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Friday Favorite: The Wood Stove

December 11th, 2015

“Snow was falling and winter had come; the season of fire. Candles and hearth fire, that lovely, leaping paradox, that destruction contained but never tamed, held at a safe distance to warm and enchant, but always still, with that small sense of danger.”

Diana Gabaldon in A Breath of Snow and Ashes (Outlander)

As I read this passage I was sitting in front of the wood burner surrounded by cats. It was very early in the morning, the house was cold when I first woke up. After starting a fire and doing a few other things, I sat myself down with my back to the stove and started reading.
sedore stove
We just got a new wood stove. The old one wasn’t quite big enough to heat the entire house when it’s in the single digits outside. We have a wood fired furnace we use when it’s super cold, but we prefer using the wood stove instead. The stove was also old and starting to fall apart. More about this particular stove later, until then, I’ll be warming my toes in front of it.

Have you ever lived with wood heat?

11 Comments to “Friday Favorite: The Wood Stove”
  1. bonnie knox on December 11, 2015 at 9:38 am

    We grew up with wood heat.
    We have a heat pump now, and I would dearly love to have a little wood heater to supplement and to rely on if the power goes out.

    Reply to bonnie knox's comment

  2. Kathy on December 11, 2015 at 10:08 am

    We have had only wood heat for years and I love it. Even though we have only softwood to burn we are able to keep the main living area of our house comfortably warm. The bedrooms get pretty chilly, but that makes for a great night’s sleep!

    Reply to Kathy's comment

  3. Jill on December 11, 2015 at 11:46 am

    Couldn’t do without my wood stove.

    Reply to Jill's comment

  4. Joan on December 11, 2015 at 12:32 pm

    I couldn’t do without my wood stove either. One of my biggest joys in winter is sitting in front of the wood stove with a good book. Mine has a big glass window and I’m mesmerized by the dancing flames.

    Reply to Joan's comment

  5. Chris on December 11, 2015 at 1:41 pm

    What a nice wood stove and don’t you love the Outlander books? We have a wood stove too but also with a glass door so we can watch the flames. So much better than tv! ☺️

    Reply to Chris's comment

  6. Brenda on December 11, 2015 at 2:45 pm

    Please do followup about your new stove. I looked up the website and am intrigued. What fuel are you using? Are you heating water with it? Do you plan to cook on it? I have an old Pioneer Maid cookstove that I love but where it is (kitchen wing) makes it hard to heat some of the house. I dearly love cooking on and in it though. Is your stove better situated in your home for heating purposes?

    Reply to Brenda's comment

  7. Nebraska Dave on December 11, 2015 at 7:33 pm

    Susy, my only experience with stoves was my grand parent’s pot bellied coal burner. It would really put out the heat. My front side would be hot and my back side would be cold. It wasn’t the most efficient but it’s all they had. It resided in the living room and the kitchen had an old cook stove that burned corn cobs. I’ve always heard that it takes a lot of wood to get through the Winter and totally heat with it. My parents heated with fuel oil and later propane gas before moving to the city and heating with natural gas. Natural gas is my heat source now. Nebraska just doesn’t have enough wood to be able to easily heat with it. There have been some that I know that have tried but it’s just too difficult to have a sustainable supply. Thank goodness for natural gas. :-)

    Have a great wood heating day,

    Reply to Nebraska Dave's comment

  8. Karl on December 12, 2015 at 9:33 am

    I miss heating with wood. Berkeley CA isn’t the ideal place to try to heat with wood. I miss the soul warming that can only be achieved by a wood stove.

    Reply to Karl's comment

  9. Jennifer Fisk on December 13, 2015 at 8:27 am

    I have a Waterford stove with a glass front. I love it and use it almost exclusively when I’m home. I also have an oil furnace for upstairs with the thermostat on 58. My garage and basement have about a 1/2 cord each of last years wood plus there are 3 cords in the garage purchased this year.

    Reply to Jennifer Fisk's comment

  10. Brenda on December 13, 2015 at 8:55 am

    There is nothing cozier than settling in with a good book in front of a wood fire. We have heated (and at times cooked) with wood off and on for many years. Love it. I’m looking forward to hearing how you like your Sedore.

    Reply to Brenda's comment

  11. Jennie on January 28, 2016 at 8:36 pm

    When we moved in this house had a Swedish gas stove- not quite as cozy but a pretty nice replicate. Here on Vashon Island almost everyone burns Madrona wood for heat- and as you drive around the smell lingers in the air. I love it.

    Reply to Jennie's comment

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This is a daily journal of my efforts to cultivate a more simple life, through local eating, gardening and so many other things. We used to live in a small suburban neighborhood Ohio but moved to 153 acres in Liberty, Maine in 2012.

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