Using wood stoves to heat your house can be both a blessing and a curse. In this article, I will explain the aspects of wood stove use that will have you jumping for joy as well as those that may make you bury your face in your palms. Pit these pros and cons against each other to decide if a wood stove is right for you.
Pros:
Wood stoves, such as the popular Taylor brand, come with multiple benefits. For example, using a wood stove to heat your house means you will be spending little to no money keeping warm during the winter months. Add the ability to heat your water and you have the potential to keep a substantial amount of money in your pocket. Several owners that I have talked to said their stoves essentially paid for themselves within a year.
Just remember that if you decide to invest in a wood stove, you will need to have some sort of shed to keep your wood in. Make sure that this shed has a quality roof so that your wood stays dry when it rains (wet wood takes a long amount of time to catch fire). Although the cost of investment goes up due to the necessity of a shed, you will earn every dime back by not paying for house and water heaters.
Furthermore, you will only have one unit to maintain. Whereas people with both home and water heaters have two things eating their money, wood stove owners only have one. This enables you to save even more money by not having to keep multiple items in working order.
Cons:
All products have their low points. Wood Stoves are no exception. If you live in an area that experiences large amounts of freezing weather during cold months, be prepared to keep an eye on the hoses which connect to the stove. Should the water in the hose freeze, you won’t be taking any baths or doing any laundry until it melts. This problem can be avoided by allowing a faucet to drip when you expect freezing weather to occur.
Additionally, these stoves may not be for you if you do not have a supply of wood to make it work. The owners I know live on farms with an abundance of trees. In their cases, they simply use wood from dead or dying trees to feed their stoves (keep in mind that this method usually involved hard manual labor).
Families that cannot easily obtain wood may not find these stoves to be practical. However, if someone in the area sells firewood, compare the price of that with the cost of heating your house through other methods.
For a better visual comparison, the pros and cons of wood stove ownership are the following:
Pros:
Save money in the long run
Maintain one machine instead of two
Cons:
Freezing weather
Need large amounts of wood
Wood stoves are not for everyone. If you live in downtown Manhattan, for example, chances are you will not be buying one. However, if you live in a rural area, you may find these stoves to be beneficial. Weigh the aspects of ownership carefully. You may just find that a wood stove would make things easier for you and your wallet.