How to get the other half on board???

[Dave K]

My soon to be wife hates my habit of wood heat. Its been cold in Wisconsin and I have been burning two stoves for a few weeks. She hates the interuptions (getting up to adjust air control), swings in house temps, cold house in the morning, ect. I try to explain the benfits but it just doesnt work. She grew up in apartments with free heat. It was always 80 at her place. Any one...simalar experience...ideas?

My wife and I just bought a house with a wood stove and I'm loving it! She loves the comforting heat that a wood stove gives off, but doesn't love the fact that I get up to check the stove in the basement often when first loading it or on reloads before going to bed at night. She'd rather have my full undivided attention 100% of the time. She hasn't complained, but I can tell it bothers her a little. She is "freezing" when its 67* in the house and she realizes that the wood stove is her best chance at having a house above 72* so she is adjusting nicely to it. If only I can get the far bedroom above 68*!! Even when the rest of the house is 74, the bedroom stays between 66-68. I have to experiment with fans and toilet paper in the doorways.

My wife was against it for years, when oil rose sharply she agreed to a pellet stove, it didn't heat the house as well as she thought it would and eventually agreed to get a wood stove. Now that the house has never been warmer in the winter and the oil bill is 1/4 of what it used to be she's ok with it. May help that I only have one stove and I do get long burn times, if I didn't I could see her waiting for me to go somewhere and I'm holding her up trying to get the stoves set, that probably wouldn't go over well.

I wish I got longer burn times, but my pre-EPA stove only gives me about 3-4 hours per cycle. With that said, I can't keep the house warm enough to return home from work with a warm house (usually the house drops to about 61-63*). The oil furnace comes on to get the house up to 68* for when we return home from work. I usually have the stove up and running within 20 minutes of being home and the oil furnace stays off until the next evening when we return home.

So my furnace runs about 30-45 minutes a day (just to get the house from 61* - 68*) only 5 days a week. I'm wondering how long my 170 gallons of oil will last.

 

[becasunshine]

A couple of days ago she suggested I buy myself a new saw !!

I am on this part of the forum because we are considering a wood stove for a different application in a different location.

I did not grow up with a wood stove in the house. I am the one who pays the bills in our current arrangement, however. I should clarify. My husband earns it, and I organize it. We both manage it. I'm the one that initially proposed the wood stove for the above application.

My husband's parents did the whole wood stove thing for years, starting when my husband was in college, if I recall correctly. (Tuition bills vs. heating a 100 year old Cape Cod with oil.) They were set up with it and used to it so they continued heating with wood for some years after he was graduated. It *is* a lifestyle- while they no longer heat with wood, they will be the first to tell you that it's a lifestyle.

My husband has/had some misgivings about adopting the wood stove lifestyle when we are in our mid-50s and going forward into our retirement years. We are both active and in good shape but, per above, it's a lifestyle, it's physically demanding and we both know it.

On the other hand, all things considered, a wood stove answers many of the questions about "what if?" in that location, and does it a lot cheaper than propane. So there's that.

It's hilarious because one of the arguments that I presented to The Hubs in this ongoing discussion is that he'd finally have a good reason to BUY A CHAIN SAW.

He likes to pretend that attending the Wood Stove Decathlon in Washington D.C. a few weeks ago, meeting the guys who heat primarily with wood, seeing those gorgeous stoves in action was what finally brought him on board.

I know that it's the chain saw.

 

[bag of hammers]

Some of you men are utterly clueless.

Hey, I resent that remark ... uhhhm ... no wait, ....what were we talking about, again?

 

[jatoxico]

I am on this part of the forum because we are considering a wood stove for a different application in a different location.

I did not grow up with a wood stove in the house. I am the one who pays the bills in our current arrangement, however. I should clarify. My husband earns it, and I organize it. We both manage it. I'm the one that initially proposed the wood stove for the above application.

My husband's parents did the whole wood stove thing for years, starting when my husband was in college, if I recall correctly. (Tuition bills vs. heating a 100 year old Cape Cod with oil.) They were set up with it and used to it so they continued heating with wood for some years after he was graduated. It *is* a lifestyle- while they no longer heat with wood, they will be the first to tell you that it's a lifestyle.

