Stove

A stove is an enclosed space in which fuel is burned to heat either the space in which the stove is situated, or items placed on the heated stove. A stove is an enclosed space in which fuel is burned to heat either the space in which the stove is situated, or items placed on the heated stove. There are many types of stoves, such as the kitchen stove, which is used to cook food, and the wood-burning stove or a coal stove, which is typically used for heating a dwelling. Due to concerns about air pollution, efforts have been made to improve the stove design over the years. Pellet stoves, for example, are a type of clean-burning stove, and air-tight stoves are another type that burn the wood more completely and therefore reduce the amount of the resulted combustion by-products. Another possibility is the addition of a device to clean the exhaust gas (e.g. filter or afterburner). All wood stoves manufactured In the United States since 1992 are required to limit emission of particulates. The Old English word stofa meant any individual enclosed space, such as a room, and 'stove' is still occasionally used in that sense, as in 'stoved in'. Until well into the 19th century 'stove' was used to mean a single heated room, so that Joseph Banks' assertion that he 'placed his most precious plants in the stove' or René Descartes' observation that he got 'his greatest philosophical inspiration while sitting inside a stove' are not as odd as they first seem.