Snow is falling softly outside. The house is clean, the tasks of the day are finished, and it’s time to sit down and unwind for the evening. A fire crackles gently in the wood stove, and the heat radiates into every corner of the house. It’s a bone-warming yet gentle heat that makes the home feel relaxed and restful. There are so many benefits of a wood burning stove, but the all-encompassing heat and cozy ambiance are usually the first ones that people think about.
A few years ago, after realizing that we were paying over $3000 per year for propane to heat our home, we decided to start looking into wood stove options. The cost savings of installing our stove has been pretty substantial (it essentially paid for itself in the first year and our annual propane bill has been cut by about two thirds), but we’ve found out along the way that cost savings and ambiance are just two of many reasons why we love our stove.
(Before we jump into the benefits of a wood burning stove though, just a disclaimer: When it comes to cost savings, we were able to save significantly more by finding a used stove on Facebook Marketplace and installing it ourselves. This option isn’t for everyone. We’ll briefly go through that decision in #4!)
If you’ve been going back and forth wondering if you should consider a wood burning stove, there might be some benefits that haven’t even crossed your mind yet!
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10 Benefits of a Wood Burning Stove
Everyone talks about the obvious pros of a wood burning stove – heat, self-sufficiency, cost savings, and ambiance – but we were somewhat surprised to find out that those are just the start of the list of reasons why we never want to live without a wood stove again!
This isn’t an exhaustive list, but here are 10 of the top reasons why we love our stove.
- The bone-warming heat
- More fresh air in the home
- Increased self-sufficiency and warmth during power outages
- Potential cost savings
- Productive exercise
- Builds family culture
- You always have a place to dry items
- Another kitchen hand
- Creates a cozy ambience
- Supports your community
1. The bone-warming heat
If you’ve ever stood by a campfire, you understand the type of radiant heat that comes from real flames. It’s totally different than the dry, somewhat sporadic heat that comes out of the vents!
Now bring that encompassing heat into a comfortable living room, distribute it evenly through cast iron, and circulate it throughout the house.
Or step in from the blowing wind and turn around to find cozy lighting and warmth. (We LOVE coming in from dark winter nights to a warm fire!)
Using a wood stove as your primary heat source truly just does not compare to traditional central heating systems.
We spend the winters walking around in bare feet and t-shirts. It’s always cozy in here! The only problem is that it makes leaving the house less inviting!
2. More fresh air in the home
It can be hard to get as much fresh air in your lungs as you’d like during the winter. We always have the windows open during the summer (and often spring and fall), and I miss that fresh air during the winter!
However – and this might be a small comfort – another benefit of having a super warm house is that you don’t have to worry when the toddler leaves the door front door open for far longer than necessary. Or when you accidentally smoke up the kitchen cooking and need to open a window for a bit!
In fact, there are a number of sunny days when the stove heats up the house so much that we actually have to leave a window cracked open. And there’s nothing like enjoying a cool winter breeze while you’re still comfortable and warm!
(Of course, chopping wood also provides plenty of opportunity to get outside AND stay warm too – see #5!)
3. Increased self-sufficiency and warmth during power outages
Here’s another one of the main reasons that many people consider wood stoves. Having a wood stove really increases your level of self-sufficiency. We’re thankful to have a lot of peace of mind knowing that even in power outages during a winter storm, we will be warm! A wood-burning stove is a reliable source of heat. No power loss will take away our stacks of wood or ability to burn it inside!
We do use our a fan on our stove to push the heat throughout the house (and it truly heats every corner of our 2000-square-foot home!), which doesn’t work with the power cut. But you can get a heat-activated fireplace fan that works without electricity.
Fan or not, though, even in power outages, the stove produces a lot of heat, and we can always huddle in the living room in front of a toasty fire regardless of the winds outside.
The flames also provide some light, too. No scrambling around to grab all of the flashlights and candles we can find.
4. Potential cost savings
For us, installing a wood stove has been a great way to drastically reduce our energy bills. Our home is really not well insulated, and after spending around $3000 on propane for a few years in a row, we realized (or at least hoped) that installing a wood stove would be a good investment in order to lower our energy costs.
It definitely was!
Our DIY wood stove install cost us about $2000 (which included the stove, refurbishing, tile, wall brick, stove pipe, and other materials). Although it took a couple of weeks of hard work, it essentially paid for itself right away.
There are a lot of factors that play into whether a wood stove will reduce your heating bills. Every situation is different. Some factors to consider include:
- The cost and effectiveness of your stove
- The shape and size of your home
- Whether you have access to wood and the cost of it
- The current cost of your utility bills
- How long you plan to stay in your home, and how long it takes for the cost to pay off
We’re thankful to have access to our own wood as a renewable resource. Although it takes work, it’s been a great way to save on energy prices that we truly enjoy!
5. Productive exercise
Our favorite ways to get exercise are by doing something productive, and heating with wood definitely provides that opportunity. Between hauling logs, splitting, and stacking, there’s plenty of opportunity to get outside and move, even during the cold winter months. Other heating sources simply don’t provide this same opportunity for enjoying the beauty of creation and getting some exercise in the winter months! Haha!
We see this is a total benefit, but if you’re considering getting a wood stove, it is important to also consider the time and effort it takes to chop, haul, and stack wood.
(Of course, there are ways around some of this, like buying pre-cut dry logs and having them delivered, but that will also increase your costs, of course.)
6. Builds family culture
There are a number of benefits of heating with wood, but this is one that we didn’t really expect. Chopping, stacking, and loading wood takes time and effort, and even with three toddlers, it’s a family affair. Everyone gets to enjoy the cozy fires, and everyone gets to help with them, too!
Some of our favorite times together are stacking wood into our Holz Hausens, or loading them into the yard trailer and stacking them on the deck or in the house. This quality time together builds family culture and reminds the kids that they’re part of something and needed in the family.
(And even though as toddlers, they can’t do a whole lot, it’s been another good way to teach them about the joy and blessing of work. Little by little, they begin to be truly helpful!)
7. You always have a place to dry items
Here’s another added benefit you may not have thought of, but once you have an extra warm corner in your living space, you won’t want to live without it. Having a wood stove in the winter means there’s always a place to dry things – like still-damp clothes, shoes that were soaked in the rain, and cold fingers that just came in from outside.
8. Another kitchen hand
The kitchen is still the heart of the home, but sometimes it’s just extended across the house to the lit fire. Having an always-warm part of the house is useful for thawing and melting not just clothes, but sometimes food, too. (Just make sure to consider food safety – I would definitely not thaw meat by the stove!)
Coconut oil is one I put in front of the fire a lot in the winter if it’s too cold and hard to use. I also use the top of the stove to heat up my cast-iron dutch ovens before baking bread. A dependable heat source (that produces so much heat!) can be a great addition to traditional kitchen tools.
9. Creates a cozy ambience
While a traditional fireplace can add coziness to your home’s décor, a wood stove adds to that restful ambiance with true, radiating warmth. There’s nothing like enjoying the warm air of a thoroughly heated room while curled up with a good book.
We’re so used to the warmth and constant hum of the stove fan that it feels so strange now when it’s off.
10. Supports your community
If you don’t have access to your own firewood to cut and split, you can still buy cords of wood from neighbors in your community. Buying wood from locals is a great way to support individuals in your community. The big business utility companies don’t need more of our money!
More Articles About Heating With Wood
Want to learn more about heating with wood? Check out these articles on the blog:
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