Woodburning stoves

[Dave'sGirl]

Fear...or respect...

We heat with a woodburning stove now. I don't mind the frugalness of them...the cost of oil is prohibitive!!

My very FIRST experience with woodburning stoves burned my house down, killed my dog and I lost everything. We've since recovered (except for the Jake tragedy) but now I am pretty afraid of using this stove. I know it's properly installed (I paid an inspector), and I know how to use it, but I still fear it. I use it, but I fear it.

Anyone else have a sense of uneasiness using a wood stove?? Please share your perspective with me. TIA

[nvmommyx6]

Have used wood stoves all of my life, I am sure if ever we had your experience they would scare the crap out of me! However, knowing how to use them and making sure they are installed correctly is they key, you'll grow less fearful in time and still reap the frugality of your wood stove my dear, prayers with you!
Mommy

[Lilolme]

Considering what you have been through in the past it is totally understandable for you to have a fear of using the wood stove. Time is probably the only thing that will truly help you with that.

We actually are fixing to put in a wood stove. The price of gas here just went up and our bill had a major increase and this was before we had to turn the heater on and the only thing using gas was the hot water tank.

[FrugalMomof3]

I agree with the above post however, if it has been inspected and passed the only thing you can do now is use it properly.

I am glad you posted this thread as my DH and I are thinking of investing in a wood or pellet stove in the future. Would love to get some opinions.

[nvmommyx6]

We contemplated a pellet stove, there was clearly no choice though but the wood stove!!
If your power goes out so does the hopper in the pellet stove that feeds the fire, therefore, no power, no heat! Not power no heat no cooking on the stovetop!!
The only way your woodstove wont work when the power goes out is if your arms and legs are broken and so are everyone elses!!!!!

So, we can load the stove ourselves and not have to rely on power to do it for us, and I can still cook on it, power or not!!
Also, our neighbor had a pellet stove and he has the same house as us...he paid $200. more year before last in pellets to heat his house than we paid in gas!!
Wood permits here are $25 for four chords of wood....so, with gas included for the trip, packed lunches and coffee and cocoa and a days work, it averages us about $100-$125 a year to heat our home!!

The pellets cost our neighbor over $600 last year!!

[zakity]

We have a wood stove and we love it. It is the primary heat source for the house. We haven't even turned the heat on yet, but we also live where the weather is mild.

We don't have an issue with it, but the twins and I are closet pyros and DH grew up with a woodstove. Beak only likes the woodstove because it is cheaper and that frees up more money for fun stuff.

Side note:
Closet pyros like fire and explosions, but, typically, any fire play is "responsible" fire play. Example: The twins go outside in the summer with a magnifying glass and set the grass on fire, well, not quite a "fire". They and wet down a circle and have a bucket of water nearby in case they get a flame. They aim for the time right before the flame actually starts (smoking good, but no actually flame) and then they will move to another spot in their circle and start over. When they are finished playing, they wet down the area with the bucket to make sure no sparks remain. They are 10 and have been doing this for years (3 to 4 at least).

[ironmaiden]

When you look into pellet stoves find out how much electricity they use and then calculate your electric cost, add it to the cost of pellets. And that's how much it would cost for a year. As far as payback time when you actually save money, you have to factor in the cost of the stove and installation. The electrical part is not insignificant.

[Trishagirl]

Never had one we have gas but I would love a wood stove but it would make me scared and I would have to learn to respect that kinds of heat! It would really warm your house up nicely. My friend has one and loves hers.

[Minner77]

We had a woodstove at our rental and loved it so much we put one in the house we built (while we rented). Stupid me -- never figured out that there's a MAJOR design difference: the current one, while beautifully built into the corner of our living room, is not freestanding, so we can't put pots of water to heat on it. We do use it for heat (DH has worked hard to haul and cut the wood), but I miss heating water on the top of the freestanding unit, and suspect I would really miss it in an emergency. Sigh...

~Mary

[jdr250]

We got one installed this year and so far we absolutely love it. It's been down in the 30's and I've only been using my furnace maybe 15-20 minutes every few days to take the chill off first thing in the morning.
But yes I have a healthy fear of our wood stove, we had it installed in the basement cement floors and sandstone walls makes me feel alot better. We also had an insulated chimney liner professionally installed for safety.
The other day I freaked myself out, I over fired the stove (my pipe had a few red glowing spots). I panicked ready to run and grab sand to put it out but hubby just opened the door for about 10 minutes and all was good. Reminded me that you can't short cut it and over load the wood to save a trip downstairs.

[jkbmum]

we have a wood stove...we heat our house...and we just pay for the drive to the mill my hubby works for ...free wood..and easy!i love it!

[RetiredVeryEarly]

We have had a wood stove for a couple years. We love it. Cutting and hauling all the wood around and splitting a lot of it also gives us a good workout! (I dropped my health club membership 1.5 years ago since people with wood stoves get plenty of exercise if they prepare all their own wood.) I am sometimes nervous about the stove, but we had it professionally installed by people who were smart and experienced, so really we don't worry very much. We do keep a fire extinguisher and water near the wood stove all the time. The water is partly as a heat sink and also to moderate the heat going towards the side wall, but would help in case of emergency, too.

If you are thinking about using wood to heat your house (and ours does a good job in WI except when it gets really cold, then we need the furnace on a little bit) I would recommend you read Hearth net.

[jenico]

I grew up with a wood stove in our house and loved the heat . I have always wanted another one. If I had what happened to you happen to me I would feel the same way. Just be careful.