Guess what I did?
I'm working on my next post regarding debt and options, but it's not ready yet. I DID want to share what I managed to accomplish today, though.
I cooked/heated our entire supper on the wood stove today! Our stove doesn't look like the cool one at right, though. There wasn't much surface area and the entire top was the same temperature, but I still did it!
We had 32 Bean soup to which I added a can of diced tomatoes. I had some ham slices in the freezer that I sauteed on the wood stove and then added to the soup. It simmered for several hours, wafting that lovely comfort food smell all over the house.
I warmed some rolls on the top as well, and supper was served.
How's that for a little taste of self-sufficiency? Nary a kilowatt was used in the production of this meal!
4 comments:
Roxanne, can you husband do plumbing? Is it legal to do without hiring a licensed plumber? I think it is time to post about heating water with the wood stove. :)
Definitely an interest. Could you give a quick summary of what that would involve?
Quick explanation: Your wood stove would have a coil of (heavy duty) pipes welded on the inside. Fresh water goes in the stove and is heated in the pipes. The heated water is stored in a hot water heater. The hot water heater is turned on, but all it has to do is maintain the heat. (Also, if you are gone a few days, you come home to hot water.)
When we did this, our electric bill dropped to almost nothing. (Everything was electric - no gas or oil.) I used the electric stove top and oven. Of course, we didn't use a clothes dryer. (Even after I got a dryer, I only used it for the heavy stuff.) The clothes were dried by the stove. We didn't have to use heat in any room except our little guy's bedroom and the bathroom when we bathed. Usually, we only had to do that when it was down around zero or the wind was blowing really hard.
I used the dishwasher, but never had to use the extra heat setting. I could wash the clothes in warm water. I never ran out of hot water, either.
Hope this helps. I'll try to get my husband to post the details, or he could email anyone who is interested.
PS: Of course, this only works when it is cold enough to have a fire going in the stove. But since that is seven to nine months out of the year here, that can make a huge difference in the savings.
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