I was thinking contractor, it pays a helluva lot better and you it's only a one year deal.

As long as you manage to keep your head on.

In the UK we had a cast iron coal burning stove. We lit it in Oct and it didn't go out until the Spring. It was fantastic.
We wanted a similar thing here but couldn't find one and also had problems finding coal...in PA!. The few places that did sell coal didn't deliver and we had no way of moving large quantities.
We bought a wood burning stove and it's OK but not as hot and I feel as though I am always throwing more wood on.

coz you'll look even sillier without it sorry couldn't resist that

What kind of wood are you burning? I ask because the old farmhouse we lived in for 5 years had a wood burning furnace AND a wood stove in the kitchen. I don't remember the furnace needing to be stoked much or the kitchen stove either.

Locust, if we ask for it. Otherwise I'm not sure.
I think it seems like we are always throwing logs on because we only put coal on the UK stove twice a day.
We have just had a locust tree chopped down so, once the wood has seasoned, we have a whole tree to burn!

That's a pretty good dense wood if it's a black locust. Hickory I think is one if not the top one for denseness.

We have found (perhaps obviously) that there is a huge variance in the quality of heat/burn depending upon the quality of the wood. We burn all hardwood, mostly oak, but wood that isn't fully seasoned just kind of smolders and doesn't put off much heat. I know I have seen multi fuel (Coal/wood) stoves, in fact I think mine is able to burn coal. As for a source of coal though, I have no idea.

This is the best site I have found with a TON of information on pellet/corn/wood and coal burning. It also has a huge datbase of questions/answers and links to everything imaginable having to do with stoves/fireplaces. http://www.hearth.com/

EDIT: This looks like a relevant wood/coal thread in the forum there: http://www.hearth.com/econtent/index...ewthread/7903/

I got used to just turning my small wall gas heaters on in the UK in the Fall...and leaving them on till spring....75 pounds to heat the house all winter...that was with a real flame gas fire in the living room..I came here my first monthy bill was $300...gas heating again...that was 8 years ago...I like both my real log fireplace and my log stove...but I never thought we'd have to use them to keep warm...its not much cheaper than the gas heating...but a lot warmer...I remember my nan getting up early every morning to light the coal fires in the bedrooms when I was 5...I thought I'd left that kind of life behind...so to me its like going backwards in time...