Hi all!
Thanks for the (ahem) warm welcome
The wood situation in NI is - you buy it, unless you've a farm - and unfortunately the family farm was sold after my grandfather passed on, twenty five years ago!
Fortunately my generous girlfriend's family own two timber businesses, building sheds and fences for all sorts of purposes, so I get aged and seasoned timber offcuts from them! Because of the massive rises in gas (which was until last year in the UK and Ireland the largest growth sector of the heating industry here) and latterly oil, solid fuel fires are right back in the frame for heating requirements. For years Ulster folk have sought to block up fireplaces and remove chimney stacks for 'aesthetic' purposes (I know, I know,
I always considered a good fire the centre of a home...but there's no accounting for taste..) - according to my sweep and the chimney liner installers they have never been busier with enquiries on reopening sealed chimneys.
For me, my house's heating is oil fired, in a large terraced house built in 1930. It's fine for all rooms except the living room, which the previous owners had a wall removed from so instead of a dining room and living room/lounge it's all in one, and the two radiators never really made the place cosy last winter. If I built my own house I would seriously consider one of those wood-pellet boilers (don't know if you've seen them) that auto-feed, giving the automatic performance of an oil boiler, but using renewable energy. I'd also install a nice centrepiece stove with a back boiler for extra heating. Hope I'm not rattling on too much, Willhound!
Harley - cheers! I'd have lined the chimney myself too but I'm not much for heights and the three hundred quid I'd have saved by doing it myself isn't enough to coax me up on to a steep, windy roof

The weather here was very mild, and is still warm for the time of year (almost 20 celcius) but we're in the outskirts of a hurricane which is en-route. We're used to high winds and foul weather but I'm sure this will cause a few power outages!
I fired up the stove just last week for the first time. Great job. Consumes little fuel compared to an open fire, and the stove remains hot for the most of an hour after. I was thinking about an open fire at one time but I'm real glad I went with the stove.
How about you fellas - Ontario and Mass.? I've been to both Seattle and Chicago in the depths of winter (I used to work for Allstate) and I know it gets far, far colder there than it does in Ireland during the winter...