My mother is 74 years old and lives alone in Connecticut. She’s tough as nails and still mows her own yard, rakes leaves, drags tarp-loads of heavy compost across her acre of property and shovels snow from her driveway. I’m based in Africa for my company so I’m not around to help her very often.
The house she lives in was built in 1923. It has the original windows and it’s drafty and cold in the winter. She keeps the oil heat just above freezing because of the cost to keep the house warmer otherwise. The downstairs is 1200 sq/ft. with a fairly open plan. Most her time is spent in the 450 sq/ft living room that has a large fireplace. The upstairs is about 800 sq/ft.
As it stands my mother wears a huge long down coat in the house when it’s cold. I don’t want her to have another winter like that so I’m getting her set up with a stove before heading back to work.
I’ve now narrowed it down to two very different options. A Jotul 500 Oslow wood stove or a Harman Accentra 52i wood pellet insert. The wood stove would be set in the fireplace but about half of it protruding into the room.
I’ve read the wood vs pellet pros and cons online until blue in the face and I feel like I understand the difference between the two. If it were for me I would get the wood stove without question. However I’m concerned that as the years go on it might be difficult for my mother to operate a wood stove alone. That said, sacks of pellets are heavy as well, but seems to be much easier to operate. But would it really be that much of a bigger deal to have a wood stove?
Would I be crazy to get a wood stove in this house? Would a pellet stove be the smart choice for someone of her age? She wants to maintain the integrity of the house and a pellet insert isn’t really her style. She loves her Radio Shack am/fm radio with a non-digital manual dial. She’s never sent a text message. You get the idea.
The house she lives in was built in 1923. It has the original windows and it’s drafty and cold in the winter. She keeps the oil heat just above freezing because of the cost to keep the house warmer otherwise. The downstairs is 1200 sq/ft. with a fairly open plan. Most her time is spent in the 450 sq/ft living room that has a large fireplace. The upstairs is about 800 sq/ft.
As it stands my mother wears a huge long down coat in the house when it’s cold. I don’t want her to have another winter like that so I’m getting her set up with a stove before heading back to work.
I’ve now narrowed it down to two very different options. A Jotul 500 Oslow wood stove or a Harman Accentra 52i wood pellet insert. The wood stove would be set in the fireplace but about half of it protruding into the room.
I’ve read the wood vs pellet pros and cons online until blue in the face and I feel like I understand the difference between the two. If it were for me I would get the wood stove without question. However I’m concerned that as the years go on it might be difficult for my mother to operate a wood stove alone. That said, sacks of pellets are heavy as well, but seems to be much easier to operate. But would it really be that much of a bigger deal to have a wood stove?
Would I be crazy to get a wood stove in this house? Would a pellet stove be the smart choice for someone of her age? She wants to maintain the integrity of the house and a pellet insert isn’t really her style. She loves her Radio Shack am/fm radio with a non-digital manual dial. She’s never sent a text message. You get the idea.
She was taught once the stove was lit, had had to keep going, and with the smaller splits, a night load wasn't going to happen.
This ain't the pellet forum, I say give her a stove (will work in a power outage as well.) She likes to work, and if she's got anything on the ball mentally she will learn the stove easily. She's gonna sit in the stove room, old ladies like heat. 
Who wants to sit in there and listen to a noisy pellet stove?
