3 Cheap Wood Burning Ways to Heat Your Home
Fireplaces
Having grown up around people who have had a fireplace to heat their homes, I know it can be efficient. I know one man who will take out trees for a cheaper fee plus the firewood to help heat his home with his fireplace. He isn’t the only one that does this around here.
By adding a fireplace into your home if you don’t have one can help lower your gas or electric bill during the winter. A few people in the town I live in have done this. They have had the fireplaces added as an extension of there house. Number eight of 9 Remodeling Tips to Make Your Home Feel Bigger is how this was done for the fireplaces. The initial cost for doing this may be expensive. Over time it will pay for itself in heating costs.
Wood Burning Stoves
I know people who have installed these in there homes because they didn’t want to use propane to warm their homes. Others have installed them in their garages to heat it so they didn’t have to open the heating vents to warm the garage. They did this when they were out working on projects. They did notice a slight dip in their heating bills because the warmth of the wood burning stove heated part of the house near their attached garage.
If you plan to install a wood burning stove, there are some things you will need to look into. One thing is your home owner’s insurance. See if your home owner’s insurance covers a wood burning stove. If not, ask about upping the coverage or if the insurance company covers this.
Check with local laws for installing one. Some places may have regulations on whether they are allowed or who has to install them. This may also include inspections from your county and insurance company to make sure the installation is up to snuff. I know in the county I live in permits are required for this type of thing; along with the other things mentioned.
These have become more popular for those looking to heat their home for cheaper. Pellet stoves require installation like a wood burning stove. The pellet stoves can range in price from
The pellets run from $5-$13 a bag depending on where bought. I had worked a farm and home store where pellets were sold. The pellets ran on the low end of the price range. Some were buying the pellets by the pallet. Others would buy a few bags at a time because there normal source were out. Those people bought by the ton from a company who would deliver for $250 a ton.
Talking with those who were buying the pellets often said their stoves would keep 90% of their home warm in conjunction with the heater fan running. They had rooms that weren’t as warm as the others. They said those rooms were chilly and couldn’t stand being in there for long periods of time during the day.
A few also said those rooms were a bedroom in the back of the house. At night they would use an electric blanket or heating pad to stay warm while sleeping. That was due to the room temperature was like being outside on a spring morning when the temperature was around 60 degrees.
The upside to this insurance companies would be preferred those to be installed over wood burning stoves in the area of Kansas I live in. I had called my home insurance company and asked about both types of stoves. The agent told me the insurance company preferred the wood pellet stoves because of the safety factor over wood burning stoves and fire places.
Sources
Joe Montstaff Writer – TheStreet.com; How to Heat Your Home for Free (or Profit); Yahoo Finance
