WTF?? Having a woodburning stove is suddenly a mark of extreme poverty?

[ohio_liberal]

I saved for two months and got myself a woodburning stove. I was so proud of myself and I thought I was being economical, smart even. I can't afford to pay $400/mo gas bills this year. Both of my ex-husbands (to my everlasting shame, I do have two of them) are "deeply concerned" that I don't have central heat and my children are going to, I dunno, freeze to death or get pneumonia this winter. I've been accused of not paying Columbia Gas and letting it get shut off. I turned the damn furnace OFF. For God's sake, one of them is threatening to turn me in to children's services. I burn wood 24/7 and sometimes have a kerosene heater running in the living room because the stove is so far away. It's freaking 75 degrees in here and I'm sitting in a pair of shorts and a sweatshirt. Is this a crime to not have central forced heat? Am I neglectful/dangerous parent??


You know what pisses me off most...one of the MFers is so far behind in child support that my son will be in his 20's before it's caught up, and he's accusing me of being a bad parent.

[Trillo]

1. Sounds like a typical familly dysfunction.

Good luck with it.

[ayeshahaqqiqa]

2. Don't listen to them

Headwaters School, an alternative school run by progressive environmentalists, has been using a wood burning stove for the 20 + years of their existance. In Newton County AR, that type of heat is probably the most popular; I know of people who live in the town of Harrison in nearby Boone County that also use them. If they were all that bad, I'd think that city ordinances would ban them, and the state wouldn't allow a school to use them. If they were dangerous, my MD wouldn't use it to heat her home. Tell your ex husbands to shut up. They don't know what they are talking about (I've lived and loved wood heat for 14 years, btw).

[seriousstan]

3. Simple solution. Keep the furnace off but the gas connected.

That way you could say you have a backup plan in case of emergency. Of course, if you did fail to pay your bill and had your gas disconnected, you will have to pay your overdue bill first.

[ohio_liberal]

6. No, no, it isn't shut off

I have a gas hot water heater and a gas range. It's definitely connected.

[Orrex]

4. Do your knucklehead Ex's work for Columbia Gas?

Central heat is nice if you want it and if you have unlimited disposable income. If not, then a woodburning stove is a fantastic idea. My wife and I have discussed getting one, because it would beat the heck out of the free-standing fire barrel we now have in the foyer.

Seriously, don't worry about it. You'll be sweating in the heat while the rest of us are sweating over our astronomical gas bills. Let CYS come to visit, and you can all sit around comfy in shorts and sweatshirts.

[ohio_liberal]

15. LOL--not gas company employees

One is a fundie car salesman and the other is a professional alcoholic. I dunno why they're being so goofy over this. Hell, even my Mom asked me if I had a "financial problem" that I needed help with. Maybe they're not used to seeing these, I dunno. A few people around town have fireplaces but woodburning stoves are not the norm.

[leftstreet]

5. The greatest crime in our culture is to be "poor."

People will go to great lengths to finger-point on any arbitrary issue they can find. Anything to avoid acknowledging their own slide into the "sin" of poverty.

[ohio_liberal]

36. Don't I know it

We're certainly not wealthy by any means. I work damn hard for everything we have so you can imagine that this aggravating.

[MnFats]

7. make sure it's functioning safely....as a newsie,

i usually write up a couple of fires each winter caused by woodburners....but they were almost always set up without taking safety standards into account.

I'm sure you've checked everything for any eventuality but....might want to check it again...and congratulations for using a renewable resource.

[cmd]

8. Just make sure you have a carbon monoxide detector

They aren't going to get anywhere with this one. I'll sic the Amish on them. Best of luck.

[ohio_liberal]

11. Got that for sure

I have a 2 1/2 story house with smoke/carbon monoxide detectors on every floor, basement too, and extra ones outside the kids' bedrooms.

[Raster]

23. Sounds like you have all your ducks in a row Ohio....that is except for

the drunken louse that owes you a fortune in child support. Since it's easier for him to offer advice than to lawfully support his children, maybe you ought to have his drunken ass arrested. Let him comment on the county's heating system. You may also tell him that once he crawls out of the bottle and pays his fair share of his children's support he can offer all the commentary he likes, until then, keep his mouth shut.

