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Originally Posted by LIforrelaxin
"...Mind you because I am unwilling to get up at 3 or 4 in the morning and throw a log or two on the fire the mornings are a bit nippy..."
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Try tossing in a piece of
unsplit wood when turning in and turn the air intake to zero (which is really very low). A round piece of 4" or 5" oak or maple (even
hemlock), placed on glowing ashes will still keep things comfortable by daybreak.
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Originally Posted by Blue Thunder
"...Wood has 20 million BTU/Cord with an efficiency of 77%..."
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Where a wood supply can be supplemented with winter windfalls on one's property,
efficiency is of less concern. Relatives nearby have a woodlot mostly for privacy, and give away the wood that
they pay to have cut down.
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Originally Posted by Argie's Wife
"...If electricity was less expensive it would have been a option..."
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It sounds like you have a newer, tight, house—a good thing. Is the fireplace tightly sealed? A lot of heat can go outdoors that way.
Electricity can still "spot heat" economically. At the computer, I put my feet on a rubber heating pad—bought at a yard sale—that originally was designed as a water bed heater, and uses only 75 watts. After an hour, it gets too hot! Last year, I bought a backup water bed heating pad for $1.
Now that I think of it, a water bed holds a lot of water-mass (radiant heat), and it is heated by just a 75 watt heater. Even if (or
especially if) unused, is a water bed an economical source of radiant heat?