Winter heating season is here, Wood stove TIP

[Larry Caldwell]

Don't know what a new woodstove is going for nowadays (had this one for almost 20 years), but I doubt they're any more expensive than any other heating device. Plus, they work even when the power is out!

There is still a lot to be said for 19th century technology. A lot of farm houses around here had indoor plumbing long before electricity. They used a windmill to fill a water tower, often attached to the house and sided the same. Electricity is more convenient, but it was possible to live a gracious life in the late 19th century. I have set up low head gravity feed water to the house, along with the wood stove, and a collection of wall hung oil lamps and candle sconces throughout the house. The stove has a convenient cooking surface.

Our outages typically happen during winter snow storms, so the chest freezer in the unheated garage is not a concern. We fill a couple of coolers with refrigerator stuff to protect it from curious animals and put it in the snow on the deck. Coffee is whole roasted beans ground by a wall mounted hand crank coffee grinder that also predates electricity. When the power goes out, gracious living does not cease.

People who visit comment on how quiet it is here. Natural sounds of wind, water, and wildlife are all you hear. I treasure that, and only run a generator when absolutely necessary. That generally means to take a shower or do laundry.

Unfortunately there is no cell service or broadcast television here, so I have to heat up the modem and router to communicate with the outside world. Gak! The 21st century intrudes, but it's better than total isolation. That's why I'm thinking of putting them on a UPS.

 

[MAX-24-Dean]

To keep a good heating fire going all night, the single best thing you can do is to drink a full glass of water before turning in.

That will assure that you will get up in the middle of the night, or early morning, to pee, and then you can add a stick or two to the stove while you are up!

It works for me!

;-)

I'm so old I don't even need to drink the glass of water anymore!

 

[WinterDeere]

I would say most of us do not pay $400 a cord.

I've never paid more than the cost of fuel to retrieve and process it. I'd guess roughly $10/cord?

 

[Larry Caldwell]

I've never paid more than the cost of fuel to retrieve and process it. I'd guess roughly $10/cord?

And the thing that tickles me most is that our labor is 100% tax free.

 

[WinterDeere]

And the thing that tickles me most is that our labor is 100% tax free.

Shh… say that too loud, and some creative politician might find a way to change that!

 

[Thomas]

When both kittens snuggle into bed try steal your warm spot.

 

[Oaktree]

I've never paid more than the cost of fuel to retrieve and process it. I'd guess roughly $10/cord?

Same here up until the last 10 years or so. I'm getting a bit more reluctant to fell trees as I've gotten older, and as noted upthread, most of the mature hardwood trees on my property are in hard-to-access places.
Hopefully, it's still many years away when I need to get it already cut/split.