My husband has/had some misgivings about adopting the wood stove lifestyle when we are in our mid-50s and going forward into our retirement years. We are both active and in good shape but, per above, it's a lifestyle, it's physically demanding and we both know it.

On the other hand, all things considered, a wood stove answers many of the questions about "what if?" in that location, and does it a lot cheaper than propane. So there's that.

It's hilarious because one of the arguments that I presented to The Hubs in this ongoing discussion is that he'd finally have a good reason to BUY A CHAIN SAW.

He likes to pretend that attending the Wood Stove Decathlon in Washington D.C. a few weeks ago, meeting the guys who heat primarily with wood, seeing those gorgeous stoves in action was what finally brought him on board.

I know that it's the chain saw.

Hi becasunshine. You're smart to consider whether or not you and your husband will want to put the effort in to run a stove (you already have a pellet or something?). When my wife and I were shopping for our second house we saw a number of homes with stoves that were not being used. Guess not everyone realizes what they're getting into, the work the mess. I have another fireplace and have thought about putting in a freestanding stove like a Woodstock but I don't know if I'm up to running 2 wood stoves and unlike the one I already have it's in an area where I would have to drag wood all throughout the house.

Can always buy your cord wood and just figure its part of the cost factor. Of course that limits the need for that new chainsaw .

 

[becasunshine]

Hi becasunshine. You're smart to consider whether or not you and your husband will want to put the effort in to run a stove (you already have a pellet or something?). When my wife and I were shopping for our second house we saw a number of homes with stoves that were not being used. Guess not everyone realizes what they're getting into, the work the mess. I have another fireplace and have thought about putting in a freestanding stove like a Woodstock but I don't know if I'm up to running 2 wood stoves and unlike the one I already have it's in an area where I would have to drag wood all throughout the house.

Can always buy your cord wood and just figure its part of the cost factor. Of course that limits the need for that new chainsaw .

Yes, we have a pellet stove in town, and we use it as our primary heat source.

We are considering a wood stove for the home in which we hope to retire. It's in a somewhat remote location, serviced by an electric coop. The coop is excellent, no complaints, but winter storms are winter storms, and remote locations are remote. We have propane at that location, and we are planning to have a whole house generator installed as we get closer to living there full time. Propane is expensive, however, and we doubt that it's going to get cheaper.

We considered a pellet stove at that location but we'd like to have an option that works when the power is out. We've considered a PV system as well, and that may yet come into fruition, but we'd really like to have an option that works when the power goes out, even if its overcast and stormy for days (like right now.)

I am sure not going to run a whole house generator on propane in order to power a pellet stove. I'm not going to burn propane in order to burn pellets. NO.

We could easily install a propane stove and that would work- but propane is expensive and not likely to get any cheaper with the passing of time.

Right now that house is heated via a heat pump that operates until the temperature gets to a certain set point (for the life of me I can't remember what that is, I thought it was 32'F but my engineer father in law says no, it's got to be set at around 40'F) then a propane furnace kicks in. The propane furnace is, of course, wonderfully warm- and runs on PROPANE. We have a propane fired on demand water heater, and a gas cooking range that runs on propane as well.

A wood stove answers a lot of these questions- heat when the power is out, an alternative to expensive propane to run the furnace now, and also the ability to put a Dutch Oven on top of that wood stove and cook at any time, as opposed to burning propane. Yes indeedy I want a wood stove with a cook top.

Right now the Progress Hybrid is leading the pack for us, but we also want to see what the Ideal Steel from Woodstock offers, and I am looking into Blaze Kings as well. One thing that didn't fall into my outstretched arms- do BK stoves have a cook top option? (Not to derail the thread...)

All of this brings up an interesting point- I don't remember the OP mentioning what his alternative heat source is- that alone might be worth a discussion with the fiancee. Did he say oil? I can't remember...

