Even more ways to produce and save heat

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These days there are even more chilly temps to remind us that the heating season is nearly upon us. The following are just a few more ways to produce, capture, and conserve heat on a daily basis. Major sources of heat these days from utilities and retailers are electricity, oil, and natural gas. Alternatives to these suppliers are wood, propane, geothermal, and direct solar. Alternate fuels offer many ways to keep a lid on heating costs. When the cost of one source of heat goes up, others may lag behind. Those that rise more slowly or not at all become the way to go. For many people, the great alternative is heating with wood. In the parts of the countryside where wood is abundant, every storm and every neighbor with a problem tree becomes an opportunity to save on next season’s heating bill. It takes a little time, some dry storage space, and cutting tools, but wood is a good and satisfying alternative heat source. Spacing the cutting and splitting out over the year means additional exercise in the winter when some of us tend to be less active.