hey caleb, my family and I live off of solar. We chose our land based on the hope that the grid will never come out our way (at least in our lifetime). And we do run out of power sometimes in the winter. But we don't depend on a furnace for heat. Our house is passive solar. So if you are relying on a furnace I would suggest finding a wood stove, nothing fancy, anything that doesn't leak will do the job. A wind generator will only be of benefit to you if you have a good windy spot to put it in. If it has buildings, hills, or trees blocking its wind it will do you no good. Get rid of all of your appliances that take electricity to make heat (curling irons, toaster((you can buy camp toasters that go on your stove for $2.00)) irons, blow dryer) alot of people still use electric coffee makers they only have it on to brew the coffee and make sure it gets shut off right away. Alot of propane ovens still use an electric glow coil. You don't want that. Make sure yours has only pilot lights. Compact flourescent light bulbs are really important. And basically it comes down to conservation which everyone, on grid or not should be aware of. If you end up with an electric fridge and it's a cloudy winter day, you start running low on power, shut off your fridge (and everything else) for the evening so you can have a light or two on. But that was the mother in me speaking. Alternative Energy is a beautiful thing. It keeps your mind awake so you are not a slave to the industrialized world. You become more attuned to the world outside of your home. You noticed when the clouds first start rolling in and when the wind is blowing in a storm. or when the sun stays around your way longer. Solar is the right thing for everyone who wants electricity. People just have to think of whats more important. A clean future and a couple of dim nights, or a polluted world with the knowledge that we could have stopped it if only we stopped to think.... Best wishes to you

Coal and Natural Gas are frequently the most cost effective traditional energy sources but both have environmental and economic considerations which limit their availability to millions of Americans for use in residential heating. Costs of energy vary widely by region based upon infrastructure and distribution costs. What makes sense in one area of the country may not make sense in others. Even in Wisconsin, Natural Gas is not readily available to many residents who must rely on Electricity, Propane, Heating Oil, Coal, Wood, Wood Pellets, or even Corn based upon the value delivered. Corn has approximately 8000-8500 BTU/Lb of heat energy on a bone dry basis according to most objective information available on the subject. Approximately 90 BTU/LB of effective heat energy are lost for every 1% of moisture content contained in most solid biomass fuels according to most information available on the subject. Cleaner, dryer heating corn delivers more effective heat energy with better combustion efficiency just like comparing seasoned firewood to green firewood and improves performance of most major brands of stoves and furnaces. Premium heating corn with a moisture content of 11-12% offers 5-10% more heat value than standard USDA Grade #2 Yellow Corn with a moisture content of 15-16%. There are approximately 6800-7350 effective BTU of cleaner energy in every pound of corn based upon moisture content between 11-15% or about 396,000 BTU of energy in every 56 pound bushel of dry corn. Corn hybrid selection and consistent processing to optimize corn's value as a solid biomass heating fuel could offer improved BTU content and value to consumers. 1 Bushel (56 lbs) of Corn has an approximate energy equivalent to 30 LB of Anthracite Coal (13,000 BTU/LB) 4 THERM of Natural Gas (100,000 BTU/Therm) 3 GAL of Fuel Oil (140,000 BTU/Gal) 3 GAL of Kerosene (125,000 BTU/GAL) 4 GAL of Propane (91,000 BTU/GAL) 115 KWH of Electricity (3412 BTU/KWH) Energy efficiencies of various heating appliances must also be factored in to accurately determine potential cost savings. Improving appliance heat transfer efficiencies by just 5-10% can dramatically improve energy value of all fuels. We've have seen these heat transfer efficiency improvements occur in traditional HVAC equipment beginning in the 1980's and have room for continued improvement in pellet and corn stove/furnace heat transfer efficiencies. In general consumers can be expected to save 20-50% using renewable solid biomass fuels such as corn or wood pellets based on typical retail prices for these fuels compared to current average retail prices reported by the Energy Information Administration for Electric Resistance, Propane, Heating Oil, or Kerosene. Environmental considerations are actually much better for renewable solid biomass fuels such as corn and wood pellets which have nearly a zero net effect on greenhouse gas emissions. In this era of high and extremely volatile energy costs controlled by a few large international energy corporations and influenced by the whims of unstable governments in much of the world at the expense of average American consumers, Corn and other renewable solid biomass fuels offer better value to many Americans and hope for a cleaner environment if used wisely. They are being used more widely throughout Europe and Canada to replace dependence on more volatile oil and natural gas and reduce greenhouse gas emissions. Economics 101 teaches that people will find alternate materials and methods to meet wants and needs when prices for existing options become too high. Electricity, Oil, Propane, Kerosene, and even Natural Gas Prices have become too high and seem likely to remain so with environmental costs becoming of increasing concern. Let the free market work its magic in allocating these increasingly scarce resources. If it makes sense for you use it. If it does not make sense for you don't. By the way with I find it interesting that with Natural Gas Market Prices less than 1/2 what they were last year, consumers are not seeing their residential heating costs reflecting these lower costs.

