Winter Heating

Although I live in North Carolina, I'm in the mountains where it can get very cold in the winter. This winter has been especially nasty, with over 80 inches of snow this season. We have had ice storms and blizzards this year that have done tremendous damage to the area. The worst ice storm this season was during Christmas; three counties were in a state of emergency with power outages all over for 2-4 days. In the aftermath of this storm my husband has spent many hours collecting downed trees for us to use as firewood.

Many people might think heating with wood instead of fossil fuels is still bad for the environment. Considering that all of the wood we heat our house with is storm damage or dead trees that could fall and damage our home, we believe that heating our home this way is much better for the environment. As trees die, they begin to release all of the carbon they have been storing into the atmosphere. Why not harness the energy of the trees instead of letting them rot? All that carbon will be released anyway!

Now, to be honest, we live in an older home that is not insulated well, so we do have to use a small amount of oil to help keep our house 'comfortable', especially when the wind is gusting over 60 mph! We have had warmer temperatures for the last week or so, and our oil heat has only been used at night, once the sun is no longer helping to warm the house. The oil heat has not been used at all in the last 36 hours or so, which is helping us to save money!