[mainegreen]

9. Umm, we all use wood here in Maine.

Growing up I knew a lot of people who still had those large wood-fired kitchen stove/oven iron mostrosities from the late 1800s, and those things kick the ass of any electric 'counter-top' stove!

Wood heat is best. Smells nice too.

[Karmageddon]

10. My wife and I love ours, and we are hardly what you'd call impoverished

We use it to supplement the hyperefficient ground source heat pump, which, as good as it is, can't keep up with the 100 year old house (no matter how much we've insulated, replaced windows, etc, it's still cold and drafty on those nasty January nights). It keeps the entire ground floor of our house nice and toasty when the furnace can't, and as an added benefit, it's nice and romantical, which also helps keep us warm, if you know what I mean.
Hell, it saved our butts, maybe literally, when we had an ice storm and were without power in subzero weather for 10 days several years ago. We kept one room warm, and even cooked on it during that time!

You're off the grid (meaning you're doing your part to not make cheney's friends at the power company rich). You're warm and self- sufficient, and your ex's are on crack.

[oregonjen]

26. Your story of an ice storm reminds me of my experience

In 1980, Portland had an ice storm that lasted a week and we had a wood burning stove in our house. It kept us warm, we all slept in the family room and Mom even cooked our meals on it. That is one of my best memories from childhood. :hi:

[Karmageddon]

49. Glad to bring back a good memory. Ours wasn't all that much fun....

...but it makes for good stories anyway.

[seabeyond]

12. i have central heat, i am freezing my ass off, put small heaters

in certain parts of the house and still cold, have a fireplace going middle of house and still cold and pay a huge ass gas bill

screw em i say. ooops you already did hence the problem. lol lol lol

[Skink]

17. Wood warms you 3 times..

Once when you split it. Once when you stack it and once when you burn it. I grew up on it and boy do I miss those snowy days sitting around the woodstove.
I imaging oil and gas executives hate it.

[seabeyond]

30. i ahve thought about getting a woodstove.

my uncle had one in seattle and it warmed me up so gooooood. lol lol

[Mutley]

13. Let that shithead call childrens services.

They will come to your house, see that nothing is wrong, and while they are there you can show them all about how that loser is way behind on child support.

[MissB]

14. You're being a great parent.

Don't worry about the ex's.

[ohio_liberal]

16. I spend most of my life ignoring their BS

Sometimes it gets to me though. I just thought I'd ask to make sure there's really nothing wrong with this.

[bigscott]

20. i love my wood stove -

would not go the winter without it

And I am one of the ones who benefited by * recent tax breaks

we aint all poor! just because i refuse to pay 3 bucks a gallon for HHO

[catmandu57]

18. Come Febuary it's going to look like a pretty smart move

As long as your stove is installed correctly, and safety is observed tell them to eat caca. Look to what you burn if you can burn well seasoned wood, stay away from soft resinous wood like pine, it'll gum up your chimmney and could start a fire. Same thing with Walnut, it's a pretty wood but will lead to a chimmney fire.
If possible burn a little bit of Hedge wood, it burns really hot and will help clean out deposits. The only bitch I've ever had about burning wood is getting up to feed the fire.

[madrchsod]

19. ya tell him----"show me the money"

[JHB]

21. Keep a log of ambient temperature in your main room, kitchen, kids room.

Not that you need the extra hassle, but if there's a chance one of them will use it as a pretext for grabbing custody, it might be worth it to keep track of exactly what the ambient temperature is, especially where the kids will be.

[sandnsea]

22. My sister has 5 ex's

Two? Bah. You're a lightweight. :)

You're fine. One of the wealthiest people I know burns pellets. Just be sure and keep the chimney cleaned.

[ohio_liberal]

33. Oy, 5 of them

I think I'd be ready to commit harikari with a butter knife. Two is beyond my limits. lol

Chimney is as clean as a whistle. The flue goes through the wall so it's pretty simple to do it.

[Dr.Phool]

24. I always keep a couple of large dogs for heat.

They snuggle up in bed, but push my wife out!

[ohio_liberal]

38. Hey, I have one of those

She lays on my feet until they go numb. lol

[Tikki]

25. Dear OL....those boys are just jealous...

....they have pictures in their heads of some big bohunk coming over and chopping your wood and helping you stoke your fire...



