We have an all electric home built in '75. The wonderful local carpenter that built it says to Hubby, "Hey, theres is 2.25 sq. ft. here with nothing important, how about we put a chimney there just for the hell of it." So they did, a ceramic lined chimney that would handle wood/coal.
After getting the electric bill for Jan of '76, Hubby went out and bought a wood burning stove rated for coal/wood; the kind that had a built in temp. sensitive spring type damper control - stand alone - no electricity needed (in a prolonged power outage we would still be warm and pipes would never freeze as long as someone was there to feed the fire). That wood stove in the basement carried 80% of the house heating burden.
Then in '97 we put in a propane forced air furnace along with duct work for when Hubby gets too old and decrepit to chop fire wood anymore. Hubby took off a section of the bottom of the return duct that runs overhead of the stove and we manually turn on the furnace fan which distributes the wood heat throughout the house via the duct work! (Don'cha just love farmers' creative engineering.
) Now the wood stove is carrying a good 95%+ of the heating burden, but then there is the furnace fan sucking up electricity. But, But....we are really warm and cozy.
The past winters we have burned less than 300 gal. of propane; we have to use the furnace in the 'mild seasonal changes'/spring/fall because with outdoor temps above 45 degrees that wood stove will drive you right out and it's not worth just letting it 'smudge along' and fill the chimney will creosote.
So, Hubby has been "paying" our heating bill with his own sweat for 32 years now.
Judy
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