That never gets old, period. :lol:karl said:When you have a naked lady hop out of the shower and run down the hallway to get dried offed and dressed in front of the stove, it's priceless
Heating costs. Is wood really worth it?
- Thread starter Swedishchef
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For me heating with wood is absolutely worth it. I burned 1,200-1,400 gallons of oil to heat this house the first two years I lived here. On cold windy days I could not keep the house above 64* and the furnace never stopped. As I've said before my house was originally a summer beach house, so it was never intended to be lived in during the winter months. This insert has proven to be the best decision I've made as a homeowner. I have cut my oil consumption down by about 60% maybe more. I was out of work a good chunk of this past winter and the wood stove literally is the reason I was able to keep my house. I get most of my wood free, so I made my money back on the purchase and install within the first year and a half.
I'm able to keep my house as warm as I want regardless of the weather. The ability to keep my family warm while I'm at work, and not have to worry about them is a huge relief to me. Wood heat is definitely worth it financially to me. I also really enjoy every aspect of heating with wood. So it's really a win win for me.
I'm able to keep my house as warm as I want regardless of the weather. The ability to keep my family warm while I'm at work, and not have to worry about them is a huge relief to me. Wood heat is definitely worth it financially to me. I also really enjoy every aspect of heating with wood. So it's really a win win for me.
This will be my first season turning the tables on Amerigas. I have a 500 gallon in ground propane tank. Just got off the phone with them yesterday. My new contract for this year went up to $415 a month (budget plan). They said we used 1400 gallons last year.
Propane is $3.51 gal locked. Last year was a colder winter around here... they said.
1400 x 3.51= $4914
So our fuel costs are almost $5000 a year.
Our real estate and school taxes are over $6000 and a wood stove won't help that one.
I would like to reduce the propane usage to about one tank or less a season.
Lets use 400 gallons as an example.
400 x 3.51gal = $1404
$5000 - $1404 = $3596
So fuel savings will be around $3000 - $3500 depending on the severity of the winter.
I already own the chainsaw and the splitter. I used them for the open fireplace.
Wood will be free except for this year I have to buy a couple of cords.
Costs to install two top of the line wood stoves. I did the labor myself.
Clydesdale $3300, chimney liner kit $453 = $3753
Hearthstone Equinox (used) $2000, chimney $1850, hearth $1300, shield $250 = $5400
I have $9153 wrapped up in this project not including caulk (why did I have to add that up?
)
It's gonna take me probably at least 3 years to recoup but you have to understand I went top dollar on a this stuff. The hearth is double what a pre-fab would cost and I could have built one myself for a couple hundred max.
I could have gotten away with 1/3 of that cost for everything with more frugal choices and got my payback in one season.
Look at the bright side. In three years all will be paid for from the savings and we will enjoy the best for all of the rest of our lives..... and saving more each year.
And we LOVE fire.
Propane is $3.51 gal locked. Last year was a colder winter around here... they said.
1400 x 3.51= $4914
So our fuel costs are almost $5000 a year.
Our real estate and school taxes are over $6000 and a wood stove won't help that one.
I would like to reduce the propane usage to about one tank or less a season.
Lets use 400 gallons as an example.
400 x 3.51gal = $1404
$5000 - $1404 = $3596
So fuel savings will be around $3000 - $3500 depending on the severity of the winter.
I already own the chainsaw and the splitter. I used them for the open fireplace.
Wood will be free except for this year I have to buy a couple of cords.
Costs to install two top of the line wood stoves. I did the labor myself.
Clydesdale $3300, chimney liner kit $453 = $3753
Hearthstone Equinox (used) $2000, chimney $1850, hearth $1300, shield $250 = $5400
I have $9153 wrapped up in this project not including caulk (why did I have to add that up?
It's gonna take me probably at least 3 years to recoup but you have to understand I went top dollar on a this stuff. The hearth is double what a pre-fab would cost and I could have built one myself for a couple hundred max.
I could have gotten away with 1/3 of that cost for everything with more frugal choices and got my payback in one season.
Look at the bright side. In three years all will be paid for from the savings and we will enjoy the best for all of the rest of our lives..... and saving more each year.
And we LOVE fire.
I'd say if natural gas was available, I'd take a long look. A gas fireplace could give you some of the same space heating effect and power outage heat.
