Wood burner insert?

[Beekissed]

We keep the bedrooms cooler and just add more blankets. If you are a chilly willy - turn on an electric blanket long enough to pre-heat the bed then turn it off to save the power. Your body will keep the bed warm as you sleep. Also in the olden days folks wore night caps. A nice little stocking cap keeps you head cozy and your "do" done.

Down comforters are great for this! AND...they don't use any energy! Like sleeping under a warm cloud....they heat up instantly and just throw your own body heat back at you. Best investment I've ever made!

If using electric blankets, they say a heated mattress pad is more efficient than a blanket.

 

[scrambledmess]

Does the faux down do the same? I am allergic to down

 

[SandraMort]

I was logging in to learn more about this thing in my living room! We rent a house and in our living room is a fireplace with a wood stove insert. We've turned the heat on the rest of the house down to 55. We've slept comfortably in the living room with all of the doors closed for a few days and will be setting up a fan to blow warm air to the playroom, so we can set up sleeping quarters for the older kids, since the living room is somewhat crowded.

Anyway, I find myself perplexed by the whole wood thing. I know that 4x4x8 is a cord. And that you put wood in the oven when it gets low. But beyond that, I haven't a clue how much we're putting in or how much we started with or whether we're saving money. How doo I figure that out??? Is 200 a cord a good price for wood?

 

[coopy]

DH says 200 is too much for a cord of wood. Around here it is around $80.00 a cord no more than $100.00. I don't know where you live and if wood is hard to find in your area or not. You can burn any type of wood. Some are better than others. Hard woods gives out the best heat and last the longest.

 

[SandraMort]

I don't know where you live but the cheapest I've seen for a 4x4x8 cord was 185 and usually 200+.

 

[coopy]

Wow! Question? How much does it cost you to heat your house with the other type of heat you are using? It may not be worth the change over for you.

 

[SandraMort]

Not a clue! I just moved in!

 

[VT-Chicklit]

SandraMort, I live in Northwestern Vermont and the price of a 4X4X8 cord of hard wood here runs from $180 (you pick it up from the person selling it) to $250 ($300 if it is hard wood that has been dried for a year) if they dump it at your house. The price of fuel oil this summer was $4.00 and kerosene was $4.50 so the price of wood was cheaper than the price of fuel. I burn about 3 cord of wood a winter (I have an efficient set up) to heat my house of about 1800 sq ft. I try to only have my oil furnace run to heat the hot water we use in the taps. We use about 250 gal of oil from the end of October until some time in May. We think about 150 gal of this is for our hot water. When we moved into this house in 1999, we did not use the wood stove for heat and used about 450 gal during that same time frame. Right now, the price of oil is down. I can get oil for $2.50 a gal. That means the $300 for a cord of wood is less attractive. I buy my wood several years in advance to try and stay ahead of the price increases. If the price is too high, I can wait.

 

[swampducks]

If using electric blankets, they say a heated mattress pad is more efficient than a blanket.

DH and I love our electric mattress pad. Since heat rises to us it just made more sense than a blanket. We don't crank it up anywhere near High and it keeps us very comfortable. We can turn the furnace down much more at night.