The above video was taken 12 years ago, when wood burning was our sole source of heating the house. It was affordable, a quiet way to heat, and it did a good job. We had a dependable source of seasoned hardwood for some years. Things change. My relationship ended and the source for wood dried up. Burning with wood takes a lot of work, and as I was still working until 2018, too much to keep up with after my boyfriend moved out.
I went over to the electric heating that has separate vents and separate thermostats for each room, which is nice for closing off unused rooms and heating just the areas you’re in. Even that was approaching $300/month for the coldest months.
A couple of years back I invested in a mini-split system, which is an outside condenser unit that has a ventless unit installed up near the ceilings of 2 areas of the house. One unit heats the living room, dining room, kitchen, and utility room. The other unit is in the atrium. The back of the house has no heat but stays at an even 60 or so, which is good enough.
Heating the main living area has been costing between $150-200, which is fair. My computer is in the atrium area and the temp has been getting down to 40. I tried to heat the atrium up to 50, bearable with coat, hat, and gloves on. Within days, the power company texted me I was already heading towards a $200 bill, so that nixed the idea of trying to heat the atrium with the mini-split.
Remember the tree I had trimmed a few years back and all of those nicely cut logs that were under the tree that I worked to get out of there? They are stacked and nicely seasoned in the carport. I have decided to burn them. The atrium got up to almost 60 yesterday with maybe 3 logs burned. Not bad! I will keep burning them and then decide whether or not to buy more.
Tao Talk 
When I was at my sister’s house for Christmas last year, there was a giant screen TV above the mantle with a video of a wood fire.
We have a fairly new high efficiency gas furnace. When I was growing up, our neighbors had under-floor radiant heating. When I lived in the country with a pot-bellied stove for heat, the farthest outside walls were coated with ice but it was toasty by the stove. No matter how hot we got it by the stove, we couldn’t melt the ice on the coldest nights. It was a cinderblock house. The water pump (in a pump house 50 feet from the main house) was heated by a heat lamp. If the lamp burned out, the pump froze.
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I would love under-floor radiant heating! This house has concrete floors (with carpet on top of it.) I remember Chaun (my Boston Terrier) loved to lay on a sheepskin rug (bought at an estate sale) by the woodburner. Cannot imagine that set up for your water pump. Hoping the lamp bulb didn’t need replacement often. Not even sure what a pump house is? I have a reservoir in the back room, and when we have outages the water goes out with it :(
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Concrete floor is how they do radiant heat – they embed the tubing in concrete (before the concrete is poured, so you can’t retrofit). I remember their house being pretty comfy.
The pump house was just a small building built over the well. It housed an electric pump to bring water up from 40 feet underground to the surface and then to the house. It was to protect the pump and store some tools. Inside the pumphouse there was an insulated wooden box with the heatlamp in it and the pump motor was in there.
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Wood is good, it grows on trees. And it’s messy and a lot of work. It’s my meditation and motivation, and a return to my childhood, now that I’m back home. If the wood stove goes out there is electric, and if the electric goes out, the wood stove is a great thing to have. It’s going pretty much 24/7 now, the Hearthstone is pretty good and I can shake the ashes out as needed. It is plenty warm in the house except when it’s not.
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D, I love the fact that you heat with wood and that you know just what I’m talking about with the work that’s involved. Getting it started is the most trouble, and because I didn’t think I’d be burning it this winter didn’t collect any kindling. That said I have a box of “resined sticks” that help bigtime. I agree, tending a fire is a beautiful meditation.
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I love watching a crackling wood fire. A dear music friend mostly heats his house with wood. That said, it is indeed pretty labor intense from what I have seen. We heat our house with gas and have four heating zones, which helps. Then, there’s the equipment. About a year ago, we needed a new gas boiler. The joys of owning a home – the gift that keeps on giving! :-)
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LOL on the joys of home ownership. At least you can call it your own, warts and all. I decided to buy a cord of wood after writing this. It’s being delivered tomorrow.
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Well, we’re still paying the mortgage – another gift that keeps on giving but, hey, I don’t mean to whine too much here. Congrats on the wood! :-)
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Thanks, Christian!