 

[jatoxico]

Yes, we have a pellet stove in town, and we use it as our primary heat source.

We are considering a wood stove for the home in which we hope to retire. It's in a somewhat remote location, serviced by an electric coop. The coop is excellent, no complaints, but winter storms are winter storms, and remote locations are remote. We have propane at that location, and we are planning to have a whole house generator installed as we get closer to living there full time. Propane is expensive, however, and we doubt that it's going to get cheaper.

We considered a pellet stove at that location but we'd like to have an option that works when the power is out. We've considered a PV system as well, and that may yet come into fruition, but we'd really like to have an option that works when the power goes out, even if its overcast and stormy for days (like right now.)

I am sure not going to run a whole house generator on propane in order to power a pellet stove. I'm not going to burn propane in order to burn pellets. NO.

We could easily install a propane stove and that would work- but propane is expensive and not likely to get any cheaper with the passing of time.

Right now that house is heated via a heat pump that operates until the temperature gets to a certain set point (for the life of me I can't remember what that is, I thought it was 32'F but my engineer father in law says no, it's got to be set at around 40'F) then a propane furnace kicks in. The propane furnace is, of course, wonderfully warm- and runs on PROPANE. We have a propane fired on demand water heater, and a gas cooking range that runs on propane as well.

A wood stove answers a lot of these questions- heat when the power is out, an alternative to expensive propane to run the furnace now, and also the ability to put a Dutch Oven on top of that wood stove and cook at any time, as opposed to burning propane. Yes indeedy I want a wood stove with a cook top.

Right now the Progress Hybrid is leading the pack for us, but we also want to see what the Ideal Steel from Woodstock offers, and I am looking into Blaze Kings as well. One thing that didn't fall into my outstretched arms- do BK stoves have a cook top option? (Not to derail the thread...)

All of this brings up an interesting point- I don't remember the OP mentioning what his alternative heat source is- that alone might be worth a discussion with the fiancee. Did he say oil? I can't remember...

Sounds like it will be nice. You've got some things to consider. Just a thought, a friend has a newer coal stove. It's direct vent and electronically controlled. Needs power but if you are going to have whole house generator backup that's no problem. Much less hauling of fuel and clean burning.

I don't think the OP mentioned his primary heat. If she's put off by the stoves I say don't be afraid to use the furnace and use the wood as a supplement. Like others have said marriage is a compromise but maybe cost is an issue to heat their place w/o the wood, IDK.

 

[bag of hammers]

We considered a pellet stove at that location but we'd like to have an option that works when the power is out.

There were a couple links to pellet stoves that run w/o power (gravity feed?) - even produce a small amount from heat energy. I don't recall any of the details, but afaik it could possibly be an option? The pellet forum here could probably answer that question....

 

[bag of hammers]

Pour two glasses of your favorite libations, pull two chairs in front of the stove, turn the lights down low. Have some good conversation and enjoy the ambiance of the fire.

..use the furnace and use the wood as a supplement...

That's where my brain was going too. One stove, weekends, "movie nights" (or wherever the wine takes you), etc. - as far as future burning plans, let the chips fall where they may.

 

[RKK]

Hearth.com has hundreds of great threads and lots of information. I have to say this thread is a treasure trove of insite into relationships. Married my Bride 40 years ago and would like to see another 40 together. Keep the info flowing folks, it appears there is much I can still learn.

 

[lumbering on]

Is it the wood stove?

Or is it the cold?

Cold in the AM. cold in-between loads.

My family doesn't care where the heat comes from, just as long as there is heat.

When I'm home alone, it's just the wood stove and a sweater.
When the family comes home, the furnace goes on until everyone is comfortable.

They love the stove, but love being warm more.

If I lived alone, I would heat with just the stove, probably trying to prove it can be done.

But I don't live alone. (and prefer to not live alone).

 

[Bones]

RKK...you asked for it....Gather round...

Mrs. Bones and I have been married over 50 years....OMG.... When "I" was looking at a wood stove over 30 years ago, she said she didn't want a black box in "her" living room !!
Well after several weeks we had a bad ice/snow storm and when she got home from work I had a roaring fire going in the Nashua....she backed up to it and just grinned...

