I have an island beach house where I used to burn stuff in a fire pit out back. On my better days, I'd entertain with clambakes. Alas, I was not the best of home owners back then, I once burned a couch in the firepit.. the couch was my outdoor furniture that summer, and got more than a bit funky by the Fall.. Well you get the idea, young guy, not thinking straight, but liked fire.. I still can smell that sun dreached sofa burning starry night bright , with my face and belly hot from the blaze , and my buns and back cooled by the ocean breezes.
One day when my brother Tom was in town, with his pickup truck, I responded to a penny paper ad that said free firewood. I was thinking I could stand to clean up my act a bit, and burn firewood in place of furniture. I was pretty certain that the neighbors would approve of the change to the more conventional approach. That turned out to be true, judging by the subsequent diminshed volume of appeals to the local volunteer fire department. When Tom and I got to the site, we saw an old rusted Jotul combifire sitting in the field, next to the free firewood. The guy said his wife made him take it out of the house, and I could have it if I wanted. I took it home, sanded it clean, then installed it inside the cabin for winter use
Back in the 80's,after I got the the stove, I sometimes had winter off. That drafty old cabin became habitable once I started using the Jotul. I just took it out last winter and replaced it with a Woodstock Progress Hybrid. I'm married now, moving a bit slower, and wanted to see if a newer stove would cut down on wood use. One thing that helps is my wife buys into the idea of heating with wood ( the propane wall heater sounds like a 747 taking off) , so for the peace and quiet, as well as that deep restorative bone drenching heat in the middle of winter, we burn wood
One plus of a lakadaisical approach to life (remember the couch) is that a neatnick wife will not let me near the woodpile, she stacks it herself. I don't mind stacking, but self stacking wood is a plus