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We had fireplaces in all our houses when I was growing up, at least until I was a teenager. I never considered the cost savings, but I liked to sit by them when coming in from the cold.
Almost every building I’ve lived in in NYC uses steam heat radiators. I have no idea how cost-efficient they are, because the building pays for the heat. But I think heating apartments is more efficient than heating a house. This building is quite stingy with it–we never have heat at night. So I sleep under 2 comforters and a sleeping bag. It’s tolerable during the day, especially on sunny days–the sun shining in the windows raises the temperature at least 10 degrees in the front rooms. Also a lot depends on the wind direction. My nephew just put solar panels on his house and it has lowered the electrical cost considerably. (K)
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We never had fireplaces, always forced air using natural gas. I can see where heating a whole apartment building would be cheaper as there are less outside walls, and heat probably travels up through the building. Does the steam make the air moist? Sounds really cold at night in your place! I haven’t turned the heat on in my bedroom and it stays around 60. The saving grace is the heated mattress pad. I’d be lost without it! I prefer breathing cool air when I sleep but my body has to have heat. I bet you’d love one. You turn it on about a half hour before going to bed and you jump into toastiness.
About solar and wind power, the material is expensive (but getting cheaper all the time) but time limited. Systems have to be replaced every 25 years, which means you aren’t depleting natural resources to use them but you don’t really save any money. Then all of the old stuff goes into landfills. We need a better source of energy. I know that living underground is a good way to keep your home at an even 60 degrees, but who wants to live underground :(
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I know my nephew waited until it seemed more cost-efficient. And I think this new system lasts longer. Anything that saves on resources seems like a good idea to me. But the initial installation is complicated I think.
The steam actually dries the air. I use a vaporizer in my bedroom at night which helps. I’ll have to investigate a heated mattress pad. I do have a heating pad which I use on my chest for my asthma, but you can’t keep it on all night.
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Forced air is very drying also. Will have to do updated research on the solar or wind options.
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Good luck!
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Wood is a nice heat. We enjoy our wood stove, which replaced a condemned fireplace box and chimney, but I would be a little less enthusiastic if it meant sourcing and splitting all that wood to keep it going all day and night!
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My plan is to use it in the day only, while I’m on the computer.
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Makes sense!
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We use electric and our bill averages around $300 but it’s an A Frame with an addition on each side. We have a fireplace but it’s in my music room with my guitars and I am not doing that. When we move I hope to have one…we used to wrap a potato in foil and put them on the fire…they are sooooo good.
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Everything in my house is run on electric so my bill isn’t that bad all things considered. Sounds like you have a lot of square feet to heat. I understand about not wanting to take a chance around your guitars. I never tried that with potatoes in the wood burner. Now I want to!
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You got that split system and I was interested in that a few years ago. Our central air went out around 3 years ago…we ended up getting central heat again but we thought about it.
In between we got those portable air units (it was summer) to hold us over…they worked really well.
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Central anything wasn’t viable in this house as there are no ducts to carry it. This system works well enough and is cheaper than what I had before. I remember you talking about those portable air units. The a/c part of the split system works really well.
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Thats the most important part here in the south…the a/c… plus I hate to be hot…max is not a nice person when he is hot lol.
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I remember your work down in GA earlier this year, in the heat. Not fun — but you got through it! I prefer cooler to hotter but what I prefer in any temp is sunshine, and we’ve gotten very little of that for awhile :(
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Yea today it’s sunshine and the high of about 50… yesterday it was cold. When I sleep I do like it really cool. Jennifer says I radiate heat…I always have.
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Heating and cooling have become quite expensive nowadays. Fortunately we don’t get the cold weather much so our main concern is cooling in summer.
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Yes they have, and as weather extremes continue it will get even worse I fear.
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You can try solar panels. It cuts down the bills and pays for itself in a few years
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I think where you live must have a better consumer package than here for solar. It takes 25 years to pay them off here — just in time to buy more.
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Oh wow, that’s very expensive.
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Split sytem for most of the year, sustainable wood for fire augment in winter.
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It sounds like it works reasonably well for you? I just had them deliver a cord of wood. Hoping it works as the augment until spring.
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Our heat pump works reasonably well …. we usually have moderate winters, and rarely does it get below 20 or so.
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