Firewood Gives You Freedom - Cooking & Heating

With the cold snap gone it's worth evaluating what went well and what didn't. 

I like to also think what would happen if the power got switched off and water pipes froze? Remember that help often takes a long time to come from some service providers (they've been "fixing" a leaking gas main down our road for over a year now...). Maybe would be left without heat, as it is many are worried about the cost of their heating and having it on less as a result. 

When I put in our wood fired range it did feel like a bit of an extravagance. It was a lot of money at the time and created a huge amount of work with the fireplace alterations. 

But I wanted to be able to heat this house off grid and have the ability to cook off grid as well. 

Our both our wood burning stoves (we have a 5kw Clearview in the living room) running it means the house stays warm even when it's as low as minus 10 outside. They're not linked to our heating system however and so upstairs can take a bit longer to warm up, but if we keep them running then the whole house becomes toasty in very little time. 

Our wood fired range also gives us the ability to cook as well. The plates on top are easy to use, although the oven has taken a bit more time to learn (I think I'm getting it now). You have to time when you bank the fire up in time with when you cook, even down to the type of wood you up on the fire (moving away from cedar to the oak and ash we have mixed in the shed). 

Cooking times are different, the rolls I make every other day take 23 minutes in the pre warmed electric oven, in the wood oven the other night they took 44 minutes and needed turning once during cooking so they browned evenly. 

Jacket potatoes take longer but will happily sit there longer when cooked as well, things are more likely to brown on one side. But it's simple enough to learn, like anything it just takes practice.

I often get asked about where I buy my firewood and so far I've never bought any. My brother used to be a tree surgeon and has brought us lots over the years, I produce a bin or two of wood offcuts every week of the year from my work as a carpenter and woodworker. We also have trees and branches fall, as does my father on his farm, I have many to cut at his this next year to plan for future years firewood.

I love the cycle of collecting wood for future heat and comfort. I love the kids getting the door for me as I come in with an armful of logs, I even love the effort and time needed to produce that heat, it makes me thankful in a way that switching a switch or turning a dial doesn't. 

It also means that the power going out, or skyrocketing fuel prices don't hit us quite as hard (although obviously have an impact). 

Who else loves their wood heat as much as me?