The first heating bill I received when heating my home with electric heat was a shocking $300.00 for less than 2 months. The weather had not been bitterly cold, so there is no way I could continue to heat my home using electricity.

While visiting a local hardware store I got an idea. I would try the most economical and basic form of heating system possible. I would have a wood heater installed in my entrance room. There was a cute little heater, available for $500.00. The store manager agreed to deliver the heater, so that took care of the transportation problem. I checked with a furnace servicing company who also installed heating systems, and got an estimate for installing the heater. The heater was delivered without any hassle.

A few days later the furnace installation people came to install my new heater. Having checked on where I wanted to have it installed in the room, they first laid down a metal covered piece of plywood about 3 feet square. This was to protect the floor against extreme heat and fire damage. They squared it all up and positioned the heater on top of the metal floor protector base. They measured and calculated where to make the hole in the ceiling and roof for the stove pipe, coupling box, and chimney to go through. Then the sawing began. It didn't take long before there was a hole in the roof, and ceiling through which the base of a metal chimney was poking.

A heat dissipation, coupling box was mounted in the ceiling and connected to the chimney. This device would spread out and radiate the heat from the stove pipe which was mounted to the bottom of the box and the chimney. The heater was tipped back a little and the stove pipe was squeezed into the collar hole, coming out of the center of the heater. Again every thing was squared up and checked for level. Before the workmen left, I used some wood pieces I had stored for that purpose and lit a small fire in the heater to test it out. Through the window in the heater's door one could see the fire burning merrily along. The heater gave off that new, not yet broken in smell, as the first heat released whatever the factory had applied to the metal surfaces of the heater. That smell dissipated after a few moments. There were no smoke leaks and everything looked like it was working well.

The heater is designed to be super efficient. There is a chamber above the fire box where the smoke is mixed with oxygenated air to allow any wood gasses to be reburned. This also has the effect of reducing the amount of smoke emissions expelled by the heater. When the fire has started burning properly, and is producing heat, you can see the distortion of heat in the air coming from the chimney, but no smoke.

During the 7 years I have used the wood heater, it has paid for itself several times over, compared to what I would have spent on electricity over that time. The bonus is, I have dependable heat, even if there is a power black out. The nice part is, that wood heat gives off a special rosy warmth, a comfortable homey sort of heat, that cannot be surpassed.