I am not particularly good at handling cold weather. Probably something to do with being born and raised in tropical Africa, where we thought we would freeze to death if it got down to 32 degrees Fahrenheit.
A major disadvantage of growing up in a place like that is that one never learns how to dress for the cold. I had to live where it snowed in winter before I really started to understand what a difference layers can make. Also, after a lifetime of always having the windows open to let in the "fresh air" it is hard to sit in a totally closed up house.
I guess this is partly why I love our wood burning stove. During our nine year stay in southern California, we fired up the forced air once in a while, and when it got really cold by California standards, we lit a wood fire in one of the fireplaces in our house.
It was when we moved up into the mountains in Young, Arizona that I first experienced the joy of a wood stove. Surrounded by millions of acres of national forest, or a seasonal permit to cut and haul out any "dead and down" wood cost a grand total of $25. My husband spent days out in the middle of nowhere (in gorgeous country with forever views) with his chain saw and truck. The result was that our heating bull for the winter was $25. That's it.
When the temperatures dropped to freezing and below, that little stove kept us toasty and warm. The house sometimes became so hot that we had to open the windows, often during a snow storm. And when the power went out for three days we were warm and cozy.
Now we live in north Florida, where winter temperatures drop down into the twenties (Fahrenheit). Our house was minus a wood burning stove when we bought it, so we had to buy one, and it is worth every penny and much more. We live on large acreage with lots of trees, and now every winter my husband cuts and clears the dead and down trees on our own property. That means our heating bill is zero.
Sure, a wood burning stove is messy and has to be cleaned out every day, but I would not give it up for anything.
http://trishjax.hubpages.com/hub/Do-you-Need-a-Wood-Burning-Stove-this-Winter
