by toivo » Sun Dec 16, 2018 8:33 pm
never heard of a 'stere' before. we laid up 8 cords last winter and ran out, having to cut down standing dead ash trees in the backyard to heat the cabin. this year we got 10 cords into the woodshed and that may run out too.it is a kind of desperate feeling to start running out of firewood midwinter
there is no beating a good stove that gets double combustion, burning the smoke before it goes up the chimney. we've got a mason stove, so an insert and a stone and masonry fireplace in the middle of the house, with its own foundation, that takes a couple of days to heat up, but is very even heat when it does. the fire burns all night when it is shut down, no need for matches in the morning.
with the guest house and sauna, 3 fires can take up most of one's day keeping them burning. when the snow is gone come may it is nice to nap on the bare ground in the sun, not having to move so much to stay warm.