The home on our homestead was initially built without a fireplace or a wood burning stove. We had planned to buy one once we settled in, but during that first winter, our double insulation kept us so warm that we wondered if a wood stove was even necessary or worth the expense.
Then the cost of propane began to climb. Last year it was nearly double the price of what we’d paid in the past. In addition to our large heating bills, we missed the cozy atmosphere a fire provides. So, after considerable research and shopping around, we purchased a Napolean wood burning stove with a cook top.
Here are a few of the advantages and disadvantages of heating with wood — as well as some things we learned when purchasing our stove.
Advantages
A wood burning stove saves on the cost of fuel. As mentioned above, the rising cost of propane last year was the primary determining factor for our purchase. This being the first full winter of heating with wood, we have used propane only for cooking and the water heater, significantly reducing our expenses.
Depending on your fuel source, heating with wood can be a more self-sufficient option. There are two different types of heat stoves. One uses pellets as a source of heat while the other uses wood. Since wood is more readily available to us, we opted for the wood-burning stove. However, I know of others who are pleased with their pellet stoves.
In addition to having a readily available fuel source, we are prepared in the event of an emergency. We don’t live in an area that gets much snow, but we do live in an area that gets a lot of ice, which can (and does) take down power lines. One winter we were without power for almost a week. It is comforting to know that if it happens again, we can still cook and adequately heat our home.
A wood burning stove is cozy, and adds greatly to the ambiance in a home. During the winter, we eat fewer and fewer meals at the kitchen table, preferring instead to sit in front of the fire.
Disadvantages
It’s messy. The stove and all the gear (wood, wood basket, poker, etc.) take up space and can create a mess. Every morning we bring in wood and kindling — and leave a trail of debris behind. The stove also creates a lot of ashes inside the fire box which need to be removed on a regular basis.
It doesn’t always heat evenly. When we got our stove, the man who installed it claimed that it would generate so much heat we’d be opening the windows to cool off the room. I didn’t believe him at first, but he proved to be right. Wood stoves can generate an amazing amount of heat! However, this heat doesn’t seem to reach the back bedrooms or our office, where we spend a lot of our time. We manage this by using portable space heaters which work pretty efficiently. A central fan to distribute heat throughout the house would also work, or using the furnace in the morning to bring the rooms to the desired temperature and the stove to maintain it.
Building a fire adds to morning chores. We wake up every morning to a cold room, which makes getting out of bed that much more difficult. First item on the agenda every morning is getting the fire started… and feeding the chickens, a morning walk, and taking care of the dogs. That being said, my husband has learned to love this morning ritual.
You need to have a source for fire wood. We do not have a wood lot on our property so we buy wood every winter. We’re still learning how to gauge exactly what we need. Currently we pay $100 per rick, delivered and stacked. We’ve found that one rick will heat our 1500 square foot home for about one month. We’ve managed to find some reasonably priced wood on Craigslist and we’ve even found some locally for free. A nearby city also has a green waste site that offers free wood. Whatever your source, keep in mind that fresh cut/green wood will need to be cured for eight months to a year before using for best results.
Things to Think About
Appearance. We found wood stoves that ranged in appearance from relatively plain, to stoves that looked like works of art and were available in a wide variety of colors. If yours is going to occupy a prominent place in your home, appearance is something you might want to keep in mind.
Safety. According to Storey’s Basic Country Skills, if you have sheet rock, your stove must be placed a minimum of 18 inches away from the wall and sit on some sort of protective pad. However, since we have a concrete floor, the protective pad was unnecessary for our situation. Safety regulations may differ from state to state. If you are choosing to install your own stove and have any questions, contact your local fire department.
If you have small children, you need some sort of guard rail surrounding it. The outside of the stove does get very hot and there is nothing to prevent little hands from reaching out to steady themselves. Also, care for your chimney. It needs to be cleaned on an annual basis — since the build-up of creosote can lead to a chimney fire. It also goes without saying to have a fire-arresting spray or fire extinguisher stored nearby for quick and easy access.
Do you want a cook top? Some of the fancier models have a top that allows for cooking. The set up is pretty simple. Ours has a lid that lifts and allows you to set cast iron cookware directly on the surface of the stove. We chose this feature so that we could cook during a power outage, but it did cost us extra.
Cost. How much do you want to spend? The less fancy models in our area ran under $1,000 while the more ornate ones were significantly higher. Stoves can also be purchased at the local home and garden store or even ordered online and delivered to your front door. Since we had lots of questions, we opted to purchase from a specialty store in hopes of getting a knowledgeable sales rep and a certified installer.
Installation. It is possible to save money by installing your own stove. There are several tutorials on the internet and some information in Storey’s Basic Country Skills. However, installation involves some serious safety issues and cutting a hole in your roof or side of your home. Unless you are really familiar with the process and comfortable with it, I highly recommend having a certified installer take care of the process for you. The store through which we purchased our stove was able to schedule our installation.
Do you have a wood burning stove? What are some of the advantages (or disadvantages) you have found to heating with wood?
