In Juneau, Alaska, electricity is generated by water about 15 miles down the coastline. It is fairly reliable but now and again a snow avalanche will take out a section of poles or a bald eagle inadvertently touches two points and the electricity grid goes down. Usually it comes back within the hour but the potential for longer outages is there.

Most of the furnaces in Juneau are fired by oil - but sparked by electricity. When the power is out, most of us have cold houses.

In the back of my mind I keep a list of a number of friends that I know have fireplaces and a few that have flattop wood stoves. If I owned my home I would most certainly have a woodburning stove, whether by pellet or log.