Having a wood stove is mostly pro's with a few con's mixed in.
PRO's
-Gives a cozy feel to the house.
-Has provided almost all of the heat for the house (i.e. we've not turned the furnace on once since December 21! We do supplement with a small electric radiator in Samuel's room when necessary)
-No need to worry about freezing when the power goes out. This was one of the reasons we installed the stove. The other was to save on our electric bill, which brings us to the next PRO:
-Our most recent electricity bill was $170 LESS than the month prior (before we had the stove).
-The kitty cats LOVE lounging in front of the fire.
-We love lounging in front of the fire.
CON's
-Wood has to be chopped and split to have heat. Good thing this isn't my job or we'd be very cold. (Dan says this should be on the PRO list, since not only are we using a renewable energy resource, but he and Danny get some great exercise preparing the wood.)
-Wood has to be inserted into the stove. This is mostly my task, so it sometimes gets chilly because I forget.
-Having wood in the house is a messy business. I do a lot more vacuuming and dusting than I like now.
The bottom line? We HIGHLY recommend a wood stove as a primary source of heat IF you have a ready, free source of wood, AND the stamina to cut and split it.
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