An essential part to being semi-comfortable over winter is a heat source. Being off grid with acreage its a no brainer to use wood.
With a good amount chopped last year it didnt take long to fill up
the wood shed. The purists will say burn only specific hardwoods. Im burning everything cause I can. The property has a lot of standing dead along with toppled over dead trees. In an effort to clean things up as the forest grows, I find that balsam is the majority. It burns hot but short. Itll do. The real challenge is what to burn it in. Craigslist to the rescue.
It isnt pretty but I always put in the extra labor to save money because as they say, a penny saved is a penny earned. Truly I find great enjoyment on learning, fixing and rebuilding things, not so much as just being frugal. The stove is a Reginald 102, last imported from Ireland in 1977. I was on the prowl for a Jotul 118 but the name drives a much higher price. The 102 is the same design, long firebox with a "cigar burn" style. As seen here:
I like the idea of having a 24" firebox. No its not wide but the timber on my land is not very mature so being able to burn longer thin sticks is highly desireable. We'll see how winter goes. With some wire wheel grinding, new paint and gaskets I really like it. Completely oversized for our square footage too!
If it doesnt work then Ill deal with it then. The rocket stove craze has recently caught my eye and I may abandon the woodstove completely. Thats another story though.
