The Main Event - Wood vs Electric

Wood vs Electricity - The burning question, which one is better?

Recently, while chatting with some friends, the conversation turned to home building and heating. One member of the group who is in the middle of the planning process was telling us about his architect and builder. The architect was adamant that the home builder should get with the times and forget about building a chimney, putting in a stove or any kind of "old fashioned" appliances. His argument was the environment and how we need to go green which I agree with to an extent. He recommended not building a chimney and installing an air to water system. He didn't put the chimney in the plans.

The air to water part I agreed with but not the chimney. I was shocked with the chimney as this house was in rural Ireland and so prone to the elements.

Heating systems in new builds are so efficient now and there are so many to choose from. A good Heating Engineer can guide you through the best options for your house.

This is where things get tricky, you've now chosen your heating system and you're feeling good that you will not have the threat of spiralling fuel costs to deal with.

The elephant in the room is "Climate change" so one of the reasons you chose your system was to help the environment and save money in the process over the coming years. Climate change can comprise of all kinds of weather systems from snow in June to balmy evenings in November. It also generates crazy weather phenomena such as flooding, thunderstorms and even hurricanes. This crazy weather then leads to the dreaded power cut.

When we were kids and we had a power cut we grabbed the candles and took out the board games. In our house we also had the glow of the fire in the sitting room lighting up the room like something from a Dickens novel. Looking back at it there is probably a bit of nostalgia.

What you may not know is that when wood is grown in a sustainable manner, it is carbon neutral. When burned in a modern stove it only emits the same amount of carbon into the atmosphere as the tree took in over the course of its life. It has relatively no production so (especially if grown and purchased locally) cuts your carbon footprint in so many ways.

Recently we had a power cut which lasted 20 hours with no preparation or warning. These were some of the things that affected us:

• No phone charger (battery at 35%)
• No Wi-Fi or 3G in rural Tipperary
• No cooker, oven, or hob (so as a result no food)
• No lights (or candles)
• If I had a Tesla (I don't) I had no way of charging it to get to the shops

We had however a stove in the sitting room. We wrapped potatoes in tinfoil and wrapped some beef that was in the fridge with onions mushrooms and olive oil, we made space in the fire and sat the tinfoil parcels in front of the fire. I can't say I'd ever make it onto Master Chef but that evening they were (as we say here in Tipp) "fair" good.

Don't get me wrong I love technology and find myself automating the most random of things lights, gates coffee maker and sound systems. They are great but what sways me to buy a particular product is the fact that I can also turn it on manually if the Wi-Fi is down. I like to have a switch, the "old fashioned way"

To conclude I would say put in whatever heating system that suits your house but also have the backup, the humble stove. It's nights like I had in earlier in June that you and your family will remember forever.

Recommendations for Main Heating Source

• Air to Water
• Geothermal
• Pellet
• Oil or Gas

Back-up

Wood Stove

Occasional use – apartment living or "The good Sitting Room"

Electric

Here at Inspired Interiors, we supply wood stoves, electric stoves, fireplaces, pellet stoves, outside pellet boilers