We also have a fireplace in the living room, which is lovely but takes a lot of work to chop the wood for it
My family and I are very self reliant, which is important because the nearest population center is two hours away. We live in a very remote part of the valley, perfect for people who want to live off the land. If there is a medical emergency, or we need to purchase the kind of supplies we can’t make ourselves, then we go to town. But a trip to town only happens a few times a year, otherwise we are on our own. The “golden triangle” of necessities for the family is very simple, and includes food, water, and heating. We have multiple sources of heating, and you won’t be surprised to hear that we don’t have an air conditioner at all. There are only a handful of days every year where it gets hot enough for an AC unit, and after months of frozen tundra cooling is the last thing we want! Our main heating system is a natural gas furnace, so we have a two hundred gallon tank of natural gas in the yard. We also have a fireplace in the living room, which is lovely but takes a lot of work to chop the wood for it. As part of learning self reliance, the kids all get to chop wood for the fireplace, because I always like to have a three or four week supply on hand. The beauty of the natural gas furnace is that it is so simple, so there are very few parts that can break or erode. It is a very simple heating system to install and maintain yourself.