Tikki

[ohio_liberal]

37. Well they know it's my all grown up foster child splitting wood

They both despise him though, so that is definitely a source of aggravation.

[Vinca]

27. I'm in the boonies of New Hampshire and my furnace is off, too.

We bought a pellet stove and merrily feed 5 bucks a day worth of stuff that looks like rabbit droppings into the thing and it heats most of the house. I'd rather spend my money on the pellets, which are produced at a plant about a half hour away, than on oil that will make giant corporations obscene profits. P.S. Tell your exes to screw themselves.

[ohio_liberal]

40. I got the wood for absolutely nothing

My Grandmother has a non-working farm that had a bunch of downed hardwoods. I had to pay my brother with beer to chop it up but it was all good. :)

[toska]

45. Trying to turn the furnace off

We've picked up a pellet stove and have a garageful of pellets and corn. Did you have any difficulties tuning your stove? Our's has been a little frustrating lately because its either not burning the pellets fast enough, or they are burning too fast. It's looking like we will have to use the furnace to assist the pellet stove until we get it figured out.

[Vinca]

55. We haven't had any problems.

We bought a Harman stove and it runs perfectly with little interference from us. It has an automatic start and the book that comes with it tells how to set the initial settings. It also says if you have problems, it might be inadequate ventilation. Our house is big and drafty, so that's the least of our worries. You also need to find good quality pellets and keep them away from any moisture. Keep fiddling with your stove. Once you get it going right you'll love it.

[mtnester]

28. We have a wood burner, as well as a "wood stove"- just in case

I remember freezing my ASS off during the blizzards years of the mid/late 70's, and swore I would never do that again. Sometimes, the wood gets the rooms TOO hot. We got one of those (expensive but worth it) fans from Lehmans Hardware that moves the hot air. Pricey, but well worth it to blow heat from the stove OUT and away in the direction we want it, without electricity. We can also cook on our other stove..just in case.

Here is a link for it, and a photo:
http://www.lehmans.com/shopping/product/detailmain.jsp?itemID=306&itemType=PRODUCT&RS=1&keyword=fan

[ohio_liberal]

31. I need to get one of those

I should've bought it to begin with but didn't think I needed it.

[mtnester]

34. They are a tad pricey, but worth it. I used to have a little fan

that blew toward the corner that would take some of the heat to other areas of the house, but this works nicely.

[applegrove]

29. Perhaps an "oil industry" meme. Wood stove = trailor park. Why?

Wood is sustainable.

Just kidding but I really would not put it past anyone!

[soup]

32. Here ya go

If they're so opposed to the woodstove being your primary heating source and SO concerned about the welfare of the children, I think the best thing to do would be to sweetly

Thank him for his concern and give the one doing the complaining the phone number to the gas company.

This way the account could be transferred into his name, and the billing could be directed to him.

Give him peace of mind - and imagine how much better he'll feel knowing he's making a contribution.

Ok, maybe I'm being slightly evil and just a touch snarky - but your post upset me.

[ohio_liberal]

35. It upset me too

Normally I would call my attorney for advise but I figured I'd just bring it here. lol

I go through stuff like this all the time. I figured out after the first few years that it's all about control. It can get pretty depressing.

[soup]

39. I'm not an attorney,

nor do I play one on television, but I can offer a :hug: and a 'good luck'. For what it's worth, I think you're spot on about it being about control.

[ohio_liberal]

42. LOl.--it's ok, I wasn't really expecting legal advice

If it gets bad enough then I'll get paid advice. The hug is much appreciated. Now that I definitely needed :pals:

[triguy46]

41. There was a thread earlier this week about pellet stoves...

that is the only suggestion/comment I would make. I'm a 25 year wood burner, now convinced that pellets are the way to go. But no, you're a good person.

[ohio_liberal]

43. I saw that thread

I actually did consider one but I figured I'd just get this one for now while the getting was good and I could afford it. Maybe next year I'll upgrade.

[meganmonkey]

44. You're a bad, bad mom!

:P Just kidding.

They need to get with it. Clueless. It's their loss, and I can see why you aren't with them anymore. I hope they don't really try to get protective services involved because I am sure it would be a pain in the ass. But it would probably just make them look like fools
:shrug:

[Borgnine]

46. I love wood stoves.

They always kept me more than warm enough when I was a child staying with my relatives in the dead of winter in PA.

