If you are looking to add a used wood stove to your home, you can easily shop for one on your own.

A wood stove can be used as an alternative heating source to lower your heating bills or just to have in the event of a power outage in your area.

Wood stoves come in a variety of sizes and makes, with cast iron stoves listed as common type of stove on Hearth Wiki.

Visit your local county courthouse to speak with a building official.

You need to find out if there are specific building codes in your locality that relate to wood stoves.

Usually you need to apply for a building permit in the office and some states even require an inspection once you get the stove installed.

According to Hearth Wiki, Massachusetts and some other states require a carbon monoxide detector as part of the installation.

Ask the seller for the year or model of the used wood stove that you are interested in purchasing.

According to WoodStove.org, older used wood stoves that were made before 1979 may work fine but may not have all of the safety measures implemented that you would find in a more recently manufactured wood stove.

No set year model is recommended as the best though.

Look for a used wood stove that meets your needs.

For instance, if you want the stove for heating your home then you should look for a cast iron stove instead of a soapstone stove because it heats faster.

Eliminate stoves that are too big or too small from your search.

For instance, if you need to heat a large area, you need a stove capable of doing that, such as a 50,000 BTUs stove, and you can eliminate all small stoves.

Arrange for movers to assist you in getting a used wood stove to your home, once you are ready to buy a used wood stove.

Wood stoves are heavy and depending on the weight, you may need special equipment to move the stove.

When you contact movers in your area for help, let them know what you are moving and ask if they can move the stove.

You can find local area movers on the Movers.com website.

Avoid stoves with heavy flaking rust or a whitish color on the metal as these are signs of metal fatigue.