In this part of the country, there is no doubt it is cheaper to heat with wood. Furnace oil is around $4.00/g ($1.10/L), and electricity is insane. Add the mandatory oil tank replacement every ten years on top of that (roughly $1200). In my situation, it would cost about $3500 per year for oil, as opposed to $500-600 per year with wood. Granted, I get it pretty cheap/free.
All that aside - nothing beats sitting in your underpants on a Friday night sipping on a Bourbon after work while roasting yourself in front of the stove when its -20 outside.
All that aside - nothing beats sitting in your underpants on a Friday night sipping on a Bourbon after work while roasting yourself in front of the stove when its -20 outside.
Bought the house and it had a 20 year old builder grade propane furnace. My options were to replace the furnace with a low end heat pump, buy a woodstove or deal with 65 degrees in the house all winter. Cost was about the same to do either. I have several wooded acres and no electric generation capability so wood won out. The payback was way quicker than I thought (1.5-2 years). Now I am just banking money even when I buy a cord or two a year. That money is going into a little pot to replace the HVAC when the AC gives out. When that happens I should have the money to put in the most efficient model on the market.
I would not be burning wood if I had to pay for the wood. Much more work and mess than just about any source of energy. However, we have wood that needs cut, why not make it fit the stove.
However, if you want to justify the stove, consider the cost of stove and chimney as upfront cost for emergency heat, much like you would a generator. Now buy wood when it is cheaper than your other sources of energy, or you can get it scrounged up free. When propane was less than a buck a gallon, the only time we burned wood was the coldest time of the winter, usually about 2-3 weeks, the rest of the time the thermostat on the furnace got bumped up. Now that it is almost two bucks/gallon, we are burning most of the season 24/7. We have a small home that is reasonably well insulated, and I figure burning wood saved us about $700 in fuel cost last year, not putting any expense toward the cost of wood. If I had to account for the cost of putting up the wood, we would probably buy more propane.
However, if you want to justify the stove, consider the cost of stove and chimney as upfront cost for emergency heat, much like you would a generator. Now buy wood when it is cheaper than your other sources of energy, or you can get it scrounged up free. When propane was less than a buck a gallon, the only time we burned wood was the coldest time of the winter, usually about 2-3 weeks, the rest of the time the thermostat on the furnace got bumped up. Now that it is almost two bucks/gallon, we are burning most of the season 24/7. We have a small home that is reasonably well insulated, and I figure burning wood saved us about $700 in fuel cost last year, not putting any expense toward the cost of wood. If I had to account for the cost of putting up the wood, we would probably buy more propane.
Reading these posts makes me realize how lucky we are to have natural gas, reasonable electricity, ample wood, and mild winters. And, I had forgotten about the real estate taxes we paid in California.
To all those in tough energy spots, hang in there. You will make it and things will get better in the future. Meantime, there is the cute, hot, and satisfying little stove for solace when old man winter is clawing at the door.
To all those in tough energy spots, hang in there. You will make it and things will get better in the future. Meantime, there is the cute, hot, and satisfying little stove for solace when old man winter is clawing at the door.
Even though your KWH rate is very good don't count on it being that way forever, and you will have back up heat when the power goes out.
The intangibles are good too, but the money I saved in heating with wood allowed me to pay a 30 yr mortgage of in 8.5 yrs. It's wasn't all because I burn wood but I would still be paying on it if i didn't.
I was blessed to find a nice house with an insert installed and running, woodshed already built and half filled, and I already had a saw and a pickup truck, so my investment was another saw, a splitter, a maul, and a wheel barrow. Funny thing was the top thing on our new house wish list was a garage, walking into the house and seeing the insert blazing away in early April of that year sealed the deal right there.
I also grew up during the 70's during the great Fisher stove heydays and had all the cut/split/stack/burn experience I needed to dive right back into burning wood.
I have never bought wood, ever.
The intangibles are good too, but the money I saved in heating with wood allowed me to pay a 30 yr mortgage of in 8.5 yrs. It's wasn't all because I burn wood but I would still be paying on it if i didn't.
I was blessed to find a nice house with an insert installed and running, woodshed already built and half filled, and I already had a saw and a pickup truck, so my investment was another saw, a splitter, a maul, and a wheel barrow. Funny thing was the top thing on our new house wish list was a garage, walking into the house and seeing the insert blazing away in early April of that year sealed the deal right there.
I also grew up during the 70's during the great Fisher stove heydays and had all the cut/split/stack/burn experience I needed to dive right back into burning wood.
I have never bought wood, ever.
