LOL WOW Thanks all! (as my head is spinning with ideas... wood stove will be the way I think I will go for now. JIC the power goes out, I will be toasty 🙂 and I want to teach the boys how to cook on one too. Right now it is a novelty when at my friends house, I want them to see it is more than that.
We spent 2 days cutting wood this weekend at my friends place. Her boys are really excited we are moving up there! 5 piles drying out now, probably going to go up and help do a few more. I also am known for scooping broken/dead trees off the side of the road when I borrow a truck to go up there.
As long as I help cut it down or chop and stack it, I can take all that I need. (which I am extremely grateful for) I also swiped about 4 trees worth of logs and sticks from town a few weeks ago on my way up there... rolling along the highway with a honda full of wood lol Logs piled in the back seat, trunk, front seat... made them howl when I pulled in. I use my lil car like it is a truck. You would be amazed at what I can fit in that car 🙂

I am still waiting for the offer to be accepted. I have been on the phone most of the day trying to find out exactly what is happening. From what I understand, the seller is waiting to see if there are any other offers 🙁 I am sitting here thinking REALLY? UGHHHHHHHH!

Any word on if you got it yet?

Not yet. Still waiting for the negotiation to go through. It is frustrating to say the least.
Keep those fingers crossed for me please.

Mamaizzy...I got everything crossed for you.....let's hope your week is heaps better than mine! I really hope everthing goes your way!

Good luck Mamaizzy.

Thanks, Perfesser, for the Rocket Stove link. I really like that concept.

Thanks all for the support. This process has me wanting to pull my hair out.
I still don't know what is going on. I have been trying to keep busy not thinking about it but, instead I sit here and start packing up things I don't use, I took 3 garbage bags full of too small clothes (kids) to goodwill, another box of children's books and teen readers boxed up for Swaziland, it is great for organizing but, I want to know if it is yay or nay. :/
As soon as I know anything, I will let you all know 🙂
I would love to be moving this summer, I can not handle yet another summer in the city (ghetto where I live) ugh

Hang in there Mamaizzy!

mamaizzy,

Ill throw in my two cents for you to consider. First I live in northern Alberta. I take my heating serious, a stretch of -40, or -30 will quickly show what works, and what doesnt. I have lived in many places, heated a house near Grand Prarie(1980-83), with a wood cook stove (One level), it could cook but never keep the place warm, had to add a propane heater.
A trailer with a wood stove fireplace, again it could not do the job. Both required constant feeding, no being able to sleep all night without geting up a couple times in the night to feed the fire. That gets old fast, and effects the quality of life.
Most my relatives heat or have done so with wood in most types of heaters, and homes so I have seen a good bit of wood heating in this serious climate.
I bought a blazeking fireplace, with cat, bypass door, and thermostat control. I bought it in I think 2000, so its now been 12 problem free years of use. I had such confidence in it that in 2005 I told the gas company where to go, and had the meter pulled.
I recommend it not just, for how well it works but for how little wood it uses, and this is important, as wood cutting can be a lot of work.
To give you a idea, I will use roughly 4.25 cord of poplar wood a year for heat. Thats heating a full size house (not the basement), and I have on the main floor The equivalent of a window thats 8 feet high by 18 feet long, so thats a lot of sqft of windows.
With birch firewood I never go over 3 cord a year. I consider that very good. Because it is thermostat controled the whole load of wood burns at a consistant temperature, load it up and forget it for 20 to 30,40 hrs depending on where you set the temp. I am toasty warm, can sleep all night, go away for a long weekend, and the house is warm. Also you do not need to relight this stove. I light it up in the fall, and it never goes out until spring, and you do not need to split your wood, I think logs up to 9 inches in diameter by 20 in length fit through the door. Again less work. I suggest the king model, and expect to pay 2000-3000, but it was worth every penny to me.
I also heat my hot water with it (50 gallontank).
I cant say enough good things about it.

This year I used only 2.5 cords of birch/a little tamrack thanks to it being a milder winter. I cant imagine any other type of stove that could heat the square footage of my home, to such comfort, with so little trouble, and use such little wood.
Now I am just adding this pic to show what I use as a temp heater. My fire went out for good 2 weeks or so back. Now when there is a cool evenning, instead of burning a log I just light up this aladin lamp, not for light, but for heat. With the reflector on it the heat can be felt 5 to 6 feet away. In a couple hours it uses very little fuel, and I use low odour paint thinner as I cant stand the smell of kerosene.

Awesome! Thank you for the advice! I will definitely look into that as well!
The rocket stove links were passed on today to a friend who is going to try and build one. I got a bunch of people trying out stuff who like to build and create. This should be fun once I can get up there!

my cabin is 1100sf and it has one small addition but is a bungalo. i use a single Napoleon wood stove. it cost me 1500 but it is worth every peny, i use less wood and it heats the place sometimes to well. Every wood dealer sells preseasond wood that you can burn that year so dont worry about buying it right away. If you have the cash buy good stoves they will last you a life time and cost less to heat you house with in the end. In a shtf situation i can heat my cabin without electricity.

Wow Analog Man....I'm impressed with the Blazeking wood stove you mentioned (what model is it?). I'm considering replacing a stove downstairs and I'm looking for something that heats AND uses less wood (= less lugging wood). I have a Heartland cookstove upstairs and I absolutely LOVE it.
Nice idea for the oil lamp too.

Prepher,

The Blazekng name covers a lot of products, The two models I am familiar with, and function with the performance I described are the King model, and princess model. The key features to make sure it has are, manual bypass door, cat, thermostat control (bi metal temperature control on back of stove) Even though the princess model will heat a typical home fine, I always recommend the king, just because of the longer burn times, not that the princess model doesnt have a long burn time, but the longer the better.
I am sure you can find, and look up the specs on line.
Also using well dried wood will get the best performance. I let mine sit for 2 years in racks that hold 3/4 cord in each. I like being able see just how much wood I have, and am using.

Just going to add, that when I first started looking into what I was going to buy, I looked at most types years back, and being naturaly a sceptic, I didnt believe much of the data from the manufacturers (still dont) but after using this stove I have to say the performance, and burn times they give have proven to be true, and honest. I thought at the time when I was going to buy it that if it performed half as well as advertised, It would be better than anything else I had used, So for once I am happy to say I bought something that performs better than expected, and as well as advertised.

Hey, that looks like my friend's wood piles lol
We have them stacked and awaiting the snow to fly 🙂

Thanks everyone for all of the info.
I am now fearing the worst. At this point, I am thinking that, no news means bad news. He hasn't returned the calls and I have started searching again but, I am afraid that everything else I have found is really out of my price range (by about $40,000!).
My mom bought me a new electric frying pan (skillet) today to cheer me up and all I could think was.... I wish this had been a house warming gift 🙁
I just need to be settled and start building a solid place for our stockpile and lives. It is an extremely frustrating process.

I still have my fingers crossed for you. Maybe there is a reason for the waiting, you just don't know what it is yet.

If you want to chat, I am here. {{{hugs}}}

Thank You.
Still nothing. No email, text, phone call and my agent hasn't heard anything. He has til tomorrow at 5. I really think this dude thinks he is gonna get full price for the house. It's isn't worth what he was/is asking. 🙁 I just want to move. Quickly.