A Slabwood Experiment

My home has an electric furnace.  It also has a wood-burning stove in the basement, which connects to the duct work. It can be used in tandem with the electric furnace, or on its own to heat the house. My electricity costs are running higher than last year's. I even ran the air conditioner a lot less this year, so obviously the cost of electricity has increased, or something?  And of course it irritates the hell out of me. Which makes me want to drink more wine...

February and March are the coldest months of the year where I live.  In February and March of 2012 my electric bills were $166.28 and $253.24.  In the same months of 2013, the bills were $236.41 and $357.71.  That's an increase of $174.60!  I am planning on purchasing a chest freezer soon, and it makes me cringe to think about adding one more electric sucking device to the meter...

What's my point here?  My point is that it is always wise to continue to seek out new ways to cut your costs and save your money, and also energy usage, wherever and whenever possible.  Plus, electric heat just feels cold to me.  Which brings me to slab wood...

I'm surrounded by Amish where I live. In fact, the area I reside in is the 4th largest Amish settlement in the country.  I see these kind, quiet people with piles of slab wood in their yards at this time of year, just waiting to be cut and stacked. So I thought hell, maybe they know something I don't?  I decided to get some for myself and give it a try this year.  The eight bundles that I purchased cost me $190.  My plan is to use as much wood as possible to comfortably heat the house and keep the inhabitants from complaining they're freezing to death.  You know how that goes...

October has just begun, and I haven't had a need to warm the house up as of yet. I'll report back in a few months with an update on the slab wood experiment.