Winter and Woodstoves
When you are in your apartment in the city, you hardly think about being warm or cold. Our apartment is usually overheated beyond our control, so I open one of the windows to be comfortable, just wearing a T-shirt and light pants.
The situation in the country home is quite different. When you have to pay for your own fuel, you put on two and three layers of clothes and think 62 degrees is just fine. When I visited our neighbors, I discovered that they all had wood stoves. Their warmth came from the wood stove.
Yes, a fireplace is wonderful, but usually you are hot in the front and cold in the back and it heats just one room.. Plus, they are inefficient- most of the heat goes up the chimney. There is also the worry about an open flame in the house and embers popping out into the room. Then there is the worry about gasses! Back drafting (gasses flowing backwards back into the house) can happen under some circumstances.
When we bought the house, there was a place for a wood stove in a central position in the house. They’re more efficient as the heat radiates into the room from all sides of the stove. The former owner left us some wood, and we experienced how different the heat from a wood stove can be. In our opinion, it is the most beautiful form of warmth! In addition, there is the advantage that you can stand in front of it and “defrost” in no time!
But we wanted to have our cake and eat it too. Watching an open hearth is romantic, soothing and relaxing. So we did our research and bought a wood stove that had a firebox front that was all glass, so we could watch the fire without the smoke, mess and the dangers of an open firebox.
This is our woodstove. We bought a hi-tech model that circulates the combustion gasses through the stove interior 4 times and washes them over the glass before they exit the flue, ensuring very clean exhaust gasses and a glass front that stays clean. The body of the stove gets very warm so we had an iron railing made in order to avoid touching its surface by accident. The railing has a little platform in the front, which is great for drying gloves, hats, boots and so on. Occasionally I even put frozen food on it so it can defrost.
The stove stands on stone tiles (not on a wood floor).The stove is 8 inches away from the wall which has a fireproof surface. WARNING: It is very important to follow wall, floor, ceiling (flue pipe) and combustible materials clearances recommended by the manufacturer! Repeated heating of combustible materials over time can lower their ignition point and cause a fire! We had our clearances inspected for safety.
Next to the stove you have the fire utensils, the ash container and the box for kindling (we use an antique copper clothes boiler scavenged from a barn). On top of the stove, you see this:
The stove stands on stone tiles (not on a wood floor).The stove is 8 inches away from the wall which has a fireproof surface. WARNING: It is very important to follow wall, floor, ceiling (flue pipe) and combustible materials clearances recommended by the manufacturer! Repeated heating of combustible materials over time can lower their ignition point and cause a fire! We had our clearances inspected for safety.
Next to the stove you have the fire utensils, the ash container and the box for kindling (we use an antique copper clothes boiler scavenged from a barn). On top of the stove, you see this:
This little fan runs without an electricity source. It spins due to static electricity caused by the warm, dry air from the woodstove washing over it. As the stove heats up, it starts to push the warm air rising from the stove and blows it through the room. It is fun to explain the physics to kids and watch it come to life with each new fire.
When the wood stove is going, the furnace can take a break and we save a lot of fuel. Most enjoyable though, is to turn off the lights and snuggle on the couch in front of the beautiful fire, watching the light from the flames dance around the room, listening to the cold winter winds outside, but enjoying how we are snug inside.
When the wood stove is going, the furnace can take a break and we save a lot of fuel. Most enjoyable though, is to turn off the lights and snuggle on the couch in front of the beautiful fire, watching the light from the flames dance around the room, listening to the cold winter winds outside, but enjoying how we are snug inside.