We want heat, but we need it on a limited budget. Getting a new furnace and duct work before years end is completely out of the question.
We have natural gas service, from the city. I loathe gas heat, in any form. They say it has no smell, but i can smell it across the house when we use our stove (which burns much cleaner than many other gas stoves I've encountered). Not only can I smell it, and hate the smell, it dries me out big time!
Even still, I'm inclined to consider one of these...
Solely because it'd heat the house, and one of the #1 discomforts for me (well above smelling stinky gas, or being dried out) is being cold. So, while I have no idea how much they are, they just seem like they'd be fairly affordable.
B wants a wood stove. The thought of having a beautiful wood stove (since we have no fire places) that not only provides warmth, but esthetics, and we could have a nice pot of water on top to keep things moist AND prepare a cup of tea at the drop of a hat sounds wonderful to me! Of course, wood stoves are big business now so we could get something like this...
for over $2000 (ok, that's out of our budget. :( )
or maybe this...
for around $200.
The more expensive one is far more efficient and provides better air quality inside and out. Also, if we buy a stove new (the last one is used) it qualifies for a 30% tax credit.
Of course, used, is typically the "greener" options, but what if the seals aren't as good? (they likely aren't) Or it takes more wood to provide the same amount of heat, is that still ideal?
My biggest concern with the wood is supply. Wood isn't exactly renewable, but it's not non-renewable either. Natural gas is better than coal, and I feel wood is better than natural gas, especially when it's acquired responsibly. But the only tree we have (for now) is a mulberry tree, so us providing it for ourselves all winter is out of the question.
B feels as though we should be able to keep stocked in wood via friends and craigslist easily, but we have a gas line, from lg&e coming straight into our house, and we get billed for it at the end of the month. No driving our tiny car to get a few days worth of wood, or begging friends with larger vehicles to help us out. No worry of a wood drought.
I mean, I guess I could go all conspiracy theorists and think "Well, what if "the man" decided to shut off our/everyones gas? Huh! What then?" but I'm really not THAT neurotic.
So here we are. Trying to figure out what to do. It may sound like I'm strongly favoring the gas, I'm really not, But I am strongly in favor of being warm, and will take almost anything short of burning down my house (that wouldn't keep me warm long) at this point.
Anyone have a nice wood stove they want to sell?
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