Is it cheaper to heat with wood?

[lovebrentwood]

Will your landlord let you install a woodstove? It's not a small effort.

Originally Posted by CHwboy

Hey all,

Thanks for the responses! We live in a rented house in a semi-rural area, so wood smoke won't be a problem (most of our neighbours burn it I think), but we also won't be doing any installation or anything like that. We'd buy our wood, not cut it down, so there wouldn't be any really serious work to be done - I don't mind a bit of stacking and chopping.

I've heard such horror stories about the cost of propane heating, that I'm thinking it might be worth it to spend the $$ to get a cheap woodstove installed.

andyselec, I've never had a problem using electric heaters in the past, the small ones are about 2-3 kw, which is no problem for a modern electrical circuit.

Thanks!
chwboy

[jbny2076]

Agree with PatRoy1 on the dry seasoned wood if you can help it. Hardwood is usually best as well. I grew up in Northern NY and we used a wood stove all winter. If you can find someone that delivers a cord of split wood you may want to go that route. My father, brothers and I spent our summers cutting down trees, splitting wood with a maul and a wood splitter then bringing it home and stacking it in the basement for the winter. The less you have to do the better, though it may eat into some of our savings. We would fill our stove around 11pm and cut the dampers way back and slow the burn throughout the night. My parents would get up around 5am or so to refill it. Make sure to keep an eye on the chimney and have it cleaned before you fire it up. Chimney fires are very common if burning bad wood or from soot build up. You can get a chimney brush and clean yourself if you are handy enough. The one downside of the woodstove. Is that it can be hard to regulate the heat. May have to crack a window to keep from getting too hot.

[uncgal4]

We have propane heat, and the horror stories are true $$$!!! Especially with McCracken.
As for wood burning fireplaces, I grew up with one in my parents house, but most new homes have natural gas fireplaces. While we understand that some people like a 'real' fire, others of us like to enjoy time outside in the fresh air without having to breathe a lung full of smoke.