfortunately, there is little to be done about greedy speculators and oil companies or the incompetent, uncaring government bodies that enable them. However, there are alternatives, one being the wood stove. A soapstone woodstove is an especially practical choice; this unique form of rock has been used for heating and cooking for several thousand years throughout the world. A soapstone woodstove is at once traditional and contemporary; whether your home is Early American, Victorian, Craftsman, Mission Style, Art Deco or contemporary, you'll find that a soapstone woodstove is at home with virtually all of them.

Soapstone is a type of metamorphic, or "fire" rock. Geologists call it this because such rock literally "morphs," or changes from one kind of rock to another under pressures and heat deep beneath the Earth's crust. Metamorphic rock includes marble, quartz, diamond and soapstone.

A soapstone woodstove is made from a type of rock that is soft and slick to the touch, similar to dry bar of soap (hence its name). Much like marble, to which it is chemically and geologically related, soapstone has an attractive grained appearance. It is softer than marble, and easily worked into a wide variety of shapes; however it is durable and heat resistant, while at the same time is also an excellent conductor of heat. This is why tribal hunter/gathering societies throughout the world have used soapstone for cookware and heating applications for thousands of years.

The material from which a soapstone woodstove is made is quarried from mineral deposits that date back nearly half a billion years, long before even the dinosaurs appeared on Earth. This remarkable stone has been used by Native Americans living in the eastern woodlands and far north as well as early European setters for a range of purposes, including cooking and carrying water. In fact, many old homes have soapstone surfaces that have been in daily use since the nineteenth century.

A soapstone woodstove, if properly cared for, will serve your comfort needs throughout your lifetime as well as those of your children, grandchildren and great-grandchildren. One of the secrets of a soapstone woodstove's durability is the fact that soapstone itself is completely non-reactive. Should you spill something on a soapstone surface, cleanup is a simple matter.

A soapstone woodstove provides beauty and practicality; while the initial investment may be higher than for a typical metal woodstove, it is an investment that a good quality soapstone woodstove will pay back many times over during its extended life;

Jonathan Blocker writes about Dorado Soapstone Dorado Soapstone's mission is to create an outstanding work environment, improve communities, and supply the highest quality soapstone slabs, soapstone tiles, soapstone stoves / fireplaces, and soapstone sinks throughout the world.

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