The Homestead Mindset Anywhere: by Donna Miller

We don't have a stove but wish we did, we have 2 fireplaces but in Sunny So. Calif. we don't need that much heat. However when we have used wood heat it feels so good; nothing feels as good as wood heat. Growing up we had a wood stove; I prefer those over a fireplace. It was a large cast iron one and would glow red when a log would get against the sides. We also had a tiny sheet metal one in one bedroom and it did very well too, but burned out in a few years. Cast iron lasts forever, sheet metal doesn't. Edey

I used to have a wood burning stove. Two of them, to be more exact - one a heating stove and one a cookstove. Before I got the cookstove I cooked all sorts of things on top of the heating stove.

I don't remember how much we paid for the heating stove but it wasn't too expensive. The cookstove: we came across two of them in a family member's shed and paid him $50 for each one. We used some of the parts from one to fix the other. I don't know how much it was worth but a lot more than we paid for it.

Is wood a cost effective form of heating? I can't say for sure now, but it was then (about 8 years ago). We averaged about $600 a year for heat, but we harvested a little wood from our land, used free pallet wood and did other scrounging besides buying a cord now and then.

I'd love to have a wood stove now, but don't have any place to store the wood.

First, I love your blog! Great information. Now, as for wood stoves - we were lucky enough to have a fireplace insert when we bought our fixer-upper six years ago. At first I wanted it OUT! It just wasn't cute or stylish, lol! I offered it to every contractor who walked in the door and no one wanted it. Eventually, we realized that we could save a lot of money by using it and decided to give it a shot. Well, I would not trade it for anything! Since we live on three wooded acres, we have an ample wood supply. In the first few years construction in our area was out of control and we used to get the scraps that usually go to the landfill to use as kindling. Free! In addition, there are always people who have trees cut down and want someone to haul the wood off. These days hardly anyone even has a wood burning fireplace (all gas) so they can't use it. Again, free.

Money-wise, the insert uses electricity for the fan, but I couldn't tell you how much. Other costs would be maintenance of a chainsaw, gas for hauling wood, rental of a wood splitter (oak is hard!) every year or so. All in all, I'm sure we still come out ahead.

Our insert heats our entire house (2000 sq ft) just fine. We live in the mid south so we get fairly cold winters.  I agree with Edey - there is nothing like wood heat!

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