We heat our 2 story w/ a basement 3000 sq ft home with a woodstove only. And we LOVE it! The heat is so much warmer than electric, and it smells heavenly. I think woodstove smoke is part of what makes fall smell like fall ~ ;-D
We got one of those very large Defiant woodstoves, and it has a catalitic combustion chamber in it, so it also burns the smoke, which means it is very very economical in it's wood usage as well. You can turn down the air flow to almost nill and a full load of wood will last you all night long.
Also, as to installation, we just looked it up online as to how to do it, checked our local fire safety codes, and did the job ourselves.
It was the best $2000 ever spent. Paid for itself the first year, as we were spending over $400 per month in the winter for electric furnace heat. Not to mention, we were able to get a tax discount for either 4 or 5 yrs after purchase, since it was a new catalitic type.
As to wood costs ~ even at the very high cost of $150 per cord, it costs us less to run the woodstove, and we usually run it from early October to Mid April. That translates into about 5 cord of wood, & $750, highest possible wood costs. Now that $150 per cord is if we are lazy, sick or feeling wealthy, because it comes delivered, blocked & split. If we go get a permit from the Forest & Game, we have to pay $10 per cord ( & you can maximize it at 6 cord, so $60 there), plus the rental of a U-haul trailer at $30 per day ( use for two whole days, and you only have to pay $22 per day) plus the gas to get to the cutting areas. This year gas was high, so it cost $92. Plus chainsaw oil, & gas, another $15.
That adds up to $60 + $44 + $92 + $15 = $211. Divide that by the 5.6 cord of wood we brought down, & you have $37.68 per cord of wood.
That's just not too dang shabby, if you ask me. :-D Especially when you consider that had we used the furnace, it would have cost $2400, ANd we would have been colder, because that furnace just can't heat the house like a good healthy fire.
A note on best wood to burn ~ ash, hardwoods, but NOT pine, if you can help it ~ pine is very sappy, and clogs your pipes faster with creosote, so you are up on the roof cleaning the pipes more often. If you are careful of the wood you burn, you won't have to clean more than once before woodstove season starts & once after it's over. Also, pine has a much faster burn, so you go through far more wood.
One last note ~ since my husband works with wood, we also have lots of kiln-dried end cuts to use as kindling ~ it's very effective, burns extremely clean, but VERY VERY hot ~ I don't reccomend using straight kiln-dried endcuts, as you may melt out or bend some of your internal ironworks in your stove.
Also, we make these excellent firestarters ~ just save any old paper egg flats, fill them with sawdust, then melt some parafin wax, old crayons, half-burnt candles, etc. together, & pour into the sawdust eggcups. Let them harden, and you will have the easiest way to start a fire EVER. They light immediately, and keep going long enough to get any bit of kindling & such going to get the larger logs going. Just delightful!
~Red
edited to add ~ we also use a fan to help move the air ~ we are cheap, and just stick an old circular fan behind the wood stove ~ better would be to install fans, most stoves have connetors on the back for yout o screw in fans. Those are electric, however, you can obviously still warm the house well regardless of whether you have electricity or not ( as in a power outage.)
I'll give up ALL his weekends till spring.
