Five years ago my husband and I bought our home together in Wantage NJ.  Those of you not familiar with NJ might think that it is one big turnpike with factories spewing out toxins into the air.  There is a small part of NJ that looks like that and unfortunately the entire state gets a bad rap for it.  But there is a reason that its called the Garden State and I believe that is found no where more than in Sussex County where I live.  We have woods all around our yard that is a little over 1/2 acre and a family of groundhogs that live under the shed.  There are many farms around us which is becoming a rare site in NJ these days.  We live on a lake and have beautiful views year round. 

The only bad side is our house is a small bungalow that needed lots of fixing up, and five years later we still have quite a to-do list….I say “we” meaning my husband.  But one of the best investments we made was to buy a wood burning stove to heat our home.  Its a small home so the stove heats it up more than enough, in fact there are quite a few nights in the winter we are sitting in tank tops because it went all day and was so hot!   

When I went out on maternity leave and had our son in January of 2007, we went from a two income family to one.  NJ is one of the highest for auto insurance and taxes so we knew we would have to adjust to less money.  Since I was home all day we decided to try to heat our home mainly on the stove for the first time.  With a tank of oil costing us over $600 it seemed like a nice addition to our newly frugal lifestyle.  My husband got wood from a lot that our friend’s parents had cleared for a new structure.  It worked out great and last year we only went through one tank of oil instead of our usual four-five tanks per season. 

This year in 2008 winter we plan to do all wood burning with no oil at all.  We are not sure if it will work totally but we are willing to try.  I hate supporting the oil industry anyway and it feels good to heat your home and know you aren’t contributing to them.  I love walking outside in the snow and smelling that burnt wood smell in the morning air. 

We plan on using a space heater for a few hours a day if needed to keep our pipes in the basement from freezing.  I will let you know how it all turns out in the end.  If you don’t have a wood burning stove then you should consider it for your home.  Its the best of living frugal, green, and warm!

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7-15-08  Let me just add for anyone concerned about cutting down trees that we have not cut down any live trees in the four years we have used a wood burning stove.  If you don’t know anyone that has wood they are getting rid of then there are many options.  The state park by our house lets you buy a permit for $15 and you can go there and load up as many fallen trees and wood as you can put in your truck.  It helps clear the paths at the park and help new growth develop so its win win.  Also my husband works by the city and since many people outside the city don’t have wood burning stoves when a tree is cut down because its dead or whatever the situation, many times they are thrilled to get rid of it for free and give it to us as long as we haul it away.  In the small amount of woods on our property there are always fallen trees that have died or fallen from a storm.  Each year we can get quite a bit of wood from just clearing the fallen debris from our property. 

I think choosing wood burning over oil or propane is still a greener choice and affordable.  I would love to have geothermal or solar energy heating my home but I don’t have thousands to put out for that right now.  Maybe some day in the future I can hope!