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Vtfla t1_j6ipgt0 wrote

Reply to comment by headgasketidiot in who recently got a heating oil bill? by lottabigbluewater

The problem with a wood stove is it requires a lot of work to get your heat. Even if you buy your wood, it needs to be stacked (somewhere outside), dragged into the house, and loaded in the stove. If you source it yourself, add craptonnes more. Then, stove needs to be shoveled out daily and pipes disassembled and cleaned monthly. Say nothing of the poking and prodding during the day.

That’s fine for a youngster, or even middle aged, but we old folks can’t handle that kind of work anymore. When we bought our house, it had a beast of a wood stove. I was really excited to be burning wood again. With no land, the cost these days is ridiculous, our beloved porch became a wood crib and every time I loaded up my arms with wood, I bruised myself for days. The corners and weight of the wood is not kind to aged flesh.

We gave up and switched to a pellet stove. Still more work than adjusting a thermostat but doable for the old fogies.

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zarnov t1_j6iwa7a wrote

A little exaggerated. I have my stovepipe professionally cleaned every other year and burn DRY wood. Shovel ashes weekly. Stove runs in morning for a few hours and evenings + most of the night. Yeah stacking and hauling is a little PITA, but if you break both jobs up, it’s doable. Heck of an inexpensive way to heat a house.

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Vtfla t1_j6izapj wrote

Last time I noticed, dry wood was running around $300 a cord. Our beast used 6 cord before we sent it down the road. That’s not exactly cheap. Pellets run about the same for way less work, and gramma doesn’t have to chase spiders all over the parlor. 😉

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dmcginvt t1_j6kcke0 wrote

Well I just paid 1500 for 250 gallons of oil which is the second full this winter

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SchmeddyBallz t1_j6kb91p wrote

If you don't enjoy working with wood to heat your house it's probably a bad move. My dad is 70 and I grew up splitting with him to heat our house. He still splits everything by hand and loves stacking it after.

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