More Wood Heat

The fireplace installer was out today to measure our existing fireplace to make sure we can install the new high efficiency insert.

The good news is that it will fit, and we won't have to extend the hearth or do any other expensive additional work. The only bad news is that we'll need a bit of custom fitting, which will add a couple hundred dollars to the price.

The bad news is that the wait from the manufacturer is purported to be 30-60 days to get the insert delivered. That means it could be mid-December before we have this baby up and running. Depending on the weather, that could mean we won't have this for a significant fraction of this year's heating season.

Apparently we're not the only ones planning to heat with wood this year.

On the other hand, if we're blessed with a warm autumn, and the insert gets here in 30 days instead of 60, there's still a chance we can get the wood burner installed before we have to turn on the main furnace.

So far we've managed to keep the heat off, mainly through the judicious use of electric blankets, and the occasional admission to She Who Puts Up With Me (truly she is) that, yes, I'm not being entirely rational when I don't want to turn the furnace on even though the house is 55 degrees.

Fortunately we've only had one brief cold spell so far (down to about 30 degrees outside two nights in a row), and 55 degrees is the chilliest the house has gotten. You can get used to the house being that cold, but it certainly isn't as comfortable as 72. It helps that most of the week we're simply not home and awake, and an electric blanket can make even a very cold house quite pleasant for sleeping.

Since then, the weather has been warmer, and the house has been a fairly constant 65 degrees or so. Later this week, it may actually get up to 70 degrees outside with sunshine, and every warm day is a day closer to when we'll be able to start using wood heat.

Firewood Procurement Update: Right now, I've got somewhere between 1.5 and 2 cords of firewood up by the house, of which about half has been split. At least another cord remains in the backyard near the pond, though much of that is still sitting in the water from our recent torrential rains. My priority right now is moving as much wood from the backyard to near the house, since once the ground freezes I won't be able to move it up the steep hill. I can split it later.

With the late installation date for the fireplace insert, our wood needs will be correspondingly less. So I'm more confident that I'll be able to stock enough firewood for the winter.