yesterday, my dad came over and helped greg finish putting the chimney on the house and viola! we are now cooking with wood instead of gas...
this is such a huge financial relief. every winter for the past 3 years of living here, we have spent a minimum of $450/month in the winter to heat our house using gas (keeping the thermostat set at 58). now we'll be spending virtually nothing since we have lots of available firewood around us. i am thrilled to not worry about being sucked into the financial blackhole of juggling bills to pay the gas for the next 6 months.
it's a tiny stove but it's supposed to heat 2000 square feet which is what our house is. so far though, the upstairs is still pretty icy but i keep the doors to the stairs closed so that little bear won't climb them.
i'd have to say it was in the mid 70's in the play room (the room we installed it in) and 66-68 in the kitchen (the next room over) which is a HUGE improvement from the usual 58 that it usually is in the winter.
now for fine tuning the art of keeping the stove lit and burning fuel effeciently. i grew up in a house that used wood stoves for heating but i was never allowed to take part in stoking the fire so it's all new to me.
Isn't it so nice to be toasty warm! Your stove looks much larger than the one we just got, and it is supposed to heat 1300 sq.ft. So, hopefully it will do just fine!
ReplyDeleteOh, this is so great! I can't wait to get ours installed because, like you, our bill hovers around 350-400 and we also keep the therm. at 55-60. Horrible!
ReplyDeletevery cool. as a pre teen i was responsible for most of the wood loading and fire management. i am sure that you know this but i recommend teaching your kids to stoke the fire. they will acquire an affinity for wood heat that transcends the simple obvious appreciations. as you probably know we have wood heat only. i love love cutting wood. the sense of deep satisfaction that comes with providing for the family in such an immediate fashion.
ReplyDeletethe warmth that comes from a wood stove is bone penetrating deep. we love heating this way too. congratulations.
k-)
We are having a similar problem with the wood stove not heating the whole house. It is suppose to heat up to 2500 sq ft and our home upstairs and downstairs total around 2300-2400 sq ft. We are searching for any gaps/holes throughout the home which may act as a vacuum to the heat source.
ReplyDeleteKeeping it lit and at its heat peak has been a bit of a fuddle for me too. I know it depends on whether it is hard or soft wood -how often to reload the stove with them. One burning hotter and slower then the other. It is a new lesson in self sufficiency I hope to fully succeed in, before the cold season is half way over.
Best of luck.