See, I heat my house primarily with wood....
(I have a forced air gas furnace, but I mostly don't use it)
My woodstove also has forced air....it is quite efficient. However, there is a minimum size one can build a fire at, below which the woodstove doesn't really heat the house well....and in these warm weather days like we have had this winter, I cannot get decent heat using the woodstove. Actually, the woodstove heats too well, and when it is 32 or 35 F outside, when heating with the woodstove it is easy to get interior temperatures about 75 or 77 F.....Too hot for me to be comfortable. The issue is that one cannot turn the wood fire on and off like a gas flame....once lit, it can only be dampered (throttled) to a minimum level before going out....and often that level is too high to just heat the house to a comfortable level.
So I run the gas furnace to heat the house to 68 or 70. (Instead of 75 or more)
So, oddly enough, when it is too warm in the winter, I have to burn more gas and less wood. Therefore when it is warmer, my gas bill will be higher than normal...I use so little gas in the winter (normally) that three times in the past 20 years the gas company has come out to check the meter and the installation to see if it is defective or I am bypassing it or otherwise stealing gas, as my gas consumption during the winter months is about 20% of normal for houses of the size and age mine is...
Yeah, I know, first world problems and all that.
Still and all, I am glad it has been a warm(ish) winter so far.
(I have a forced air gas furnace, but I mostly don't use it)
My woodstove also has forced air....it is quite efficient. However, there is a minimum size one can build a fire at, below which the woodstove doesn't really heat the house well....and in these warm weather days like we have had this winter, I cannot get decent heat using the woodstove. Actually, the woodstove heats too well, and when it is 32 or 35 F outside, when heating with the woodstove it is easy to get interior temperatures about 75 or 77 F.....Too hot for me to be comfortable. The issue is that one cannot turn the wood fire on and off like a gas flame....once lit, it can only be dampered (throttled) to a minimum level before going out....and often that level is too high to just heat the house to a comfortable level.
So I run the gas furnace to heat the house to 68 or 70. (Instead of 75 or more)
So, oddly enough, when it is too warm in the winter, I have to burn more gas and less wood. Therefore when it is warmer, my gas bill will be higher than normal...I use so little gas in the winter (normally) that three times in the past 20 years the gas company has come out to check the meter and the installation to see if it is defective or I am bypassing it or otherwise stealing gas, as my gas consumption during the winter months is about 20% of normal for houses of the size and age mine is...
Yeah, I know, first world problems and all that.
Still and all, I am glad it has been a warm(ish) winter so far.
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