This is what I set out to do...do my own research rather than guess and take someone’s word for it. Not that others comments aren’t worth paying attention to, but some things are better experienced. This has all lead to the decision that a smaller stove matched with a smaller chimney liner, preferably an insulated one, is enough to heat my home with wood. The challenge now is how small of a stove to buy. I’m leaning to a medium sized firebox just to have a little extra ummphff when needed, which still might get me into trouble. A real small fire box means burning wood on high only in a few days, but many days with multiple tendings. Medium sounds better all the time. In the process I have learned about the “other” fuel and its pro’s and con’s. With the latter there are few, the worst being taking out ash often twice a day...offset by constantly even heat be it low or high heat output when needed...and looking at a black box all the time caused by a stove much too large for this place. Ambience is much preferred.
My experience is that moisture content of firewood stored outdoors ebs and flows a little with the seasons and conditions in which it dries. Depending on the variety of the firewood, if it’s under 20%, it’s out the door or in the stove for me! Those of you who mentioned testing firewood after 4, 5, and 6 years of drying and find it at almost 20%, do you test it each year and see a gradual decline in the moisture content, or does it seem to plateau after a certain amount of time, and never really get below that value?
