Heating options...

[ApS]

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..."

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.

Originally Posted by Blue Thunder

"...Wood has 20 million BTU/Cord with an efficiency of 77%..."

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.

Originally Posted by Argie's Wife

"...If electricity was less expensive it would have been a option..."

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?