She helps load, split (electric splitter), stack, and feed.... just loves the heat and enjoys the flames...Really loves the lower fuel costs...

 

[Swedishchef]

Personally, my wife loves the stove heat (provided I don't cook us out of the house) but has no interest in loading the stove. I am fine with that since the stove is secondary heat (electric is primary source...and it's cheap) and we are both new to wood heating. Just like I love it when she wraps all the CHristmas presents we give away (she is an awesome gift wrapper meanwhile I totally suck at it), she loves it when I make a fire.

Andrew

 

[jatoxico]

Personally, my wife loves the stove heat (provided I don't cook us out of the house) but has no interest in loading the stove. I am fine with that since the stove is secondary heat (electric is primary source...and it's cheap) and we are both new to wood heating. Just like I love it when she wraps all the CHristmas presents we give away (she is an awesome gift wrapper meanwhile I totally suck at it), she loves it when I make a fire.

Andrew

Exactly the same here, she's not real interested in loading and fiddling with the fire. She loves having a fire and I get the "are we having a fire tonight?" if I'm slacking. And yup she does do most of the holiday shopping and wrapping, I hate shopping; and wrapping, let's just say I'm better at fire. We're married 15 yrs so we have things worked out.

 

[Dix]

I dunno. I just don't get it. It's a no brainer.

My Mom ran 3 coal stoves in this house. She was right. Another stove is the only way here.

My Grandmother ran a coal stove & furnace.

My Great Grandmother ( Alice, she was freaking cool "gimme a beer, please" ) ran her wood cook stoves, coal stoves, furnaces, etc.

Maybe its a genetic mutation on both sides

!!

 

[Bret Chase]

I think this is an excellent point. I grew up on a farm and we killed, cleaned, and cooked all of our own meat and cut down, chopped up, and burned all of our own wood. My four sisters were all hands on during this process. Not afraid to get dirty and get the work done. I don't think there are many women prepared for adulthood like my sisters were. Two of my sister's family burn with wood and they don't fret a bit.

Not many people being raised like that anymore.

My upbringing was quite similar... but we loaded up the cattle and the hogs onto a trailer.... dropped them off at the butcher's and picked them up a couple weeks later wrapped in nice white paper packages. We did process our own game.... but it was more cost effective for us to let the butcher handle the livestock.

My wife, as I did, grew up in a wood burning house.... her father, and mother still burn wood in their now separate homes. My parents have a boxwood smoke dragon and an Kenmore end heater (!) in their house... along with a propane furnace... their house is always warm.

Both my wife and I actually enjoy the temp swings... I load up the stove at 10 or 11 when I go to bed.... and my 150 year old house is a beautiful sleeping temp when I get up at 0500, with a nice bed of coals that will light off the morning's splits... and have the house back up when the children are roused.

 

[Bret Chase]

Right now that house is heated via a heat pump that operates until the temperature gets to a certain set point (for the life of me I can't remember what that is, I thought it was 32'F but my engineer father in law says no, it's got to be set at around 40'F) then a propane furnace kicks in. The propane furnace is, of course, wonderfully warm- and runs on PROPANE. We have a propane fired on demand water heater, and a gas cooking range that runs on propane as well.

A wood stove answers a lot of these questions- heat when the power is out, an alternative to expensive propane to run the furnace now, and also the ability to put a Dutch Oven on top of that wood stove and cook at any time, as opposed to burning propane. Yes indeedy I want a wood stove with a cook top.
.

In my area propane isn't all *that* expensive... though LNG does blow it out of the water cost wise... *if* you don't have access to Selkirk rate propane (which I do... but my usage is so low, I don't bother). In my home, primary heat is wood, backup is electric space heaters (which sit in the shed collecting dust), the water is heated by oil (which I hate... but it was there when I moved in, and I'm not buying a new HWH any time soon)... and cooking is done on a gas stove... I fill a 20# propane bottle once a month... no tank rentals, no "convenience fee"... works for me...

