On 2/24/2017 2:47 PM, Bruce wrote:

>>
>> No guessing game. Ed lives in a climate similar to that of many North
>> Americans and Europeans. We pay to heat our houses. The heat that
>> radiated from ovens and stoves helps to heat the rest of the house. It
>> is not being wasted. Around here, that would apply just about any time
>>from October through to April.
>
> Oh, come on. If you want to heat your house, you don't turn to your
> overn or stove. Dsi1 is right that heating up the cook and the kitchen
> is a waste. Same with a light bulb. it would be best if all its energy
> went into creating light, not heat. Even in winter.
>

Heat is heat, no matter the source. Sure, some systems are more
efficient or more cost effective, but in the winter the heat from the
stove is not wasted, it just makes less work for the central heating system.

Back about a hundred+ years the kitchen stove often was the only heat
source in a house. My one grandmother had a coal fired stove. Family
members would out a brick on the stove to heat and then put it in the
bed for heat at night.

It may be wasted in the warmer weather, but when it is cold outside, any
heat is good. Your body puts out about 350 Btu/hour. Keeps you warm
under a blanket.