[Cerek the Barbaric]

Skywalker,

My parents switched to wood heat back in 1976. We bought a Fisher stove (the Papa Bear design) and my mom and dad used it for over 20 years in 3 different houses. The first house we had it in was a 2-story model with 4 bedrooms and 2 baths. After spending 1 winter paying the outrageous electric bill for the furnace, we switched to the stove and never turned the furnace on again.

Sounds like you've gotten a lot of good advice already, but I just wanted to put in a plug for the Fisher model.

Garnet is right about the "dryness" of the heat (it used to kill my sinuses), but we learned to just keep a full pot of water on the stove and they helped tremendously.

Good luck and stay warm.