Living the cottage life, Alaskan style!

Monday, October 3, 2011

Our New Woodstove

Woo hoo!  I'm going to be warm this winter!  Woo hoo Woo hoo!  That's me, doing the happy dance!

For years, my hubby and I have had discussions of an alternative heat source for the house.  When we moved into this house, there was electric heat and a Monitor stove.  We knew we wouldn't be using electric heat and the Monitor was old and not efficient. 

So we installed a boiler.  My husband thought that was the solution to my problem of always being cold. 

But it wasn't. 

So two years ago we applied for a state energy audit and the experts came in and did their tests and outlined all the steps we needed to do to take our cute little cottage from a two ** to a four ****.  So we did. 

It didn't help.  I was still cold.  And it didn't matter if it was winter or summer or spring or fall.  I'm always cold. 
So this year I finally convinced my hubby that a wood stove, not a pellet stove or an oil stove, but a wood stove is what we need.  This has been my mantra for years now.  Something we can cook on when the power it out, to warm our clothes on a cold winter's day, to dry out our mittens after shoveling snow for hours.  It would cut our oil bill down considerably which was another major consideration. 

For whatever reason, he jumped on board and immediately had a wood shed built and firewood delivered.  Now the fun of stacking it although I have to say I wasn't allowed to help....  I guess it's a "man's" job..... But I do I find myself going out to look at it and feel proud of our wood pile.  I can feel the warmth! 
No, I couldn't help pile the wood, but my little grandson could!  Look at him go!  He filled his little 150 Ford truck with wood, then drove it to the woodshed, helped unload, came back for another load.  This little guy worked! 

This is our wood stove.  Nothing fancy.  We were asked if we wanted the gold trim.... no....  Any fancy attachments?  No.....  This is a work horse as far as I'm concerned.  We got it for one reason and one reason only.  To stay warm. 
And for the first time in years, I've been warm.  I sit in my rocker in front of it and read, enjoying the warmth that creeps through every part of my body.  Eventually, we'll look at the thermostat and it'll be 75 degrees or hotter, and I'm just comfortably warm.  That just goes to show how cold I've been if my new norm is 75! 

I'm looking forward to winter for the first time. To being warm during winter, for the first time. 

Later....  Nancy
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