Keeping Warm

Like most houses built now-a-days, we have a heat pump / furnace to warm our home.  Since we also have about thirty acres of woods it made sense to make use of all that potential "free" firewood and decided to install a wood burning stove a few yeas ago.  

The stove is located upstairs and keeps the main level of the home toasty warm in the winter.  We have two problem areas though, and one is the master bathroom.  The heat just doesn’t make it there and boy, can it get nippy!  Showering in the winter is almost like running a sprint race; jump out of the shower and grab a towel while running out of the bathroom, avoiding the cat-hurdles and through the bedroom in order to position oneself directly in front of the stove to warm up.  Be careful not to singe anything!  (I’ll let you use your imagination on this one)

The other problem area is the basement.  During the coldest times of the year, one only goes downstairs to get things absolutely necessary, usually after donning a pair of socks, slippers, mittens and scarf.  Good for pantry storage items, not so good for anything else. 

We normally wouldn’t care too much as we never really spent much time in the basement, but Rhiannon has finally moved into her own room - downstairs.  So now we are faced with making a decision on how we are going to keep the basement, and Rhiannon, warm this winter. 

We have several options: 
A - Run the furnace during the winter. 
B - Install another wood stove in the basement. 
C - Install an outdoor whole-house wood furnace.   
D - Bundle Rhiannon up like Na’nook of the North, pile down comforters on top of her and stuff the cats under the blankets to keep her feet warm. 
E - Install a propane fueled heater in her bedroom.

A - Running the furnace will mean that we will be unable to use the woodstove upstairs.  We only have one zone heating (meaning there is only one thermostat and only takes into consideration the temps upstairs) so if we had the wood stove going, the thermostat would never kick on the furnace  heat.  I’ve thought about just using the “fan” mode on the HVAC system thinking it would circulate the hot air down to the basement, but I don’t think the stove is putting out enough heat to do that.

B - We could install another wood stove, but we’d have to pipe the chimney up through the basement ceiling, through the first floor, then out the roof.  Too many holes in the house as it is and there really isn’t a good place for us to run the chimney without interfering with existing structures on the first floor.

C - Paul has looked into the outdoor wood furnaces and he’s not too keen on the efficiency ratings.  And that fact that it would cost a big ol' chunk of change for it and the additional installation hassle to hook it up to our already existing HVAC system.  I was really hoping for this option though as it would also be able to heat our water.

D - As much as I think Rhiannon would look cute as a button bundled up like an Eskimo, I’m not sure she’d be too keen on the idea.  And three cats wouldn't be enough to keep her warm.

E - So that leaves us with one other option to look into; the propane heater.  We don’t have a propane tank, nor any hookups so not only would we have to plumb the heater(s) for it, but we’d have to buy the heater(s) themselves, the tank to store the propane, and the propane itself.  Although, we’ve been wanting another source of fuel and as much as I dislike having to depend on another company to provide us with something, it may be the best option.  It also means that we could get a propane stove for the kitchen.  I don’t mind the electric oven, but I hate the electric range and a gas range would be awesome.  It would also mean that we would have three ways to heat the house; electric, propane and wood.  Nothing like having lots of options!

So now I have to ask my blogosphere friends a question.  For those of you that heat with propane, what type of system do you have, and if you’ve heated with propane and another source, how did it compare? 

Until then, if it cools off before we've made a decision, I think we'd better get a few more cats to keep Rhiannon warm.

Paul's Take
I will kill her if she gets any more cats.  And a jury of my peers would not convict me.  They could read this blog as evidence, let me off a free man, and probably ask me how I managed to live this long with her.