Thank you Thomas and Jay for your replies.
Thomas,
1) We heat ourselves with a wood burning stove. We have a Norwegian Jotul FS 175.
https://intl.jotul.com/products/wood/wood-fireplaces/jotul-fs-175
Very efficient but consumes a fair amount of wood.
2) Yes we have a large ceiling fan
3) We do not leave our home willingly and not very often, but when it has happened, as you know, it takes a couple of days to heat the stone walls again and it's hard to get the room to temperature during that period, so wandering if RMH could deal with this
4) A few years ago, I would have said that our weather was hot summers and cold-ish winters (-8C to -10C), mostly mediterranean. However, the last 3 or 4 years has been very hot (42C to 44C) with long drought periods in the summers, followed by exceptionally wet winters and springs. Relentless rain causing our seasonal creek to overflow and cover our fields and orchard with 50cm deep fast running water for 6 to 8 weeks at the time. Temperatures can still go down to -10C. We also have a micro climate as we live in a deep, bowl shaped land, subject to colder and damper weather than the immediate surrounding area. It tends to attract mist and fog
5) I know that humidity is not a problem for a woodburner. I meant dampness. You see, in French, humidity and dampness is the same word (humidité) and I accidentally used the wrong word. Our problem is dampness. One, because of the above mentioned conditions but also because the house is built on a hill and part of the back wall is buried in the ground. The region I live in is notorious for it's lime stones, hence all the old houses are built with what was then the available materials. Unfortunately, lime stones are porous and absorb water fairly easily, so dampness is a big problem here
6) I could come round the idea of a barrel if you say that it would give a more instant heat
Jay,
Thank you for your reply and the link you have sent. I did read through most of that thread at the time and even contributed to it. Maybe saying that we were too old was the wrong statement, I am not defeated by my age and I am still putting on a full day's work regardless of my physical limitations. Maybe it is just a mental adjustment that is needed. It seems to be, to me at any rate, such a monumental change and upheaval to our already busy life, that I feel there is a lot to take into consideration. Getting old to me means taking a bit longer to weigh the pros and cons. Also, time is no longer on your side as you get older and priorities shift. I'm ready to be convinced that this is a priority!
