The cons of wood heat.

[Thornton]

In the winter the hotter the better ..We prefer 75 over 65 any day of the week. Years ago I had forced air fuel oil heat . What a pathetic expensive counterfeit way to heat a home ! We froze our tails off and if you cranked it up , you were going to pay dearly in a sky high delivery bill the following month. Never again says I !

It is 73 here today

 

[treebilly]

I try to keep it around 70-72. When the wife lets it get above that I open the door to my wood chute and use a box fan to blow heat in the garage. I'll also heat up the garage if I need to work on something or when I'm gonna be outside all day and don't wanna take the time to undress for lunch

 

[olyman]

You come home with a heaping load of white oak, unload it and walk into the house. There sits your loving wife (born & raised in the SOCAL desert) on the couch with the fire going strong. So far, sounds good right. Well the con is the house is 80 and the temp climbing. Boy is just in a diaper as he's hot to. Tell my wife to not throw anymore wood on, and that I will be out in the shed cleaning my saws and sharpening chains.

 

[olyman]

My wife must be the exception. When she was pregnant she insisted the house stay on 62. Now we keep the house on 65. Kids all have flannel pajamas and lots of blankets if they get cold. We love to sleep in the cold.

My mother in law is exact opposite. You show up to her house at Christmas and the temp is set at 78 BEFORE 25 people show up. My asthma gets really bad by about 2:00 when it gets really stuffy and 85 degrees.

good Lord amighty,,that's sauna temp.. ought to ask her where the rocks are!!!!!

 

[UpOnTheHill]

When we're home, I run the family room where the stove is, about 74 to 78. Kitchen stays about 70 and the bedrooms 65 to 68. It works out about perfect. It's VERY easy to fall asleep in the family room in one of the reclining chairs!

 

[Axfarmer]

I have a large fisher wood stove installed in my basement and my chain grinder setup is about 8 ft from the stove. I have to wait until the stove is burning down or starting up to sharpen chains! It's around 85 degrees in that area.

 

[Locust Cutter]

No complaints here other than my wife likes it 69-73° and doesn't like it hotter. She also hates opening the windows as it's "wasteful" son on the shoulder seasons would rather use the propane furnace to regulate the heat. I'm slowly breaking her of that. She's also horribly self-conscious and conservative (more than I am) and doesn't like wearing little clothing, unless she's at the lake... Oh well.

 

[MechanicMatt]

No cons at my house. Wife likes it hot 75*+ I don't mind because it meens she is going to sleep in her "summer" pj's. As for the one fella's story about his parents getting divorced and it being cold, that was the reason why I busted my ass three winters ago. Sister got the house in her divorce, single mom, lil money. Luckily for her she has a brother with a ton of chainsaws. I would drop off rounds and tell her two sons that by the time I come back with the next load this load better be split and stacked. I was surprised how well those two kids did, they were forced to grow up a bit that winter. Her house stayed warm all winter! Busted my butt a couple saturdays in a row, but my sis and her kids were taken care of.

 

[GL0B0TREE]

You come home with a heaping load of white oak, unload it and walk into the house. There sits your loving wife (born & raised in the SOCAL desert) on the couch with the fire going strong. So far, sounds good right. Well the con is the house is 80 and the temp climbing. Boy is just in a diaper as he's hot to. Tell my wife to not throw anymore wood on, and that I will be out in the shed cleaning my saws and sharpening chains.

No cons at my house. Wife likes it hot 75*+ I don't mind because it meens she is going to sleep in her "summer" pj's. As for the one fella's story about his parents getting divorced and it being cold, that was the reason why I busted my ass three winters ago. Sister got the house in her divorce, single mom, lil money. Luckily for her she has a brother with a ton of chainsaws. I would drop off rounds and tell her two sons that by the time I come back with the next load this load better be split and stacked. I was surprised how well those two kids did, they were forced to grow up a bit that winter. Her house stayed warm all winter! Busted my butt a couple saturdays in a row, but my sis and her kids were taken care of.

not many people these days realize the true value of wood, these stories are heartwarming.

 

[wtrubeyubq]

I like the cold, they dont so I deal with being hot.

