I don't know where PNW is but we live on the gulf coast and heat exclusively with a 20 year old Hawke insert with a blower system sitting in a massive masonry fireplace. It heats our entire 1800 ft² ranch house very evenly and comfortably. We do have to keep the interior doors open for even heating since our interior walls are insulated. Even when it gets down to below 10°F, we need no supplemental heat. When I get a bit overzealous with my stove loading, we have to open windows. I guarantee I cannot go though a full cord a year and my wood is free for the cutting. I laid in the wood from six 18 year old yard oaks that were knocked down by 'cane Ivan in 2004 and I'll be lucky if I burn all that wood by 2008. I don't expect to cut more wood until summer of 2009.

I see no need to upgrade my insert to a more politically correct model. Pizz on the EPA. My stove is still legal until they raid my house with a warrant to remove it.

I've been heating exclusively with wood for 30 years, so I give a thumbs up to the insert.

We put oil, hot water heat into our house in PA when we built it, but at that time the cost of oil was an outrageous 50¢ a gallon, so I started with pallet wood in a Franklin stove and still use pallet wood to this day in a wood/coal boiler.

Today I read in the paper that the average cost to heat a Northeastern home with oil will be about $1850 this winter.

When I get too old for wood, I'll use good old Pennsylvania Anthracite.

sonny

I am going to take a contrarian view.

First of all, nothing is wrong with your strategy for the time being. If you are happy and satisfied with comfort, cost, inconvenience, then that's all that counts.

However, there will come a time when the law of aging will catch up to you and you will not be able to cut your wood, much less load it. There is also the issue about selling your home either when you elect to move or by your heirs.
Your current heating setup may not be too appealing.

You live in the Pacific NW correct? Don't you have low electric rates? Is AC ever needed in the summer? Why not install a high eff heat pump system?

No longer is natural gas a value fuel for heating and of course propane and oil are much more expensive.

IMO

Thanks for the input everyone. Yes, we do have low elec.rates here in the Pacific Northwest. However, I only have 100amp service which would have to be upgraded before even looking at an elec boiler, or heat pump. Then there is the challenge of how to get that service down to the boiler room. Again-though, at my age,there would never be a payback. As far as not being able to do the wood chores when I get much older-lol Our home is a multi 4 level split, so the stairs would likely force us out of here before the firewood tasks. Tigerdune`s point is well taken,elec heat in this local is much like the wood heat in that much of it is generated by hydro and so is also carbon nuetral. But "oil" yea, its scarry, can easily seeing it reach $2 a litre ($6.50 a gallon). Honestly, if I were 20 years younger, it would be a no-brainer. Thanks again for your replies to my post.