Hi Brad.

Interesting historical in your note, regarding the fire dept and your situation. We do burn wood in the fireplace in winter, and were considering adding a wood stove to the large kitchen (just enlarged last year. I'm no authority in any of this. Everything I know I learned OTJ (so to speak).

Regarding heating: In Northern Maine as you know we have no gas. Heating is usually either oil or wood.
We bought a wood boiler as an alternative in case oil became scarce or non-deliverable. Hasn't happened yet, though prices are higher. Wood boiler is available for installation should we so choose.

Regarding cooling: We rarely run the air-conditioners. We have split units. Summers are generally nice and at nite it's extremely pleasant.

Regarding alternative power: besides the above wind system (and the desire but impractical cost of PV) we have standby generator(s) and battery backup which I'll detail in another post.

,,,to be continued regarding generator backup.