 

[flotek]

No cons at my house. Wife likes it hot 75*+ I don't mind because it meens she is going to sleep in her "summer" pj's. As for the one fella's story about his parents getting divorced and it being cold, that was the reason why I busted my ass three winters ago. Sister got the house in her divorce, single mom, lil money. Luckily for her she has a brother with a ton of chainsaws. I would drop off rounds and tell her two sons that by the time I come back with the next load this load better be split and stacked. I was surprised how well those two kids did, they were forced to grow up a bit that winter. Her house stayed warm all winter! Busted my butt a couple saturdays in a row, but my sis and her kids were taken care of.

If only everybody looked out for family like this the world would be a better place. .i give Props to you for taking the time and doing the work needed to help them get through a tough time

 

[Smulax]

The only con here is if I don't light or maintain the fire no one else will. Wifey would much rather push the thermostat button up to 75 than go to the basement and put wood in the stove.

 

[BeatCJ]

My wife doesn't mind feeding or building a fire. She hates the heat pump, the air always feels cold to her. Also, with a son-in-law and a 17 year old son living with us, she doesn't feel like she should have to carry wood in from the shed, and I'm inclined to agree with her.

So it's almost always left to me...

It was 83 in the living room the other day, 5 feet from the stove, and 74 down the hallway at the thermostat. Our hallway makes air movement poor, and the heat pump brings in outside air when the fan is on. I probably need to put a damper in that.

 

[spike60]

No cons at my house. Wife likes it hot 75*+ I don't mind because it meens she is going to sleep in her "summer" pj's. As for the one fella's story about his parents getting divorced and it being cold, that was the reason why I busted my ass three winters ago. Sister got the house in her divorce, single mom, lil money. Luckily for her she has a brother with a ton of chainsaws. I would drop off rounds and tell her two sons that by the time I come back with the next load this load better be split and stacked. I was surprised how well those two kids did, they were forced to grow up a bit that winter. Her house stayed warm all winter! Busted my butt a couple saturdays in a row, but my sis and her kids were taken care of.

Nice story Matt, and that's the way to look after family! How old are your nephews and how did they split that wood?

 

[newyorker]

no cons here either me and sweetie lived in a 1953 52' mobile home behind my dads house when we were 19 2 inch walls oil heat and we knew we couldn't afford that i bought a old saw a splitter and a used tsc stove for pennies on the dollar on Craigslist and started cutting it used to get so hot most windows were cracked bought fifty gallons of fuel when we first moved in the old man drained 50 out when we left when i was 21 got hitched had a kid on the way built a 2300ft house in the sticks didnt even put in a furnace just a woodstove in the basement heated good till last winter -15 nights so i bit the bullet put in ducts and a lp furnace with a caddy wood furnace best money i spent the wife pretty much tends to it im a boiler man and work nights got two little ones now and its always 70-72 wife comes from the city i cant believe how well she has adjusted been burning 7 winters now and could imagine doing it any other way

 

[Chris-PA]

Wifey would much rather push the thermostat button up to 75

Fixed that - thermostat isn't connected to anything anymore!

 

[1project2many]

Problem this year is I ended up with too much big oak in the front of the shed! Hard to regulate temp when you've got to keep the heat up just to keep the wood burning. It's been 78-80 almost every night here and that's just too warm. The bedroom is cooler by 5-7 degrees but that's still too warm. And my wife, well, too hot one minute too cold the next = blankets off then comforters and blankets on. It's going to be a long winter.

 

[MechanicMatt]

Spike they're 20 and 18 now. Then they were 16 and 14, some how the younger one is twice as mature as the older one. They have a red shorter handled monster maul, a cheap-o plastic handled double blade ax and a bunch of wedges they borrowed from me. There was one tricky drop for them that year, had uncle Mike come and make sure that tree fell in the right direction. Pretty much told them they were gonna step up and become the men of the house. There dad and I don't see eye to eye, was bucking up some soft maple I had brought over in log length, he showed up, started runnin his mouth, I had my 362xp in my hands idling, just started blipping the throttle and walking towards him...........he got in his car and drove off. Could not understand, his kids lived there why wasn't he taking care of the wood to make sure they stayed warm. I mean, I get the fact you don't love my sis anymore, but at least keep your kids warm. And before anybody says, child support, NOPE he's a dirtbag dead beat. Court is always stickin it in his rear cause he won't pay. Enough about that cr@p, back to firewood came home from CHRISTmas shopping, house was 75* yay!

 

[woodchuck357]

Chainsaws can help make back doors where ever you want in the shed.

 

[Sawdust inspector]

After 12 hour day I come home to a warm house so the wife must have something on her mind