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A pellet/corn/etc stove would be great because it doesn’t involve fossil fuels. But, installing a freestanding unit would be tricky due to the floor plan and expensive. Doing it as an insert would cut down on costs but take away the pleasure of a wood burning fireplace. Either way, future owners may not want the hassle of it. Same goes for a wood insert/stove. Additionally, those units are only as good at heating a space as their output (higher the output = higher the price) combined with fans installed for distribution. So, chances are good that we’d still be relying on the oil to heat all but the main living space. We toyed with idea of a gas fireplace. The appeal is ease of use (pressing a button vs. building/maintaining a fire or feeding a hopper/cleaning ashes) which is a definite consideration for resale value. Installation would be even more expensive, though, would involve digging another trench (Jeph is running away screaming at the thought), and still depends on fossil fuels. Our solution for this year is to utilize all the free fuel on our land (wood) and have lots of fires, plus keep the windows covered at night. The new, programmable, thermostat Jeph installed in the bedroom definitely works better, and looks nicer too, so we put one in the front hall also.