Jesus why are you guys so riled up over nothin all the time. Also, heating is more expensive than cooling in general. If your purely using a wood stove that obviously changes the equation a bit depending on the variables.
I think his point is that unless you're living like it's 1857 and you're literally huddled around a wood burning fireplace, it's going to cost just as much, if not more, to heat an entire house for the duration of winter as it would to cool a house here in the summer.
Spent 33 years in Houston, 27 in Minnesota and now have moved to Florida. Believe me, you get well adjusted to the cold. Our gas/electric bill was much less expensive in Minnesota than our electric in Houston. Houses are constructed better. I have never had to thaw a water line in Minnesota (yet I did on a number of occasions in Houston). It is rare when I wear more than a sweatshirt and jeans in the winter in MN. Generally don't throw on a coat until it's below 20 (unless it's really windy). In all the years we lived in MN, I only had one instance when my car would not start. That was the day 20+ years ago when it was -30 and I had a questionable battery to begin with. I have run a half marathon in 15 degree weather wearing just a sweatshirt and running (or in my case, jogging) pants, along with a sticking cap and gloves. As long as it is not slick (and the cities generally do a great job of fixing roadways, sidewalks and some trails), I'll run in 20 degree weather. When I lived in Houston, I would have told future self that i was crazy. The only thing I worry about in the really bitter cold (-20+) is the output from the furnace freezing up and being sucked into the input and blocking the flow, thus causing the furnace to quit working.
Getting firewood is a real pain. I get my own firewood every year and I need about 5-6 cords of wood to heat my 2000 square foot home poorly in the winter. One room is warm and the outer rooms rarely get over 60degrees. Just to give you an idea of what its like to get wood here is the step by step process 1. find wood 2. cut wood down 3. cut all the limbs off 4. cut into rounds. 5. Carry and stack in a truck 6. Unload from the truck at the house 7. Pick up and stack single log to split. swing 8-15 pound maul and split 8. Pick up one of the two pieces of wood and put it on log to be split again so it fits in your fireplace. Repeat for other log 9. Stack all the logs you have split hopefully near your house and away from snow in the future. 10. Dig out your split wood to haul in your split logs to be used to heat the home. 11. pick up wood for final time to put in fireplace. . . . . By the way. One long bed truck with extenders will almost get you one cord of wood. So that is 5 trips. Its a lot of work to sit around the fire and relax. Hope that helps
