Our first summer camp, an open stud wall cabin, had a small woodstove, hardly more than a large, black tin can. But it did throw out the heat nicely. Of course, the inside temp dropped quickly when the fire died off.
Our second cottage was more or less livable through the winter months, had a propane forced warm air furnace, and a nicely built fireplace. The fireplace got used now and then, but it sucked combustion air through all the other rooms and really chilled them. When we enclosed the side porch to add living space, my wife suggested a woodstove. We got a small used Regency, relocated the insulated chimney from the original oil heat system, and wound up heating the whole house with it all day until it burned out after midnight. Of course, given the house it was in, that new room was nice and warm, while the more remote rooms were chilly, but not as bad as when the fireplace was used. It's been over 15 years now since that fireplace has been used. Cutting, hauling, splitting, and stacking firewood a year or so in advance of its use has been just a nice part of the outdoor life, from mid-fall well into December, and then again from late winter to mid-spring.
When I retired and we built the new house, I didn't want any cold rooms or even rooms with cold spots. From the early 80s I had been following energy efficient house construction techniques, and my chance to build the superinsulated house I wanted had come. The location of the small woodstove (Quadrafire 2000 Millenium) and its inside chimney chase was designed into the structure, although the addition of the duct for the OAK was a last minute thought, something I'm very glad I did. During the first winter, when inside construction was being finished up, that stove kept the nearly 4000 sqft of conditioned space quite comfortable for the crew, running perhaps half time. The next winter, when we were actually living in the house, we didn't use the stove too much, but this year, with a new HD TV nearby on the lower level, we spend much more time down there in the evening and so like to have a fire going. It feels nice, and it looks nice. Still, we don't use wood nearly as much as before, and even without counting the unsplit wood sections I have on hand I have several years worth of nicely seasoned wood ready. Sometimes I go out and gather dead, dry kindling to save for winter use, and at times I go out for a half our or so and just split some of the stacked sections, just because it's nice to do at the end of a day as darkness approaches this time of year.
A couple of years ago, my son (the one in Maine) installed a used stove in his basement and cuts the heating oil bill somewhat by using it during the winter. So I guess maybe he got that from me, ayuh.
All within 200 yards of my driveway...D'Oh!...
