Warm House on a Cold Spring Day

It has been a cool spring, and something in our furnace is on the blink. And we haven't been home enough to call a repairman. Mostly it has been a little on the cool side, but not too bad until we have three or four days of cold, and then it gets pretty brisk.

We have Jotul Woodstove Insert that has seen some duty in the last few weeks. It seems funny to put a fire in the stove this late in the year, but it really does warm up the house. I would like to build some solar collectors especially for these cool but bright days, but until I get that done, we will haul in an armload of wood and make things cozy.

This particular stove is cleverly engineered in that it burns the smoke and has a clear stack. It brings secondary air in and preheats it, and then it sort of injects it through holes in the top of the firebox. When the temperature and draft are right, you can see little jets of flame shooting back into the stove. When you go outside and look at the top of the chimney, all that you see is a mirage-type wavering in the air, indicating heat, but no smoke. We like it.