According to my energy conversion chart with electricity at $.07 the equal price for a cord of wood would be $300, so if you can get if for $175 you would be saving money. It's a chart that equlizes different types of energy by BTUs. Electricity woud have to be $.o425 to equal a cord of wood at $175.
While i can justify the secondary, pun intended, benifits of burning. I basically had no choice. A 1970's era oil furnace, 4 dollar per gallon fuel...and being young enough to yet climbed the corporate ladder. Wood just was a must. I can say i dont have all the extra time to cut and splilt all the wood, and yes there are costs, im on my second stove in two years. I know im still ahead. What i paid for this stove, would only half fill the tank, and last about two months. The liner and trade off of the other stove should be paid for before shoulder season runs out. The saw is another matter, but you cant have too many tools. That and id use it even if i didnt burn wood.
And i cant put a figure on a warm happy wife, and friends and family who come over.
And i cant put a figure on a warm happy wife, and friends and family who come over.
Random thoughts . . .
I originally bought my woodstove due to the financial issues -- the other aspects of having a back up heat source when the power goes out, nice homey picture of sitting at home with the feet up in front of the fire, etc. were secondary (although I can tell you I would have given quite a bit back during the Ice Storm when we lost power in the Winter for 14 days). Back when I went with the woodstove the price of oil was hovering right below or above $4 a gallon . . . and not a whole lot has changed in the three or four years since then as my heating oil provider's price as of today was $3.46 a gallon.
Doing some simple math . . . I am lucky to only average 580 or so gallons of oil annually . . . or at least that's what I used in the last year I heated solely with oil. Doing the math, this means I would have to pay a little more than $2,000 to stay warm this winter if I only had heating oil. With access to the family wood lot and honestly by doing some scrounging (I find it easier than cutting down the trees and/or it helps out folks -- i.e. I cleaned out a dead ash the other day that came down near a friend's house/A few years ago I cleared the area where our new fire pond was being built, etc.) I have yet to pay for any wood. I wouldn't say this is free wood since I do pay in bar and chain oil, gas for the saw, splitter, ATV, truck . . . and there is the time that it takes to get it home . . . but I do know that just from the financial standpoint I am no where near paying $2,000 for the wood . . . and I am guessing by now I have probably paid off the cost of the stove, Class A chimney, ATV trailer and what other items I have bought as part of the whole heating with wood deal (some things I had already like the chainsaw, ATV and truck.)
So, financially . . . yes, I am positive I am ahead of the game. Perhaps the one cost some folks do not factor in is the time . . . it does take time to cut down the tree, limb the tree, buck it up, haul it out of the woods, haul it home, split it and stack it . . . and then stack it in the woodshed . . . but this for me is time well spent.
I originally bought my woodstove due to the financial issues -- the other aspects of having a back up heat source when the power goes out, nice homey picture of sitting at home with the feet up in front of the fire, etc. were secondary (although I can tell you I would have given quite a bit back during the Ice Storm when we lost power in the Winter for 14 days). Back when I went with the woodstove the price of oil was hovering right below or above $4 a gallon . . . and not a whole lot has changed in the three or four years since then as my heating oil provider's price as of today was $3.46 a gallon.
Doing some simple math . . . I am lucky to only average 580 or so gallons of oil annually . . . or at least that's what I used in the last year I heated solely with oil. Doing the math, this means I would have to pay a little more than $2,000 to stay warm this winter if I only had heating oil. With access to the family wood lot and honestly by doing some scrounging (I find it easier than cutting down the trees and/or it helps out folks -- i.e. I cleaned out a dead ash the other day that came down near a friend's house/A few years ago I cleared the area where our new fire pond was being built, etc.) I have yet to pay for any wood. I wouldn't say this is free wood since I do pay in bar and chain oil, gas for the saw, splitter, ATV, truck . . . and there is the time that it takes to get it home . . . but I do know that just from the financial standpoint I am no where near paying $2,000 for the wood . . . and I am guessing by now I have probably paid off the cost of the stove, Class A chimney, ATV trailer and what other items I have bought as part of the whole heating with wood deal (some things I had already like the chainsaw, ATV and truck.)
So, financially . . . yes, I am positive I am ahead of the game. Perhaps the one cost some folks do not factor in is the time . . . it does take time to cut down the tree, limb the tree, buck it up, haul it out of the woods, haul it home, split it and stack it . . . and then stack it in the woodshed . . . but this for me is time well spent.
You have to consider the cost of a large back up generator which you would need in the event of an extended power outage, which could easily run a few thousand. At least the wood stove can be used in between as well.
