Hi, we (me+wife+2 kids and the baby bump) are about to move into a house that has both oil fired hot water baseboard heating and also a wood burning fireplace in the living room and a small wood stove in the basement (I assume to prevent frozen pipes).
My question is if we were to use the oil fired baseboard as our primary heating source what would be the anticipated wood usage through a Central-Maine winter; and would this be the best/cheapest option or would using wood as our primary and the oil furnace just for hot water work out better?
I can't recall the overall sq.ft. but was told it burns about 150 gallons of oil per month in the winter and that the basement and house a well and fully insulated with modern windows and doors. Because we have a baby on the way (due in Feb) I want to ensure that we have sufficient heating, and that means enough wood if it was to be our primary source.
I should add that we are new to the area, coming from England where natural gas and electric are the predominant heating sources, so this whole wood fire thing is new to me beyond going camping.
Thanks in advance,
My question is if we were to use the oil fired baseboard as our primary heating source what would be the anticipated wood usage through a Central-Maine winter; and would this be the best/cheapest option or would using wood as our primary and the oil furnace just for hot water work out better?
I can't recall the overall sq.ft. but was told it burns about 150 gallons of oil per month in the winter and that the basement and house a well and fully insulated with modern windows and doors. Because we have a baby on the way (due in Feb) I want to ensure that we have sufficient heating, and that means enough wood if it was to be our primary source.
I should add that we are new to the area, coming from England where natural gas and electric are the predominant heating sources, so this whole wood fire thing is new to me beyond going camping.
Thanks in advance,