On Heating A Big Old House

Photo 1: School room fireplace with heater and cover panel removed - it is HUGE !!

Photo 2: Chimney Professional cleaning up his tools after the insert was installed.

The Maiden Fire in the insert - tools and wood at the ready. We cannot believe how pretty the fireplace looks with the insert, and without the old gas heater. WOW ! And we also were shocked at how toasty warm this room was in just a short while !!

We are blessed to live in a beautiful OLD house with a lot of history (used as a hospital during the Civil War). And it is a GIANT house with plenty of outside space as well, which is great for our large family .... until HEAT becomes necessary.

When we moved in, there was a 15-20yo vented gas heater (vented through one of the fireplaces) in our school room. On a few chilly days earlier this month, we fired it up after spending $$ for a 1/4 tank of propane (YIKES !) ... and it BARELY kept the front 2 rooms warm, warm being an understatement. Friends who lived in this house for quite a few years previously heated with kerosene, but I am too afraid to use that because I have a relative who was nearly killed as a result of a malfunctioning kerosene heater in the middle of the night. Then we tried a few models of electric heaters, but none made even a "dent" in these big rooms.

So the search was on for a warmer, more efficient, less expensive way to keep this house warm.

We decided on a woodburning insert as STEP 1, and then of course we spoke to the owners of the house to gain permission. Then we started getting estimates from a few Chimney companies, and started researching woodburning insert options.

Next - the "ordering" began ...

We had 2 1/2 cords of good firewood delivered last Wednesday, to be stored in the old unused barn behind our house (another 2 1/2 cord load is coming early next week). And then the woodburning insert and chimney liner arrived last Thursday. Finally, the Chimney Professional we selected came on Tuesday (yesterday) to seal/repair the chimney, line it with steel, and to install our woodburning insert. It took nearly all day, but at last it was finished.

The Chimney Guy talked to all of us - about cleaning the chimney, safe woodburning, and such. He showed each child his trade-tools and explained his methods, and even talked to them about the history of the Chimney Sweep profession. It was very educational, to say the least !

On Tuesday evening we had our Maiden Fire .... to season the insert and to "learn" how to use it properly (with the windows open - it was warm, and the seasoning puts off some minor "fumes" as the paint cures on the insert). We have heated solely with wood before for a number of years, but with an actual woodstove rather than with an insert. So there is a minor learning curve.

Ahhhhhhhhhh - the heat - the house is definately warmer, and has that "toasty" feeling that only comes with wood heat. The children are thrilled, as is Mom who can now run the heat on HIGH 24/7 without concerns over "the bill". We will have to be careful when the weather is really cold, to keep the USED rooms warm and the UNUSED rooms closed off with the doors - but we are pretty sure that this insert will keep the temperature pretty pleasant in most of this HUGE house through the winter.

STEP 2: We plan to install a second woodburning appliance (probably an actual woodstove) next spring or summer into the second fireplace, but that project will have to wait for our savings to build a bit more first.

So, at last we are ready and we are thankful to God for sending warm temperatures until our project was finished. And now that everything is ready --- come on cold, come on snow --- we are "ready" now for winter.