I will say though... cooking on a wood stove is a PITA.... esp if it's not a cook stove... I know how, but it's not something I would do by choice.

 

[Bret Chase]

I dunno. I just don't get it. It's a no brainer.

My Mom ran 3 coal stoves in this house. She was right. Another stove is the only way here.

My Grandmother ran a coal stove & furnace.

My Great Grandmother ( Alice, she was freaking cool "gimme a beer, please" ) ran her wood cook stoves, coal stoves, furnaces, etc.

Maybe its a genetic mutation on both sides

!!

I've still got an American Radiator #1 Ideal Rediflash in my cellar... first set up for coal... then converted to oil.... it had a 200 gal/week appetite... it's now disconnected from everything and just sitting there...

 

[Mary Briggeman]

I just realized that throughout my entire life of fifty-plus years, there's only been about 6 or 7 years when I did not live in a house with a wood stove. So, yeah, for me, burning wood is the norm, even if it is not yet our only heat source. Our stacks aren't really conveniently located (though I'm working on a plan for that!), so bringing in wood is always a bit messy. But, I'm also the one who pays the bills and sees what a difference it makes to our heating cost, so I don't mind a little mess now and then. I also like knowing that I'll still have heat when the power goes off.

 

[dyerkutn]

it looks like the OP left the discussion a while ago, but clearly this is a topic that generates major interest---shared experiences, and strong opinions.

Very few people that I know burn full time but when I tell people I am doing it they are always really impressed and, sometimes when I innocently mention it, it turns out that the most unlikely people are also heating with wood stoves. Then I love to bug them about all the details!!

Having grown up as a suburban girl in a totally non-outdoors family, I can tell you that if I had not spent 4 summers at a camp in Vermont basically living outdoors, cooking over a fire, chopping, splitting (I was a 90 pound weakling) and then as a result tent camping with my kids for our summer vacations, I would have been totally uninterested and intimidated by the wood stove that happened to be in my house when I moved here 15 years ago.

 

[Dix]

it looks like the OP left the discussion a while ago, but clearly this is a topic that generates major interest---shared experiences, and strong opinions.

Very few people that I know burn full time but when I tell people I am doing it they are always really impressed and, sometimes when I innocently mention it, it turns out that the most unlikely people are also heating with wood stoves. Then I love to bug them about all the details!!

Having grown up as a suburban girl in a totally non-outdoors family, I can tell you that if I had not spent 4 summers at a camp in Vermont basically living outdoors, cooking over a fire, chopping, splitting (I was a 90 pound weakling) and then as a result tent camping with my kids for our summer vacations, I would have been totally uninterested and intimidated by the wood stove that happened to be in my house when I moved here 15 years ago.

Nice to see you coming out of the wood work. I love it when any of the "sistahs" show up

 

[jatoxico]

I dunno. I just don't get it. It's a no brainer.

My Mom ran 3 coal stoves in this house. She was right. Another stove is the only way here.

My Grandmother ran a coal stove & furnace.

My Great Grandmother ( Alice, she was freaking cool "gimme a beer, please" ) ran her wood cook stoves, coal stoves, furnaces, etc.

Maybe its a genetic mutation on both sides

!!

My grandmother was the same way Dix. I guess we do what we gotta do. Wifey would do it but since she's usually already multi tasking w/ the kids etc I do most of it. And the stove will not be ignored or bad things will happen .

 

[Bret Chase]

Very few people that I know burn full time but when I tell people I am doing it they are always really impressed and, sometimes when I innocently mention it, it turns out that the most unlikely people are also heating with wood stoves. Then I love to bug them about all the details!!

in my area... it would seem that about 60-70% of people heat with wood.

 

[becasunshine]

I fill a 20# propane bottle once a month... no tank rentals, no "convenience fee"... works for me...

I will say though... cooking on a wood stove is a PITA.... esp if it's not a cook stove... I know how, but it's not something I would do by choice.