Not too romantic sitting in front of the backup generator sipping wine.
Not too romantic sitting in front of the backup generator sipping wine.
karl said:When you have a naked lady hop out of the shower and run down the hallway to get dried offed and dressed in front of the stove, it's priceless
Karl, that very well may be the best post of 2011. All true too! My normal thermostat is watching the ladies. If they don't remove any clothing then I throw another log on the fire.
Swedishchef said:From what you guys are saying: if you own a woodlot and have all the equipment available, it is worth it. But what if you spend $250 a cord?
I was questioning the financial aspect alone. Not the moral, happy "let's sit by the fire and melt away", I am sweating my balls off fun winter heat
Andrew
Andrew, you bring up a good point here. If I had to pay $250 per cord then I'd definitely be putting a pencil to the job of figuring which way to go, but, being as how we now burn only 3 cord per year, that would be $750 for heating costs after the installation of the stove and chimney. It would take a while to pay for the stove but it would pay for sure.
Not having your own wood makes it more difficult to save more dollars so to save one would definitely need to look at buying log loads, scrounging, etc.
You also hit the nail on the head about using wood heat. It is hard to beat especially when the weather really turns cold. I do not like being cold in my own house and I do not like going to visit someone in the winter and having to dress like I were going outdoors. Yet, that is what we find during the cold months is that other folks homes are just not as warm as ours so, we have to cut the visits short. On the other hand, we laugh if someone comes to us for a visit wearing heavy clothing and sweaters and such. It doesn't take long for them to start peeling the clothing. lol
I well remember the time we had company on one of the coldest nights of the winter one year. The temperature was well below zero and there was a wind of 25-35 mph. Oh how it howled in the treetops. We still had our old stove at the time and we put a card table right next to the stove so all of us could stay warm. If we had only had the Fireview then, we would not have had to sit right next to the stove.
I've often wondered just how many dollars we've saved over the years by burning wood. As for costs, we bought the Fireview in 2007. At that time we also put up a new SS chimney which was costly. But those are long term things and in the long run won't be costly. I've had chain saws for so long I don't remember being without one so that was not an added cost. I've even hauled some wood to the house using the lawn mower and a small trailer. Not much cost there. Same thing for stacking the wood. I just cut saplings and lay those down to stack the wood on. For covering we have old galvanized roofing that was free. So in the long run it is really a big money saver with us burning wood and it would still be a money saver if I had to purchase the wood already cut and split.
Lately we have been burning wood off the property, but we were buying cordwood at that price here. A captive market makes for higher pricing. Still, the same thing goes for propane locally so for us wood made economic sense. But with the heat pump, it is cheaper to heat with electrons during the shoulder seasons. That is until the power goes out, which is guaranteed to happen at least a couple times between Nov and Mar.
Regardless, we like the warmth and welcoming glow of the fire and our heatpump is only good down to about 25F. So we have fires when it gets into the low 40's. I'd rather burn and extend the heatpump's life. Running a fire view dvd just wouldn't cut it for this purpose.
Regardless, we like the warmth and welcoming glow of the fire and our heatpump is only good down to about 25F. So we have fires when it gets into the low 40's. I'd rather burn and extend the heatpump's life. Running a fire view dvd just wouldn't cut it for this purpose.
BrotherBart said:
Yup... Quebec has the lowest rate on the planet! That has to do with all the Hydro Electric Plants we have plus the money is made on exportation to other provinces. Apparently, when the Free Trade Agreement was signed with the USA, Canada agreed not to charge more than what Quebecers are paying. Yes... we are lousy negotiators.
Dont tell this to Quebecers though. If you ask them they all think they are paying too much! That's why they love to burn with wood.
Swedishchef said:From what you guys are saying: if you own a woodlot and have all the equipment available, it is worth it. But what if you spend $250 a cord?
I was questioning the financial aspect alone. Not the moral, happy "let's sit by the fire and melt away", I am sweating my balls off fun winter heat
Andrew
Wood:
$250 x 8 cords = $2,000
Oil:
1,500 gallon x $3.80 = $5,700
1,500 gallon x $4.00 = $6,000
That is still $3,500 - $4,000 cheaper per year than it would be if I was using oil. I purchase all the wood I burn, which is currently $120 per cord. I do not have time to scrounge, and buck, and split (which I did the last two years).
If I was only interested in the "let's sit by the fire and melt away" I would only have one stove. I am more interested in the "not paying an insane amount to heat my home."
