Quote:
Originally Posted by Stitchawl
I did like the fact that I didn't have to pay for heat through long, cold northern New England winters. I like the fact that we could use a renewable resource to keep us warm. I loved the smell of the house in winter. We used a Jotul stove that was very efficient and effective. I had my own wood lot behind the house with plenty of past-their-prime hardwoods and white and gray birches. After the first year my wood was always cut, split, and dried in the barn for the following year so dry wood was never a problem. One weekend in the fall my neighbor and I would rent a power splitter, and we split his and mine, working together. It was work, but doing it together with the wives and kids was fun... but...
... it was the daily grind, day after day starting in September and not ending until May, fill the stove at 11pm, wake up at 8 and fill the stove again. Carrying loads of wood into the house, spilling sawdust, bark, and wood chips all over that had to be cleaned up. Emptying out the ashes and carrying them outside, sweeping up what fell on the floor... In January and Feburary, giving the stove an extra feeding at 6pm, and burning it hot so the house would be nice and warm for showers. Always having to BE home to fill the stove so the pipes wouldn't freeze up. If we wanted to go away for the weekend we had to arrange for the neighbor to fill the stove for us. The twice a year mess of cleaning the chimney, trying not to fall off the roof as I did it.
As I said, getting a place with a thermostat was truly a blessing. 
Stitchawl
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Well .... At least you didn't have to pay for it.
