101 Uses for a Woodstove?

triathing · 01-14-2008, 06:31 PM

We're trying to wring the most we can from our woodstove. We currently use it to heat our house (we go through about a cord of wood every month), set our clothes on dryer racks next to it, and occasionally cook on the top.

Wondering if anyone else has any creative ideas out there for other woodstove uses?

Miss Rosie · 01-15-2008, 12:43 AM

Depends on the kind of woodstove you have.

If it has the right kind of top, you can put a lidded cast-iron pot on it and treat it like a slow cooker. That's if it gets hot enough and you use it all day.

If not, get a heavy kettle or pot, fill it with water, and use it as a humidifier. If you use an open, enameled pot, you can toss in things like fruit peels, cinnamon sticks, lavender flowers or eucalyptus leaves to scent the house. Essential oils would probably work, too.

If it doesn't get too hot to touch, you can dry wet mittens and socks on it, or put your feet on it when you're reading.

If the front opens up, you can roast hot dogs or marshmallows in the coals.

You can melt snow on it for washing water when the power goes out.

If you're seriously creative and crazy, you can build a smoker that sits a few feet up the chimney above it and make bacon. I'm not kidding about this. My father did it when I was a kid. The downside is that the fire you need to smoke meat is much lower than what you need to heat a house, so things were chilly for a while. Another downside is that if the smoker leaks, you run a high risk of grease fires. Yes, this is the voice of experience! The bacon was good, though.

Another thing my family did, and this is a very old use of a woodstove, is use it to heat water. Many wood cookstoves have the plumbing already in place in the back, but if you know what you're doing, you can set it up yourself. A heating stove doesn't get hot enough to generate a good shower, but it can at least warm the water up a little bit. A wood cookstove can give you a nice, 5-minute shower.

We heated and cooked only with wood through most of my childhood, and that included heating our hot water. A pain in some respects, but I grew up in blizzard country. When everyone else was shivering under blankets and eating cold cereal, we had hot meals and a warm house. I even had hot water to wash my hair, if I was willing to bring in the snow.

Michelle Dawn · 01-15-2008, 06:10 AM

Wow those are some great ideas! My husband and I looking at houses and we really want to get one that has a wood stove. Winters are long and cold here and if you get a piece of land where you can chop your own wood you can save a bundle.

triathing · 01-15-2008, 12:13 PM

I like the humidifier ideal!

And I forgot -- we have had to melt snow for water when the power goes out. Happens more often than I like to think about. We scoop snow into a couple of big stockpots, and have water for toilets/showers/cooking/cleaning.

Here's another good one I forgot: We take the ashes and put them in a pile outside, then use them in spring for fertilizer. You can't do this with fresh ashes because any moisture turns into lye. But if the ashes have been rinsed and diluted, you've got potash, which is basically fertilizer.

01-14-2008, 06:31 PM	#1
triathing Member Join Date: Jan 2008 Location: Southern Vermont Posts: 36 Reputation: (30)	101 Uses for a Woodstove? We're trying to wring the most we can from our woodstove. We currently use it to heat our house (we go through about a cord of wood every month), set our clothes on dryer racks next to it, and occasionally cook on the top. Wondering if anyone else has any creative ideas out there for other woodstove uses?

01-15-2008, 06:10 AM	#3
Michelle Dawn Member Join Date: Jan 2008 Location: C-Town, PEI, Canada Posts: 68 Reputation: (10)	Wow those are some great ideas! My husband and I looking at houses and we really want to get one that has a wood stove. Winters are long and cold here and if you get a piece of land where you can chop your own wood you can save a bundle. __________________ Meet me at FRUGAL PARENTING "A wise man should have money in his head, but not in his heart" (Jonathan Swift)

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01-15-2008, 12:43 AM	#2
Miss Rosie Senior Member Join Date: Jan 2008 Posts: 101 Reputation: (27)	Depends on the kind of woodstove you have. If it has the right kind of top, you can put a lidded cast-iron pot on it and treat it like a slow cooker. That's if it gets hot enough and you use it all day. If not, get a heavy kettle or pot, fill it with water, and use it as a humidifier. If you use an open, enameled pot, you can toss in things like fruit peels, cinnamon sticks, lavender flowers or eucalyptus leaves to scent the house. Essential oils would probably work, too. If it doesn't get too hot to touch, you can dry wet mittens and socks on it, or put your feet on it when you're reading. If the front opens up, you can roast hot dogs or marshmallows in the coals. You can melt snow on it for washing water when the power goes out. If you're seriously creative and crazy, you can build a smoker that sits a few feet up the chimney above it and make bacon. I'm not kidding about this. My father did it when I was a kid. The downside is that the fire you need to smoke meat is much lower than what you need to heat a house, so things were chilly for a while. Another downside is that if the smoker leaks, you run a high risk of grease fires. Yes, this is the voice of experience! The bacon was good, though. Another thing my family did, and this is a very old use of a woodstove, is use it to heat water. Many wood cookstoves have the plumbing already in place in the back, but if you know what you're doing, you can set it up yourself. A heating stove doesn't get hot enough to generate a good shower, but it can at least warm the water up a little bit. A wood cookstove can give you a nice, 5-minute shower. We heated and cooked only with wood through most of my childhood, and that included heating our hot water. A pain in some respects, but I grew up in blizzard country. When everyone else was shivering under blankets and eating cold cereal, we had hot meals and a warm house. I even had hot water to wash my hair, if I was willing to bring in the snow.

01-15-2008, 12:13 PM	#4
triathing Member Join Date: Jan 2008 Location: Southern Vermont Posts: 36 Reputation: (30)	I like the humidifier ideal! And I forgot -- we have had to melt snow for water when the power goes out. Happens more often than I like to think about. We scoop snow into a couple of big stockpots, and have water for toilets/showers/cooking/cleaning. Here's another good one I forgot: We take the ashes and put them in a pile outside, then use them in spring for fertilizer. You can't do this with fresh ashes because any moisture turns into lye. But if the ashes have been rinsed and diluted, you've got potash, which is basically fertilizer.