Heating Our House

We bought a wood stove this winter. With installation it cost just over $3000 and looks beautiful. However, we didn’t buy it for looks but to replace (as much as possible) using the furnace. The stovepipe runs straight up the chimney so we had to get the installer (Vonderhaars, and I highly recommend them for Cincinnati-area installs, they are incredibly helpful and knowledgeable) to come out twice to put more insulation around the pipe. You can check to see if there is a draft in your chimney by holding a candle near it; if the smoke is pulled up into the chimney you’ve got draft. Once the insulation was in we were good to go. We didn’t use our furnace between December and the middle of March when the weather got warm enough not to need constant wood burning!

In Cincinnati most of our energy comes from coal…the mining of which is destroying much of the Appalachian mountains, one of the most beautiful and diverse ecologies in the country. Coal mining also damages social structure in the Appalachian region. People are dependent on coal for their livelihoods…but this makes them vulnerable to the whims of an industry that exploits and endangers its workers. I could rant about coal mining all day. It makes me so sad and so angry to see what is being done to our country and people but the worst thing about the situation is that I am complicit in the destruction — every time I turn on a light switch or use my hair dryer.

So, in an effort to use at least LESS energy from coal…and to be less dependent on the increasingly fragile infrastructure that keeps us warm and fed…we bought a wood stove.

We also thought long and hard about the air quality argument of wood vs. gas or electric. Many people believe that wood stoves contribute more to air pollution than other common forms of heat. It is true that a wood stove releases more particulate waste into the air at the site of use (EPA Graph)…but this does not take into account the pollution generated through production and transportation of the different fuel sources. Nor does that statistic include the two biggest benefits of wood…it comes from trees which are 1. renewable and 2. oxygen-producing (so they clean the air before they are burned into polluting it, basically).

Wood stoves or wood-burning furnaces are usually less expensive than other forms of energy. This calculator is an easy way to compare fuel prices in your area. Depending on where you live (urban/suburban/rural) you may have to look several miles away for decent wood. However, if you put the effort into it and plan ahead you can find quite a bit of wood available even in metro areas.

We bought 2 cords of wood this year. Because we need seasoned hardwood for the current year Josh had to go about 60 miles to a sawmill for scraps. However, the wood we bought for next year was only a couple miles from where we live, on some property where trees were cut down. By next year it will be dry and ready to burn. If you are able to get wood a year or two before you plan to burn it look for free and near-by sources…many homes (especially after wind storms), developments, etc.