A good wood stove is often dismissed by the uninitiated as simply a decorative luxury that only rustics and wealthy people enjoy, but the truth is that having a dependable stove in your home is an investment in the future and a safeguard against a variety of situations that people relying on central heat and a power grid are vulnerable to. There are a number of excellent benefits to owning a wood burning stove in addition to or instead of gas powered heat, including saving a great deal of money each month, but for the purposes of this article we will focus on why it is a smart investment when things go wrong.

Let’s start with the obvious and the ominous: we are swiftly approaching peak oil. Gas prices have been steadily rising for years, and more and more major oil producers are turning to risky drilling or sub-par products to survive. The recent Deepwater Horizon spill in the Gulf of Mexico is an excellent example, as is trying to refine the oil sands of Canada. Eventually we are all going to need to find ways to reduce and eventually eliminate our oil usage, possibly within a very short period of time. Having your own stove is a perfect solution to that problem. Wood is plentiful, even now, and can be replenished.

Secondly, good wood stoves are dependable; they are always there when you need them. The recent hurricane that hit the East Coast took out powerlines and critical infrastructure in half of the Eastern seaboard, leaving thousands and thousands of homes without gas or electricity, and in many cases in Vermont and New Hampshire the homeowners were even unable to travel to town to get supplies. If the power goes down and you have a wood burning stove you have much less to worry about–you already have a ready source of heat that will also allow you to cook. In short, a good fire is a reliable fall back in an emergency scenario.

These are just the two most obvious examples of why having a fireplace or wood burning stove can literally be a lifesaver for you and your family, and is an investment in your future. There are many more reasons that are elaborated on all over the internet. But the end message is always the same: a fireplace can save your life, your bank account, and the planet. What more could you ask for from a heater?