We've been green.

Well the heat costs are fixed but yes I see the real costs growing via friends stories, other stories and general market data. I hope people are staying warm, you too DB, stay warm and toasty as you can.

We use wood for heat, and is the best heat source and is renuable good for the inverment. Wood puts out the warmest heat there is, and it heats twice once when you cut it and again when you burn it.

Hello Dbmax, Because we live rurally, natural gas is not an option. We have a propane wall furnace, yet don't even light the pilot. Last year we bought a new woodstove. We purchased the most efficient model available. Though we tend to keep the house warmer now than when we used our antique wood stove, we still use less wood. The high efficiency of the stove is the reason. The stove burns the wood, then it re-burns the smoke so that the particulate residue is negligable. It's a fabulous stove, plus it's very aesthetically pleasing. How much does it cost us to heat the house? Well, we purchase permits from the Forest service to get firewood from the national forests. The permits cost 10.00/cord, and we purchase the maximum # of permits (4 cords) per year. In a real cold winter, we use a little over two cords per year. That means that we spend about $20.00/year to heat our home, and do our part to prevent forest overgrowth/overfueling, which lead to forest fires. Now, I have to factor in the cost of our log splitter, chainsaws& blades, axe, hatchet, gas for the truck etc ... If we do not figure in the value of labor involved, we probably spend less than $60.00/year. We also have a solar hot water set-up. Yet, we do not have solar wall heaters in place -- yet. That is one of my 2008 goals. Oh and by the way, we garden as well. Our winter ash is an integral part of our composting effort. It only makes sense to use & re-use whenever possible. Plus, the result is gorgeous black gold -- capable of growing fabulous fruits & vegetables. Contrary to our circumstances, we have family and friends who spend between $200.00 - $600.00 per month heating their homes. To me, that's ridiculous when we spend less than $60.00 per year! Of course, some people are not physically able to cut, split & stack their own wood (no doubt, it is very hard work). Many others are, yet don't. Whatever the reason, they simply do not realize how practical wood heating is these days.