I was thinking about the same thing the other day while I was spliiting and stacking, if it was worth all the effort and the cost. But you know what I really like working in the woods, cutting and stacking. The best part is saving some money, getting some exercise, and having a nice warm house in the winter. I really look forward to running the woodstove in the winter.
Where I live, we have no natural gas. We only have heating fuel to use as a heat source, either firing hydronic boilers or forced air furnaces.
Fuel oil delivered to my house today is $5.83 per gallon. I work in the local electric powerplant; our engines are diesel fired. There is no coal, NG, hydro, or nuclear capabilities to produce electricity in volume here. That said, electricity is .48 per kw/h. Heating a home in the arctic via electric heat could be brutal to the pocketbook.
But...that was always the thought. In a new modern energy efficient home, it may be time, at least here, to consider the cost of fuel oil vs electric heat. No way in hell I would attempt it in an older drafty house.
Bring on the wood. I paid for my stove, all of the accessories such as pipe and incidentals, in a season and a half with the savings i made not buying a lot of heating fuel. That was back in '07/'08 when fuel was down below $3.50 a gallon.
And I am only supplement burning. I fire my F400 most each day about 5 pm when I get home from work and let it run until it goes out from its final filling sometime around 11pm, probably no later than 3am in the morning. I do know its stone cold at 7am when I get up. This is the routine 5 workdays a week. On the weekends, I run it all day long until the late evening hours again. I start my burning season in earnest by Oct 1st and run until mid-April. Last winter I ran out of wood.
I don't have to buy wood, its all scrounged from the beach. Free to the taking, one just needs to be educated to select decent stuff. Its all either black spruce or poplar, commonly referred to here as cottonwood. I only select spruce. I will say with the skyrocketing fuel prices (by the way, we are locked in to that $5.83 per gallon until next June: our fuel is bought and barged here, stored and used through the winter, re-stocked the following summer. The winter supply was brought in in July) there are a whole lot more folks installing wood stoves, as a result, the competition on the beach harvesting wood has ramped up markedly. I have to drive further from town now to get mine.
I do have a lot of labor in my wood harvesting, cutting, splitting, stacking. But I enjoy it. I get to be outdoors, and its good honest work. At my age, it sure beats the hell out of a treadmill at the local recreation center.
Yes, the man at the stove store (there isn't one where I live) cringed when I told him I burn driftwood. He mumbled something about "no warranty". What else is a guy supposed to do, living where I do, with heating costs what they are? Do what ya gotta do. I could afford to buy a new stove every 2 years and still be ahead of the Arabs.
Fuel oil delivered to my house today is $5.83 per gallon. I work in the local electric powerplant; our engines are diesel fired. There is no coal, NG, hydro, or nuclear capabilities to produce electricity in volume here. That said, electricity is .48 per kw/h. Heating a home in the arctic via electric heat could be brutal to the pocketbook.
But...that was always the thought. In a new modern energy efficient home, it may be time, at least here, to consider the cost of fuel oil vs electric heat. No way in hell I would attempt it in an older drafty house.
Bring on the wood. I paid for my stove, all of the accessories such as pipe and incidentals, in a season and a half with the savings i made not buying a lot of heating fuel. That was back in '07/'08 when fuel was down below $3.50 a gallon.
And I am only supplement burning. I fire my F400 most each day about 5 pm when I get home from work and let it run until it goes out from its final filling sometime around 11pm, probably no later than 3am in the morning. I do know its stone cold at 7am when I get up. This is the routine 5 workdays a week. On the weekends, I run it all day long until the late evening hours again. I start my burning season in earnest by Oct 1st and run until mid-April. Last winter I ran out of wood.
I don't have to buy wood, its all scrounged from the beach. Free to the taking, one just needs to be educated to select decent stuff. Its all either black spruce or poplar, commonly referred to here as cottonwood. I only select spruce. I will say with the skyrocketing fuel prices (by the way, we are locked in to that $5.83 per gallon until next June: our fuel is bought and barged here, stored and used through the winter, re-stocked the following summer. The winter supply was brought in in July) there are a whole lot more folks installing wood stoves, as a result, the competition on the beach harvesting wood has ramped up markedly. I have to drive further from town now to get mine.
I do have a lot of labor in my wood harvesting, cutting, splitting, stacking. But I enjoy it. I get to be outdoors, and its good honest work. At my age, it sure beats the hell out of a treadmill at the local recreation center.