In my opinion, the sound of burning logs is somewhat soothing.

[HereSince1628]

47. So, I want to make sure I understand....

A woman is complaining that an ex-husband is using her lack of traditional utilities to cause her trouble.

So, hey, OHIO_LIBERAL the ex IS not an idiot, just embittered and not over the divorce... As related to us, this will not hold up in court, but you could maybe get a recording thermometer to establish physical evidence of the temperature history of the dwelling.

Personally, I have a choice to make. I can consider this is either news of general importance (I think not)and belongs in GD, or it's another case of a hostility that didn't end with the judgement and a DU'er is looking for support(my choice), OR its something I haven't conjured up, yet.

Maybe DU needs 2 new forums one for "new romance/married bliss" and the other for "nightmare relationships to complain about".

[ohio_liberal]

50. Does this belong in the lounge? If so, my bad

It certainly wasn't intentional.

I dunno about you but I have gotten a lot of grief by being altogether non-traditional. I did actually converse here in GD with some people when I bought the thing (for a fabulous price too!) and I've seen quite a few people discussing various heating sources here in the last several weeks. So yes, I did bring my nightmare relationship problems of a non-news general non-importance when I discovered I was being viewed by a few crackpots in my life as a non-traditional-heating wastrel teetering on the verge of infanticide because I had a woodburning stove. LOL

Again, my bad

:pals:

[HereSince1628]

51. No, it's not the frivolous sort of thing that's in the lounge

But, I think there really is maybe a need to have a forum for people who are dealing with difficulties that seem to not end after relationships come apart and after divorce.

I also suspect it is a bit painful for people in such difficult settings to read posts rejoicing about how great things are.

I think maybe they should be given their own special places.

[cmd]

52. It should stay right here

This is a general discussion involving life in America today. It would be inappropriate to put it any place else.

[MadHound]

48. WTF indeed!

Sorry, but it sounds like you have some very ignorant exes.

Heating with a woodstove is NOT a mark of poverty. If either of them don't believe you, tell them to go for a spin in your nearest suburbs, especially the richer ones, and have them roll down the window and smell the smoke.

Many many people use wood as a heat source and have for centuries. Some now have it more for asthetics, more actually use it as a heat source. To me it is a sign of a smart, economical person. What, they would rather you spend thousands of dollars on heating, only to neglect your child's braces(or whatever)?

Tell your exes to go shove it, especially since they're drastically behind on child support.

[RB TexLa]

53. I'd say that you are teaching your children

something about being resourceful and frugal, both lessons that will help them greatly in life.

[jayctravis]

54. Hee hee...the people who own the McMansion that just got built

by my Dad's house paid a ludicrous amount of money for a rustic woodstove. The husband curses every time he has to chop the wood that they have delivered down so it can fit through the tiny door. :)

[gauguin57]

56. Here in Lancaster County, PA, wood-pellet and corn-burning stoves

are all the rage. They're really selling well because natural gas and oil are going through the roof. Farmers with lots of extra feed corn are buying these stoves to heat their homes.

I can guarantee your children are a LOT warmer than your ex-husbands' hearts!

When my parents were alive, they turned off their electric heat and let their woodburner heat their 2,500-square foot house (which it did, just fine).

My brother's wood stove is in his BASEMENT, for god's sake, and it heats his house (two stories up) just fine. They're all in shorts and T-shirts all winter.

I have no doubt your kids are warm as toast, with or without the furnace.

[OnionPatch]

57. We're getting ready

to install a fireplace insert into our fireplace, which will be our primary heat for the winter and we are not even close to being impoverished. We have lots of free firewood....why not? Who wants to pour their income into the coffers of those rich SOBs who are screwing up our world? What you are doing is perfectly sensible and responsible IMO. Good for you!

[ninkasi]

58. I'd love a wood stove...

My husband and I would love a wood stove, but installing it would be too expensive for us, and we live near Spring, Tx., so I'm not sure we'll have enough cold weather to warrant the expense.

Fireplaces are great to have, and in no way associated with poverty. Your ex-husband's remarks make me congratulate you on the fact that they are EX husbands. It shows you were wise to get rid of them. Don't let them intimidate you, you are in the right.