We have always heated our home with a free standing wood stove for the past 50+ years. We have had a most efficient Buck stove for over 40 years (we upgraded to a larger one about 40 years ago). Our home is almost 6000 Sq feet with most living quarters on first and second floor (3500+ Sq ft) and some rooms in the basement. Our electric bill in the winter runs around $200 a month while our neighbors this year with smaller homes are paying $700-1000 a month. We cook with electric. We have a backup electric heat pump that will kick on if the first floor gets below 65 degrees, which it hardly ever does. We have a fan at the top of the stairs that blows down warm air from the upstairs and also keep all rooms up there closed when not in use. I have a vascular disease and have always been cold, so I cannot tolerate below 70, and much prefer 80 as my hands will not work well at temperatures below 75.
We have always heated our home with a free standing wood stove for the past 50+ years. We have had a most efficient Buck stove for over 40 years (we upgraded to a larger one about 40 years ago). Our home is almost 6000 Sq feet with most living quarters on first and second floor (3500+ Sq ft) and some rooms in the basement. Our electric bill in the winter runs around $200 a month while our neighbors this year with smaller homes are paying $700-1000 a month. We cook with electric. We have a backup electric heat pump that will kick on if the first floor gets below 65 degrees, which it hardly ever does. We have a fan at the top of the stairs that blows down warm air from the upstairs and also keep all rooms up there closed when not in use. I have a vascular disease and have always been cold, so I cannot tolerate below 70, and much prefer 80 as my hands will not work well at temperatures below 75.