but most of our winter days are "no burn days" so it's rare that I actually get to use it. You can get an exemption if that's your only form of heating. About 4 or 5 years ago our house heater went out and we couldn't afford to get it fixed so we ordered a couple of cords of firewood and that and a space heater is what we used to heat the house all winter. One of my favorite things to do is curl up in front of the fireplace with a good book (which lasts for about 15 minutes before I start dozing off).

And I, too, had to heat the house with wood. After that, I thought that maybe I understood why our forefathers were so slim and many Americans are now so fat: it takes a lot of effort to heat a house with wood. The exercise I got during that time was very intense. Like you, though, I enjoyed it! There was something that gave me a good feeling about it--going out, retrieving the wood, nursing that fire in the fireplace.

I still have vivid images in my mind of the snowflakes coming down as we brought in the wood.


Cher

The wood and the breakfast!

Any time high pressure is sitting over us, the air quality district declares a Spare The Air Day. Most are in summer, of course, but a winter Spare The Air Day means burning wood is verboten.

edit: The presence of pecan in the mix also implies you're not out here. Pecan + mesquite = Texas?

They prune every year, ten foot long, straight, 4 to 10 inches diameter, stacked high in my 3/4 PU for $100.00.
Hard nut wood with straight grain for easy splitting.
No restrictions in my area.

Pecan is, after all, a species of hickory.

Some people prefer it, but for me hickory is still the most used smoking wood.

Many pecan groves here in coastal Alabama.
Always lots of fallen limbs I can just pick up for free.
Gives a nice flavor.

You can use most any nut or fruit wood.

They all have either LP or oil fired furnaces as a back up however. It takes a lot of firewood when the temperature routinely drops to -25° or lower.

http://www.rocketheater.com/

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rocket_mass_heater

http://ecozoomstove.com/

build your own --> https://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=rocket+stove

An aspect of wood burning that I learned:
In order for a fire to burn, it needs oxygen (duh) which is in the space of the house/room.
Doing so creates a vacuum deep enough to cause suffocation and the fire dies unless there are openings around doors/windows.
In which case cold outside air is sucked into the room.
Ideally one would bring outside air directly into the firebox with a vent hose.
Then as the fire burns it pressurizes the space, forcing warmed air out of the openings around doors/windows.
One could then 'direct' the warmth into a distant room simply by cracking a window slightly there as the heat pressure would find some way out.

Notice also the lack of smoke exiting the chimney flue from rocket types if you cruise those youtube vids.

Grampa got something out of that right-of-way deal, anyway!

the old wall heaters are circa 1940 and have pretty much given up the ghost. we use a lot of wood but the fireplace is so inefficient it can make the house colder if you don't build the fire practically out in front of it in the room!

I just bought one of those ventless heaters that isn't supposed to be used at this altitude. haven't hooked it up yet but I know someone up near Wickenburg that has one and they work great.


how I found out about the reality of the O2 sensor - http://www.democraticunderground.com/11583819

Once it gets below freezing then the furnace starts to kick in as well which is fine.

The upper level never gets very warm but since that's bedrooms, which is fine too since I love sleeping in a cool room. I have a space heater for the upstairs bathroom.

Love our wood stove!! We've got a lot of 150yr old oaks and we lose at least 2-3 every year so we have a LOT of firewood stacked.

My goal is to plant 100 trees on this farm before I die - I've put in 82 so far. 18 more to go...

Stay warm panadero!!

I'm hungry.

Memories of times when I was young and me went camping. Everything cooked over the fire. I remember how good everything smelled.
Nothing fancy, no exotic foods or spices. Just plain food and the wonderful pans. And guess what? I still have the pans. Would not trade them in for anything else.

Primitive cabins with woodstoves.
No electricity or plumbing.
I liked cooking breakfast on it.

The kind that snuck outside for a smoke.
Still an overgrown kid.