Burning Wood

There’s nothing quite so homey as a wood burning stove.  Unlike the on/off cycle of a forced air furnace, wood heat radiates continuously. When you’re cold stand near, if you’re hot move away - something pleasantly simple in that idea. They don’t require electricity to run. Fuel can be stored in your yard. It doesn't have to be buried in underground pipes, delivered by a large tank truck, or run through electrical lines. It works in a power outage. 

Our wood stove is the center of our home. I hang my bread rising bowl in a net bag on a beam above the stove for its first rising. I heat tortillas on its surface. I dry mittens and boots behind it. I make pot roasts, stews, curries, and dog food on it all winter. It’s like having a non-electric slow-cooker going all the time. And, it keeps us toasty warm!

Having lived with a wood burning stove for 45 years I would not like to be without one. I’m never really warm in a house that relies solely on a forced air furnace. And in the north a wood stove back-up (or an efficient fireplace) is not just a pleasant luxury, it’s a matter of safety. Propane jells at -40 and can stop flowing to your house. Furnaces require electricity to run and power outages do happen. Shivering while indoors with your winter boots and coat on, freezing water pipes…not my idea of fun.

A wood stove is like an old friend. You have to get to know all sides of its character. Each has its own personality, its own quirks that must be recognized and respected if you want a good steady fire. Stove manufacturers must follow safety and emission regulations. You can get older ones with no rating but, if you value your life, the environment, and/or want home insurance, you need to buy an approved stove and have it properly installed. For 12 years we lived with no electricity or running water and a variety of wood stoves. I had an old Empire cook stove with a water jacket on the side which was invaluable to me. Always having hot water on hand was great as was its large oven that baked everything at 400F. For heat we had tin air-tights and a beefed up version of the same with a thermostat and cast iron top called an Ashley. We eventually purchased a propane space heater for the living room and a small cooking stove for the kitchen called a Baker’s Oven. This stove, developed in Australia, makes the kitchen toasty warm but I wouldn’t want to rely on this size and style of stove as my only source of heat. The fire box is short (10”) and none too tall either so keeping it going overnight can be a challenge, especially in really cold weather. Wood burns faster in cold weather, even with the damper and air intake shut - something about the atmospheric pressure???

The oven is on the bottom. I use it seldom because it’s hard to regulate the heat and is small, holding only 2 loaves of bread at a time. But it’s there and can be used in an emergency (no gas, no electricity, no money?), so in my mind it’s well worth having.

If it’s cold and I want to keep the fire burning overnight I try to put one or two large diameter logs on a good bed of coals and fill all the remaining space in the fire box with smaller pieces. If it’s really cold (remember, wood burns faster when it’s cold) it needs stoking in the middle of the night. A healthy glass of water before bed generally ensures a visit to the bathroom and a fire stoking opportunity. There are woods that burn hotter and slower too. It’s nice to have a bit of local birch or tamarack on hand for colder than -30C nights. If it’s warmer I just stoke the fire before bed and let it go out.

Ours is a northern home. Everything that could be damaged by freezing is by intention on the kitchen side. Water lines are located in interior walls. The spare bedroom is above the kitchen. If the world fell apart we would not have to depend on propane delivery to survive. We could close off the living room/bedroom side of our house and live on the kitchen side. Or we could install a wood heater in the living room. For me this is comforting. I guess I am a bit of a survivalist. I also seem to find a stash of jarred, dried, and canned food comforting, along with a fair amount of dried beans, rice, flour, and sugar, and a cellar stocked with plenty of root vegetables.

We currently have12 dogs! The growing guardian pups are consuming unbelievable amounts of food. At 10 weeks they weigh about 10kg and each are eating more than 4 cups of dog food daily. We have good friends who provide us with butchering scraps from their deer hunting so I supplement commercial dog food with doggy stew. There’s a big pot of it bubbling away on my wood stove right now. And I am nice and warm as I tap the keys on my iPad.