warm fuzzies...

go ahead... say "hello" to our new "family member"... :) this is a picture of our new Jotul wood burning stove... i can't wait to load up little Jotul with some wood and ENJOY the warmth it will provide... we spent about a week researching our options... we had to make a pretty quick decision because we wanted to take advantage of our 2010 tax credit of 30%! :) in all honesty, we really felt like we needed to do something to help with our heating situation... while our house isn't "old," it's been a drafty house for us in the last 5+ years... we have replaced 7 out of 11 windows (the 4 we didn't replace are a huge bay window in our living room and some windows in our unfinished basement). we have also replaced our front door and sliding door in our upper part of the house. while it has made a difference, we still spend many winters cold and layered with long sleeved shirts and fleeces. we have a thick blanket and a puffy down comforter on our bed that keeps us warm... our electric bills are astronomical, and we are a little conservative with our heat - we keep it set at 68...and sometimes turn it up to 69 or 70 when we're really cold (or when family visits and they're freezing :))...
plus, in my research, i have discovered that our heat pump is not really that great for weather below 32 degrees. yes, we live in the "south," but i will say that we have plenty of days from Nov./Dec. into March where we are below 32 degrees... and our heat pump isn't new... when we were having temps in the teens a few weeks ago, i swear that the heater ran non-stop one night...and yet, we were still chilly...
sooo, a wood burning stove is our solution... :) we have a little bit more to do (venting) in the finished part of the basement so that the heat can effortlessly travel to our primary living area...we spend most of our time upstairs (we have a split level house)...
needless to say, when we light the little Jotel tomorrow, i will take some pictures of the little guy warming up our house... :)
bottom line: we're ready to enjoy some warm fuzzies... :)
:)