| I read an article recently about what various | | | | However, most people don't it this way, they just |
| families are doing to save money on energy bills | | | | use the stove to heat the home. If your house is |
| during this recession. It seems like a great idea, | | | | large and broken into a bunch of tiny rooms, it |
| save the planet and save money at the same | | | | may be trickier to heat the farther off areas, and |
| time. Once couple had phased out their furnace | | | | you'll need to keep your doors open all the time |
| and switched to a wood burning stove. They used | | | | so heat can circulate. If your house is small to |
| the furnace only when necessary, but mostly | | | | medium sized and has an open floor plan then this |
| relied on that stove. | | | | heating type could be perfect for you. |
| A wood burning stove can be used to cook over, | | | | Some of them have a capacity that gives your |
| but mostly people today use it to generate heat | | | | stove a maximum output of 45,000 BTUs using |
| to warm a house. If you're looking to reduce your | | | | seasoned cord wood, enough to comfortably heat |
| oven or stovetop usage, or even just give your | | | | spaces from 500 to 1,250 cubic feet in area. For |
| kids an interesting experience they can talk about | | | | larger homes you could install one on each floor, |
| at school, then you could try boiling a cast iron | | | | or at different ends of the house. You can also |
| kettle, or even simmer a casserole, saving you | | | | supplement with your furnace, which would work |
| money on cooking fuel. Use only cast iron | | | | less, but at least you'd have heat. |
| cookware if you do this and check that it is | | | | Don't forget about the need to buy or chop |
| suitable for use on a wood burning stove, and | | | | wood, so if you don't have a good supply source |
| take great care to use only when your log burner | | | | then you'll want to consider another option, like |
| is at a moderate to low temperature. | | | | perhaps a corn stove or pellet stove. |