Yes, the man at the stove store (there isn't one where I live) cringed when I told him I burn driftwood. He mumbled something about "no warranty". What else is a guy supposed to do, living where I do, with heating costs what they are? Do what ya gotta do. I could afford to buy a new stove every 2 years and still be ahead of the Arabs.
Frostbit, it does not surprise me at the costs of things in your area and that has to be the tough part. I don't remember if you go on snowmobile to get wood or not but have read of others who travel a tremendous amount of miles to get firewood and then haul it behind the snow machine.
Good luck to you; winter is not too far away.
Good luck to you; winter is not too far away.
Northwest Arctic, Alaska. Brrrr. I gotta admit, that place name makes me cold and it is 100 °F outside right now.
Thanks for all the input guys.
I know for a fact that heating with wood when spending $250 a cord while my electricity rate is $.0716/KWh is NOT economical. $750 in wood would be an extra $125 a month in hydro for the winter months (my average is only 105 a month....including a 60 gallon hot water tank, heat on in my son's room 8 months a year since he's not even 1 yet, it's always 22 degrees in there). My stove is in my basement which is not efficient; it takes 3-4 hours to get the basement warm before the heat starts to rise. I have no registers in my floor yet. Especially since I don't turn on the basement heat and some times it's 13 degrees.....
Some people save money AND love splitting, cutting, burning. Some do it for the savings. Some do it to be independant. I do it for all of the above I guess....if only I had the equipment and a woodlot, I would be laughing to the bank!
And I agree, talking on a forum with people about turning on a thermostat would be pretty damn boring indeed.
Yes, we have cheap electricity rates in Quebec. I admit we have high taxes, but it's a socialist province and that's why we have great electricity rates, medical resources and other benefits ( for example, fathers get 5 weeks of PAID parental leave that do not interfere with the mother's parental leave!)
Frostbit: all considering, I find your oil rate pretty decent. I am not near as isolated as you and people around here are paying $4.25+++ a gallon for furnace oil. How are things in Alaska? I have a friend working in Nunavut...similar weather.
Andrew
I know for a fact that heating with wood when spending $250 a cord while my electricity rate is $.0716/KWh is NOT economical. $750 in wood would be an extra $125 a month in hydro for the winter months (my average is only 105 a month....including a 60 gallon hot water tank, heat on in my son's room 8 months a year since he's not even 1 yet, it's always 22 degrees in there). My stove is in my basement which is not efficient; it takes 3-4 hours to get the basement warm before the heat starts to rise. I have no registers in my floor yet. Especially since I don't turn on the basement heat and some times it's 13 degrees.....
Some people save money AND love splitting, cutting, burning. Some do it for the savings. Some do it to be independant. I do it for all of the above I guess....if only I had the equipment and a woodlot, I would be laughing to the bank!
And I agree, talking on a forum with people about turning on a thermostat would be pretty damn boring indeed.
Yes, we have cheap electricity rates in Quebec. I admit we have high taxes, but it's a socialist province and that's why we have great electricity rates, medical resources and other benefits ( for example, fathers get 5 weeks of PAID parental leave that do not interfere with the mother's parental leave!)
Frostbit: all considering, I find your oil rate pretty decent. I am not near as isolated as you and people around here are paying $4.25+++ a gallon for furnace oil. How are things in Alaska? I have a friend working in Nunavut...similar weather.
Andrew
rdust said:
I probably live in the mildest climate of anyone on here, Central Texas....but we do have a winter that requires heat. I just moved to a home last year that wasn't on a natural gas pipeline feed and am on propane. WOW, what a difference in cost...The coldest winter of the month last year (it was down in the teens at night and the 30's in the day, cold winter for us), I burned 200 gallons of propane in 4.5 weeks. $550 to refill. I can buy the entire winter's wood for that. And I can cut much of what I need but if it was buy only, it's still a winner for me. Our winters are shorter than many of yours so the payback is longer but knowing that if the power goes out or the propane's empty or the central heat goes out (all three of which happened last winter) I am warm is worth a decent little bit...
The folks that we bought the house from had a wood stove that we thought (and actually still think) was ugly. BUT we were SOOOO happy to have it when it was 18 outside and had no heat. I cook in bbq competitions so I had some hickory out in the shop and we stayed warm off of that for several days. Now we are replacing the stove with something more of the look we like and we are sold on it. If we just break even, it's worth it to me. I keep a fire going all winter anyway, might as well get the heat out of it.
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