Heating Tidbits

Where we live temperatures get low for winter and part of fall and spring and we can have lots of snow. So heating is needed.
We have made sure our house is well insulated and has no leaks. The house is designed in a way to utilize some sun during the cold time of the year and not overheating in summer, but instead staying cool by using passive methods. We have the entry door on the West side, opening into a sort of entry/mud room, which provides another buffer to the outside temperatures. We can control the airflow from the entry room into the house by opening and closing the door to the actual living space. This works pretty well.
Still, heating is needed. Our main source of heating is an interior wall-mounted gas hot air heater for the whole house, around 1500 sq-ft. We do have back up oil filled radiators running on electricity we use in the back bedrooms when needed.
Even though we live in town and have electricity as well as natural gas available to us, we decided some time ago to put in a small wood stove as a back up. There are many benefits, including being able to heat if there is a problem with the electricity, which is not uncommon in this our for a few hours and sometimes longer than that or if gas would not be delivered. That has not occurred yet. Another benefit is to that wood is a renewable source. Also, with the right stove, the flames can watched, making for wonderful, cozy evenings.
Firewood, harvested sustainable and managed correctly, is a great source of heat and has in my view only two main issues, assuming one uses the right stove and set up. One is that the indoor air can get pretty dry, which can be solved by putting a pot of water on the top of the stove or otherwise moisturize the air (hopefully by means not using nonrenewable energy sources) and the particulate matter. This can be addressed by the type of stove, burn temperature and filtering.

Like every heating method, there are of course intrinsic qualities that could be considered a benefit or a concern, like ensuring air exchange needs, organizing firewood, cleaning up, chimney management, etc.

Next time I will share my latest wood storage system.