If it does, I am not bothered. We have saved $1k so far already and its only mid Jan. As for the H&S risk, theres a risk with most forms of heating, our gas boiler in our UK house was deemed condemed, bless its heart.

Are they different to the ones in the UK then, because everyone and his wife seem to be fitting them at the moment? I know they always have this huge slab that they sit on and they are all sealed up and the blurb that my father got made no mention of the whole house ending up in flames or lungs like a welsh miners for that matter. Did mention 80% heat recovery though, perhaps they feel that would compensate.

I wouldn’t go as far as lungs of welsh miners, but they’re not great if you have respiratory issues and after a while the pleasant smell become an annoying stink you can’t get rid of, a bit like an old ash tray or an old coal fire..

Given the amount of insulation I found in the stove and in the chimney I think 80% heat recovery may be for a more elaborate wood burning furnace rather than for this type of stove..

My uncle in the UK has a wood burning fire/furnace with back boiler and heat exchanger for maximum recovery, it’s a lot different that anything I’ve ever seen over here, it doesn’t emit any smells and pulls in external air to burn.

Most of the stoves here pull in air from inside the room, some goes into the combustion chamber and some routes around the outside to heat up the room, they do smell as a small percentage of the combustion fumes will enter the room, and the bulk of the heat goes up the chimney just like an old coal fire..

Ahhh, I think that the one that my father has, although I dont think it is attached to a back boiler, is one of the heat exchanger ones. I know that his whole house is toasty warm whenever he has it on and it definitely doesn't smell of anything, which I thought was a bit of a downside to be honest, but then anything that would mask the smell of wet Newfoundlands would be a welcome addition to my front room.

Thats an interesting perspective, the two families that do run the wood fire that we know, one has two big labs that spend a lot of time outdoors (and are wet and smelly, but fun) and the other family smokes

I think any heating is down to personal preference and available budget. My understanding is that any H&S risk is reduced by using the stove correctly rather like driving a car.
I prefer our wood stove for the heat and it meets our budget for heating our house. Splitting all the cut wood that was dumped on our driveway and then stacking it last August was rather fun and a workout to boot. We look forward to the next time.
I have a few friends that are spending extortionate amounts on oil and electric heat, I am glad that we dont have that cost to contend with. And no, we dont smoke MikeUK

We used wood only for first winter. By the end vowed never again. Too much hassle and we were still always freezing (nothing would of kept that house warm anyway). Now I am thinking of buying a wood stove to supplement the oil. Bit more hassle, bit less cost is the plan.

Ahh I am guilty on both counts, which probably explains my natural affinity with wood stoves. I cannot believe that oil is cheaper to run over there, at one point last winter we were paying 70p per litre for our oil, if I wasn't so nesh I would have refused to fill up on principle. Fortunately for the children I like my creature comforts, so I paid for the delivery and just grumbled...a lot...

Why did you have wood dumped on your driveway? Was it a gift from your neighbours? What a fantastic way to get rid of teenage temper tantrums, chopping and stacking wood has multiple benefits. I wonder whether it would rank above or below clearing up the dog poo the list of 'jobs that mum makes us do to ruin our lives' ?

How much is oil/electric over there?

It was dumped on there as thats the way they delivered it, up to us to move it where we so desired. No idea on oil except that one of my friends was paying $100 a week to heat their house with oil. Its a little house but not very well insulated. That was before it got really cold too.

<wonders how else, say three cords, of firewood might arrive>

Through the post, a log at a time?

I would soooo be investing in a very large woodshed that they could reverse said van into. The idea of having to hoik that lot every couple of weeks in the snow would be the source of much lively debate within the family unit!

There again how much wood do you use? How big a pile is it? How often do they deliver?

Perchance with a couple of deliveries a day when it is cold, how civilised.

I burned four cords a winter to heat an extremely energy efficient house using only wood. I'd have two cords delivered at a time, ready split, and it would take four evenings, maybe 9 hours, to pick up the pieces, put them in the tractor bucket, drive them around the back and stack them for easy reach from inside.

I don't think it matters where the logs are delivered, they'll still need moving somewhere.

Oil here $1.03 / Litre. A couple of years ago it was aboev $1.20 / Litre. Heating costs for average sized houses seem to run circa $300 a month. (Elec, Oil, Gas, Wood etc)

Wood does give a redundant source of heating if the power goes out. That's likely more a consideration for the more rural dweller.

I'd heat with wood if the design of our house permitted but we really have nowhere to put a stove.

Pellet stoves are increasingly popular here. Bags of pellets run $5.99 each. No idea how long one lasts.