Richard Kaszeta > wrote in
:

> Andy > writes:
>> Thanks to the high winds in the northeast, most everybody lost power
>> today. Couldn't do much other than tuna salad. Dinner in the dark.
>>
>> Now I remember why electric stoves/ovens suck!
>
> I live in rural NH, and having the power go out isn't uncommon, and
> having it go out for a few days has happened more than once. That's
> one of the reasons that I have a big wood stove[1], so that when we
> completely lose power I can still have a nice warm house to sit in.
> The range still works without power (albeit hand-lit), as does the
> water heater. Alas, the oven doesn't work, and once the 60 gallon
> pressure bladder on the well pump empties I have to run the generator
> to refill it.
>
> Heck, a few years back a huge ice storm took out power mid-winter for
> more than a week...
>
> [1] other reasons being that I like have a nice wood fire to watch,
> and that up here firewood is fairly cost competitive to propane and
> fuel oil if you are willing to put up with the splitting and
> stacking...


Richard,

At the family farm, we had a wood burning cooking stove. Didn't do much
to heat the house though.

A neighbor has a wood burning heating system. I can smell it outside on
occasion and the aroma is wonderful!

My fireplaces aren't much use as far as heating goes. Rather they suck
the heat up the chimney.

Andy