Looking for ways to lower my electric bill

[bucolic_frolic]

7. Considerations

Investments need comprehensive cost-benefit analyses.

Research: seems to me I've read of Swedish fireplace/hearths with massive masonry that absorb heat and stay warm all winter under a low fire.

Consider: an outside air intake for the fireplace-stove, so you're not exhausting warm air and have good draft to reduce smoking.

Consider the cost of such an investment. Would you be as well off in a Dividend Achiever growth fund? Cutting firewood is work, it involves risk, it involves cost of saws, maintenance, splitting and hauling. You need wood storage, wood must be seasoned and dry, dry, dry. Consider the cost of cleaning the flue, maintaining the chimney, flashing, and roof. Would you be better off timbering parts of the property and banking the profit after taxes.

Consider the assumptions made on each point, and this list is not comprehensive for sure. Re-evaluate over time, several times. We think we're going to save a bundle. We tend to underestimate the peripheral costs and risks. Will we be willing and able to do this wood extraction and burning work over decades and into our old age? If winters become warmer, is the project worth it? Could we achieve electric savings in other ways - smaller frying pans, cold-brewed overnight coffee instead of perked each day, convection toaster-oven instead of full kitchen stove for all our dinners?