As the world's oceans heat up from the sun which also tends to then heat up the atmosphere closer to earth and lands and seas this also destabilizes the jet stream and the polar Vortexes often now come down as far as Texas and Florida and places like Alabama where I saw a picture of someone with a blanket over their head trying to brave crossing the snow covered street. So, if it can snow in Alabama and even Florida sometimes then everything is changing. Even in Portland Oregon yesterday it was difficult for 140,000 people including relatives of mine trying to survive the day without power in an all electric home. These days not having wood or a fireplace or wood stove in your home could be fatal in days like yesterday all across the U.S.
When I lived in Mt. Shasta, almost everywhere I lived up there had a wood stove as a primary source of heat. It's true often we bought small heaters that plugged in the wall to heat up bedrooms because you need that if you don't have central heating which circulates the heat throughout the house or apartment. But, the primary source of heat in Mt. Shasta tends to be Wood heat through mostly wood stoves which are an efficient user and maintainer of heat throughout the day and night all over. It isn't economically very feasible to use electric heat there year around anyway even though some people do that too.
In Mt. Shasta you can get a wood gathering permit from the forest service for a nominal fee and then you can gather your own firewood in places where they allow this by gathering dead and fallen trees to burn in the winter time (or any time it gets cold enough). But, it's important to know that pine wood can put pitch in your chimney and cause flue fires which I experienced for the first time around 1980 but not since when I returned from skiing to see a fire engine parked in my driveway. So, I got my tire chains and went up on the roof to bang away with them down into the chimney to clear away the pine tar and pitch that gathers in your chimney or stove pipe from burning pine too much.
The best wood to burn is actually oak but I find I like starting a fire with cedar and then switching to oak once the fire gets going good. These are actually the best woods to burn for long term heat as long as you know how to "shut down" the flue for maximum heat when it comes time to do this.
Having a fireplace or wood stove can be a matter of life or death nationwide right now when the power goes out. Why?
Because a generator usually cannot generate enough power to run a heater because it's too high a line load for this. So, when power goes out you have no way outside of candles or camping stoves to stay warm. And if you run your camping stove inside you are in danger of dying from Carbon monoxide poisoning.
But, there are always candles which are safe to warm your hands as long as you are careful.
A candle is also useful inside a snow cave that you dig for survival too as long as you don't raise the temperature in the snow cave you dig over 50 degrees. Over 50 degrees inside of a snow cave and the snow starts to melt. But, warming your hands over a candle is a good way to stay warm in almost any situation you can survive in as long as you have warm clothes and maybe a down sleeping bag to stay warm enough.
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