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This is our second year with a wood stove. I wanted that way more than a pellet stove; my husband loves it as much as I do now. One day last week our power went out for a short time. For the first time, I was not worried. The house was warm, I made my toast on the top, and put on a pot of water to boil for coffee. The woodstove we bought has a beautiful glass door so we can watch it burn. We also purchased an “oven” that goes on top. It is great for reheating food, and there is a rack in there which gives me two surface levels. One of these days I’m going to get around to making a pie and some bread in there. Wood is not cheap, but there is no better heat than that of a wood stove. Oh, and we also bought the fan to spread the heat if desired, but unless it is really cold…like the -30C we had a couple of weeks ago, we find the heat sufficient. This was a perfect purchase.
We enjoy watching our fire too Shari, and I’ll have to see if we can get an oven for ours. That sounds like it would be a nice feature.
If you live in an area with inversions burning wood can be banned for several weeks in a row–just something to be aware of.
Good to know Shelley! Thank you.
Usually the ban is for homes who have wood as a back up plan, if wood is your main source of heat, or only source, the ban does not apply to you. I checked this out since we have inversions here frequently and regular bans, but we can use our wood stove in the ban. Also, after a few years, my hubby has figured out how to bank the fire and load it so that he only needs to fill it twice a day. We do have a Quadrafire, not the brand you bought, but he fills it in the morning after breakfast and right before we go to bed. Closing off doors to rooms we don’t use that much and then opening them when it gets too warm is how we control the heat distribution also. We needed another source of heat though for our home owners insurance and went with propane, which we have turned off. But the fact that they are in the house meant we could get the insurance.
I love our wood stove. We bought it for the exact same reasons. One thing to be careful of is your homeowner’s insurance regulations. Make sure they will allow you to have a wood stove before you spend all that time and money. Ours was okay with it as long as it was professionally installed.
That is helpful to know Audrey. Thanks. 🙂
I have lived with wood as the main source of heat in the homes I’ve lived in nearly all my life… From old fashioned woodstove to fireplace insert with blower and now we have a wood burning furnace. I’d say if your fireplace is sized correctly, you’re burning good wood, and you’re burning efficiently then you hooks have plenty of red hot coals in the morning to quickly light your fire. It shouldn’t take much more (if at all) time to add wood as it would later in the day. Also, we have always cleaned our chimney once a month during the heating season.
Sofia do you clean your chimney yourself? Or do you have someone come out and do it for you?
We just bought a wood stove, still need to install it though. We have been using electric heating and last year we had a bill for 704.00, that’s one month and we live in Georgia!!! We thought about propane, but the fear that it will go back up, we opted for a wood stove. Can’t wait to see how it works out.
Linda, I hope you enjoy yours as much as we have ours.
We love our wood stove! When we moved, it was one of the first things we installed in our new house. It isn’t our only source of heat though, as we both work outside the home and are out of the house ten hours a day. On weekends all the electric heat in the house will turn off. On weeknights it will take the chill off the house, but there usually isn’t enough time for the heat to reach the whole house. It is wonderful to have in case of power outages though. We were lucky here, but last year many homes in our area were without power for over a week. Only those with wood stoves or generators were able to stay in their homes.
Jenny,
When remodeling our old farmhouse, we put in a soapstone wood stove- a bit pricey, but it has well been paid off with the cold winter we have had. You are right, it takes work, however, I personally feel the heat from wood is less drying than a heat pump. We also keep a pot of water on the wood stove constantly that acts as a humidifier for the home. My husband and I are thankful that we can keep our little ones warm in the case of power loss! Great article. Blessings!
We bought a Hearthstone soapstone stove, too. We love the even heat that it puts out and retains. When we built our house, we put in a firewood access door (2’x2′) at the side of the stone hearth upon, which we put our stove. That cuts down on the mess at least.
We use a kids large red wagon with the wooden stake sides on it for our wood.
We go out the door to the porch, load it up and pull it back in .
It is easy to position where ever you need it and takes the back breaking work out of hauling the wood in the house.
I love that idea!
enjoy the smell, plus roasting and eating marshmallows!
We’ve had our Margin Flameview for a couple of winters now and we love having a wood stove! We find our stove is more like a member of the family than an appliance. The set up is with a water pipe inside the firebox, so we’ve connected her to our hot water tanks and she provides all of our hot water. It might just be my imagination, but I think food cooked on the wood stove tastes better than food cooked any other way! 😉
Jenny, the wood ashes are PURE GOLD, not just something to be “removed”! Take a wet rag and dunk it into cold ashes to quickly clean the *cold* windows of your wood stove, it works much better than the expensive chemical products (you can also use the “dirty” used rag to clean your sinks and toilets since the traces of lye will eliminate even the worst soap scum or icky gunk). Wood ashes are full of potassium and calcium, plus they’ll square away the PH in acidic soils faster than lime, so they’re gold in the garden and certainly after cleaning out a heavily used livestock area that needs a few months rest. Along those same lines, wood ashes immediately neutralize even the worst possible odors so we use them in our offal composting station plus the separate cat-crap composting station; also, if one of your pets is ever sprayed by a skunk then all you have to do is pour a small bucket of cold wood ashes onto their fur (no need to wash them in tomato juice or even touch them at all until the smell is gone). There are so many uses for precious fireplace / wood stove ashes that we very carefully stockpile them in big 55 gallon covered trash cans to be used throughout the year — but still always run out usually by the end of each summer, long before the winter comes again. You can’t buy wood ash in stores anywhere, therefore your fireplace or wood stove becomes a huge resource that goes far beyond mere heating!