How Far to Jump In

[fossil]

So... you're saying she wouldn't like one of these.

She wouldn't but I could heat the house and prepare dinner!

Maybe if you painted the cinder blocks? %-P Rick

 

[Easyellis8]

she’s a lovely, young lady from the city with absolutely no experience with anything outdoors

Good

Send her to me, I'll have her cleaning stalls in no time :lol:

Hay, in less than 2 pages you've gone from "stove" to "stove or insert".

That's cool .

Eileen, do not paint me into an insert, the goal that I'm trying to get my wife to embrace is the "freestanding". Having alternatives is handy just in case though.

 

[stoveguy2esw]

IMHO, a ZC isnt the answer, bang for the buck an insert or a hearth capable model is getting it done.

BG does have a suggestion with merit however if nothing else is availible a zc isnt worthless they do ok as long as you go with one that is designed to heat , not just look right.

eileen , bless your heart, where were you when i was single <chuckle> its amazing how much being outdoors makes you want to be outdoors more.

that said not everyone is an outdoors type, meaning they are indoors a lot , why wouldnt they wanna be warm. there is no better heat than wood heat. it simply makes you an addict.

slyferret(one of our members) posted a couple pic's in another forum a while back, guys got a big woodpile (neatly stacked) and did a bang up job on his setup and such , stove looks good where he sited it, but the picture that caught my attention was his spouse helping him with the splitter. thats the kool thing about wood heating , its a lifestyle , and its not "work" per se. they get out and load up on wood and actually enjoy being out doing it. i hope you get to enjoy it as much as they do, as do i.

 

[Dix]

Eileen, do not paint me into an insert, the goal that I’m trying to get my wife to embrace is the “freestanding”. Having alternatives is handy just in case though.

No painting. None at all.

I was just saying that the ability to be flexible is a good thing, is all .

I wanted a free standing stove. I settled for an insert. I already had the FP

Go for the truck, man, go for the truck :lol:

 

[iceman]

It sounds as though (if I'm reading this correctly) you already have the place into which you're moving, so you're not talking about buying a stove now and then taking it with you to the other place next spring...is that right? You're going to start stockpiling wood at the destination? (good idea!). I s'pose a lot depends on the layout of the new home, and how much space a freestanding stove requires, and where it can be placed for best heating advantage. My wife loves our woodstoves, and participates in every aspect of woodburning except hand splitting (she's a pro with the power splitter). There are a zillion photos available of nice woodstove installations you might casually show to the wife. I'll attach a pic of our rather simple setup in our home. Welcome to the forum, and best of luck. Rick

nice looking set up!!

 

[fossil]

(Thanks, iceman) Hey Ed, do you already have the home in Southern Illinois into which you're moving next spring, or do you have yet to find one and buy it? Rick

 

[RedRanger]

EasyEd: you have my upmost sympathy. I have been trying for 3 years to get my wife to agree to purchase a second insert for the third level of our 4 level house. Only gain I have managed is a new insert for the rec-room on the first level. (and I only got that because I just went ahead and bought it and installed it), oh, well, at least she likes it. :smirk:

She will simply not agree to another one where it would do the most good because- her co-workers, most of them have removed theirs and replaced with gas. Second, she harps about the resale value of the house. Third, she doesn`t want any cutting of the hardwood floor to expand the hearth, and on and on it goes. So now when she gets home from work she migrates to the rec-room after dinner and stays there till bedtime. It is an uphill battle you are facing my friend, and I wish you all the luck. One thing is for sure though, if you get that stove? right in front of it during winter is where you are gonna find her 99% of the time ;-)

 

[cmonSTART]

My wife was a bit hesitant getting into wood heat too. A few years ago we bought our first house which had an old scary oil burner in the basement. I had grown up with wood heat (old VC Defiant) so I was comfortable with it and knew how much cheaper it was. Her only experience with it was during a power outage as a kid her family used an old fireplace for a week, which didn't do much of anything for heat. She was worried about safety and appearance. I wore her down eventually talking about the cost of oil for this place vs. wood, having it 75 in the living room vs 62. We installed our first Englander that fall with a stainless chimney.

She loved it. Now she helps stack wood (even pregnant), helps bring it in, builds and tends fires (drives me nuts when she builds a better fire than me). She even lets me stack wood all over the place, all to keep the house nice and toasty in the winter.

 

[burntime]

cmonStart, you have a keeper there! My wife gets lazy about grabbing wood sometimes but when winter comes she always says she likes the warmth

 

[Easyellis8]

EasyEd: you have my upmost sympathy. I have been trying for 3 years to get my wife to agree to purchase a second insert for the third level of our 4 level house. Only gain I have managed is a new insert for the rec-room on the first level. (and I only got that because I just went ahead and bought it and installed it), oh, well, at least she likes it. :smirk:

She will simply not agree to another one where it would do the most good because- her co-workers, most of them have removed theirs and replaced with gas. Second, she harps about the resale value of the house. Third, she doesn`t want any cutting of the hardwood floor to expand the hearth, and on and on it goes. So now when she gets home from work she migrates to the rec-room after dinner and stays there till bedtime. It is an uphill battle you are facing my friend, and I wish you all the luck. One thing is for sure though, if you get that stove? right in front of it during winter is where you are gonna find her 99% of the time ;-)

Sonnyinbc,

You are almost there, keep giving her the helpful hints; do not give up the fight. Choosing the stove and location will be easy if I can get her to read the material; I'm reading and regurgitating it back to her. It sounds better the first time around to me, but not so good to her. My wife is at home for a while so she doesn't have co-workers to dissuade her, but she does work for our children and they are on board with me.

 

[Easyellis8]

My wife was a bit hesitant getting into wood heat too. A few years ago we bought our first house which had an old scary oil burner in the basement. I had grown up with wood heat (old VC Defiant) so I was comfortable with it and knew how much cheaper it was. Her only experience with it was during a power outage as a kid her family used an old fireplace for a week, which didn't do much of anything for heat. She was worried about safety and appearance. I wore her down eventually talking about the cost of oil for this place vs. wood, having it 75 in the living room vs 62. We installed our first Englander that fall with a stainless chimney.

She loved it. Now she helps stack wood (even pregnant), helps bring it in, builds and tends fires (drives me nuts when she builds a better fire than me). She even lets me stack wood all over the place, all to keep the house nice and toasty in the winter.

CmonStart,

You are where I'm looking to be in the near future, wife totally on board and even helping. Hopefully, I'll wear my wife down before she wears me down with the "I'm too old" comments! She's half way on board with the offer for the truck, but I want the stove and other accessories before I get a truck.

 

[Easyellis8]

cmonStart, you have a keeper there! My wife gets lazy about grabbing wood sometimes but when winter comes she always says she likes the warmth

Burntime,

Was your wife hesitant about the "other than gas" heater too? It sounds like she really enjoys the result of it.

 

[Easyellis8]

(Thanks, iceman) Hey Ed, do you already have the home in Southern Illinois into which you're moving next spring, or do you have yet to find one and buy it? Rick

fossil/iceman,

Currently in Oh, will move to So. IL next spring. We are looking at homes now, I'm pushing for a ranch style home with or without a basement; I've read about the issues with locating a stove in the basement and trying to heat the upper levels.