As I'm writing this, I'm sat in my lounge with a piping hot mug of tea, curled up on the sofa and staring out of the window at another cold, wet and miserable day.

The postman has just manfully charged by, dripping wet and looking chilled to the bone, poor thing. It makes me feel quite guilty, cocooned in my little corner of the room, lazily tapping away on my laptop and nibbling on a biscuit as heat blazes out from my wood-burning stove.

The stove was a lucky inheritance, left here by the last owners when they moved out and it's been magnificent during the recent cold snap. It manages to heat almost the whole house, even though it's not connected to the central heating system, with the warm air snaking its way through every room.

Admittedly it's a little on the cold side first thing in the morning, but it also feels deliciously Dickensian traipsing down the stairs while everyone else is still asleep and coaxing a new fire into life.

With gas and electricity prices almost doubling last year, sales of wood-burning stoves are booming as people look for a cheaper and greener energy supply.

As bonkers as it might sound, burning wood is considered to be carbon neutral, as you're only releasing the carbon dioxide captured by the growth of a tree during its lifetime.

Even better, most of the firewood in this country comes from a sustainable source, so a new tree is planted for every one that's cut down, effectively absorbing the same amount of carbon dioxide in its lifetime as the felled tree.

While an open fire isn't a very efficient way to keep warm (with most of its heat literally going up in smoke), modern wood-burning stoves are more than 80 per cent efficient.

This compares favourably to a gas-powered boiler that operates at less then 75 per cent efficiency and loses additional heat transferring hot water through a maze of pipes and radiators that sit in exposed places below windows.

A stove, on the other hand, spills its heat directly into a room and, with energy prices still high, costs less to run than a conventional boiler. It's also been calculated that installing one will help you save more than two tonnes of carbon dioxide a year on average.

On paper, switching to a wood-burning stove looks like a no-brainer,
but there are a few things to consider before you rush out and buy one.

Firstly, a new stove doesn't come cheap and can cost anywhere between £400 and £2000. In addition, all wood burners and wood burning central heating systems need to be installed by a HETAS-approved technician (www.hetas.co.uk) adding an extra cost to your purchase.

On top of that, you might need to have your chimney lined, especially if you live in an older property, and if you're in a smoke-control zone
(www.uksmokecontrolareas.co.uk) you'll also have to fork out for a 'clean burn' model that complies with the Clear Air Act.

To keep your home fire burning you'll need to buy some fuel. Forget about the poor quality logs for sale outside your local garage – these are invariably expensive and the wood hasn't been allowed to dry out properly.

This is hugely important as unseasoned wood doesn't burn very well and spits like a football player. On the other hand, if your logs have come from a local, sustainable source and have been left to dry out for a year or more, you couldn't wish for a greener fuel source.

A lorry load of logs will set you back anything from £40-90, depending on where you live but, if you want to save money, your fuel doesn't have to cost you a penny.

So far, I've managed to scavenge most of my wood for free, either from friends, a nearby wood – with the landowner's permission of course – and a local tree surgeon.

My biggest 'find' though was on Freecycle (www.freecycle.org) when I noticed someone offering a garage full of seasoned logs for free.

A quick phone call later and I was on my way to collect them and spent a backbreaking (but highly enjoyable) afternoon chopping them up into firewood.

Whether you want to help save the planet or simply save some money, a wood-burning stove is an excellent investment.

According to a recent report, burning wood produces up to 10 times fewer greenhouse gas emissions than comparable sources of fuel, so its green credentials are impeccable. And you could save yourself a few bob into the bargain.