We built a garage last summer that required the elimination of several rather large hardwoods (big maple and several smaller red oaks). We had it cut into to 16" rounds and picked away at the pile last fall/winter. We did OK, but we weren't really serious about dealing with the bounty as we were otherwise occupied with DIY finish work inside the garage. We were on vacation last week and we spent 5-6 mornings in the company of our splitter to get the rounds split and stacked before it rotted on the ground. It wasn't unpleasant work at all. We managed to get nearly 4 cord put up for the '09/'10 heating season and beyond (we have seasoned wood put up for the coming season). We have a few more small piles of rounds to address in the coming weeks, but it's pretty much under control. And we had a good time doing it, laughing and joking as we stacked and finding an easy rhythm for the teamwork of splitting. OK, I'll get to the point. We have just under 3 acres that were wooded when we built our home in '91. Our "first major appliance" was our Woodstock Soapstone stove. In the years hence we've never purchased wood. We've simply used what was taken down for the house, garage, or landscaping projects. And we've had plenty for our needs. We set the thermostats at the lowest setting and use wood to keep the house as cozy as we want or to simply "take the chill off" when it's raw outside. We have a splitter and honestly, the hardest part of the operation is just DECIDING that we're going to deal with wood. Once we make the decision the work is pretty easy and the feeling of accomplishment is terrific. I live in New England, too. And there have been a number of stories of pellet manufacturers being stretched beyond capacity by the volume of orders. I'm all for eliminating the middleman whenever possible.

My house is brand new, so all ducts have been insulated, all electric. I am just outside of city limits so no natural gas service available. I am kind of new to heat pumps, had one in an apartment in Durham, NC a few years ago and it was nice, but here (western Virginia) where it gets colder not so nice and the thing runs 24/7 and I see the meter racing in circles and the house is always chilly. Already burned through 1500 kWh this month and it's not even half over. I really dislike the idea of cutting wood, dealing with mice and bugs in the woodpile and stoking a fire in a woodstove several times a day and dealing with the ashes, the smoke stains on the ceiling and the mess. Plus I hear the homeowner's insurance goes up when installing a woodstove. My insurer told me a pellet stove will not raise it. I'm not concerned about power outages. Realistically, in the last 15 years the longest power outage I've experienced living in various parts of the country was 14 hours so I'm not concerned about the once-in-a-lifetime power outage. For me it does not justify paying for generators, the gasoline and the maintenance of those things (I can't imagine those are cheap) for a rare event. Even though I live in coal country, in Virginia about 80 miles from the border with WV, I don't want to go the coal route. It's messy and pollutes quite a bit -- just look at those pictures of Beijing smog. I guess I'll watch out for pellet and stove prices come spring and decide then. Right now it seems I'm better off saving my money and then installing a geothermal system several years down the road when the current heat pump dies.