You hit on a couple of points here, Bret. We were new to heating with propane as of this house purchase. We don't even own a gas grill - charcoal all the way here. EDIT: I should add that we do have a gas grill on the camper, so yeah, technically we *do* own a gas grill. We use propane tanks on the camper and we have a two burner stove that runs on propane on which The Hubs will brew beer, but we'd never heated a house on propane until this purchase.

There was a rental propane tank on the property when we bought the house. We didn't realize that the tank was a rental until we got the bill at the end of our first full heating year. ??? The rental fee was because we didn't use enough propane to avoid that fee, and the rental fee was higher than our annual propane expenditure. We don't yet live there full time so that makes sense, but.

In anticipation of eventually acquiring a whole house generator and to avoid future tank rental, we bought and filled a larger tank. Oh yeah. That'll school ya real quick about propane.

Based on our camper tanks and the tank we keep for the two burner stove, yeah, if it's a matter of filling a 20 lbs. propane tank once a month, that's not a huge expense nor inconvenience if your propane exchange or fill is right up the street. I don't blame you for going that route.

The whole cooking on a wood stove thing- I know nothing, which is probably why I'm so excited and optimistic about that possibility. I'm thinking about asking Santa to bring me some Lodge cast iron cookware, once it looks like this plan might actually come to fruition. The Progress Hybrid and the Ideal Steel both come with a three burner cast iron cook top. Each of the burners is at a different elevation from the firebox, so they have three different temps.

Can we sit a Dutch oven or a heavy stock pot on top of the soapstone itself for an even lower simmer? I don't know.

I'm not talking about gourmet meals here... although I know some people that can turn some amazing food out of a Lodge Dutch oven or cast iron skillet.

Back to the topic of the original post- I'm a wife and I have an interest in interacting with my future wood stove. I have plans for it. I anticipate that the stove will reduce our utility bills. Any reduction in the cost of our overhead makes this dream of retiring in this place more feasible. It is a place that I love and I want to be there... so the inconvenience and potential mess of owning a wood stove sort of fades in comparison. Being engaged with the idea of the stove is a critical component in actually wanting the stove.

The physical work still looms large and I'm trying not to lose sight of that.

 

[Bret Chase]

The whole cooking on a wood stove thing- I know nothing, which is probably why I'm so excited and optimistic about that possibility. I'm thinking about asking Santa to bring me some Lodge cast iron cookware, once it looks like this plan might actually come to fruition. The Progress Hybrid and the Ideal Steel both come with a three burner cast iron cook top. Each of the burners is at a different elevation from the firebox, so they have three different temps.

Can we sit a Dutch oven or a heavy stock pot on top of the soapstone itself for an even lower simmer? I don't know.

I'm not talking about gourmet meals here... although I know some people that can turn some amazing food out of a Lodge Dutch oven or cast iron skillet.

Back to the topic of the original post- I'm a wife and I have an interest in interacting with my future wood stove. I have plans for it. I anticipate that the stove will reduce our utility bills. Any reduction in the cost of our overhead makes this dream of retiring in this place more feasible. It is a place that I love and I want to be there... so the inconvenience and potential mess of owning a wood stove sort of fades in comparison. Being engaged with the idea of the stove is a critical component in actually wanting the stove.

The physical work still looms large and I'm trying not to lose sight of that.

The closest propane fill station is 125 yards from my house...

with my smoke dragon... to get a pot to really boil... It means my 1865 (read effectively non-insulated) house is going to be about 100F+ inside.

my 12" cast skillet is involved in 95% of my cooking. to me, cast iron is a requirement.

A wood stove will no question reduce your utility bills, it's cost per BTU cannot be matched, (with the exception of a leased gas well on your property)

A wood stove is what I grew up with, it is what I am used to, and what I know....

 

[eclecticcottage]

We use LP for cooking and hot water (tankless)-we last filled our two 100lb tanks (plumbed in sequence) in June. Our kitchen range is a 1950's era Floyd Wells with a standing pilot for the burners.

We cook a lot on cast iron, we've got skillets, a dutch oven, even an old waffle maker...bread pan..popover pan...it's good stuff.