While visiting an Amish friend this past in winter, I woke to the gentle creaking of old wooden steps, and I knew my dear friend was on her way to the cellar to add wood to the stove. Her husband was on a three-day hunt, and while he’s gone she’s diligent about maintaining the wood stove so her family stays warm throughout the night and no one shivers when crawling out of bed in the morning.
During each visit, I understand more of how things work inside Old Order Amish homes, their community, and their faith. One of the many things I’ve found interesting is their methods of heating the home during the long, cold winters.
The days of mainly using open hearths are long gone. Too much of the heat goes up the chimney along with the smoke. Even so, the Amish may build a fire in the family-room hearth at the end of the workday.
The Old Order Amish haven’t adopted the modern way of heating a home, but neither do they use the usual pioneer methods. As is typical of the Old Order Amish, they’ve found a successful medium between those two worlds—pioneer and modern America.
Generally the Amish heat their homes with heating stoves and often with a cookstove on the first floor, with heat rising naturally to the second floor. Kerosene heaters are used in some homes.
I have observed two other ways the Old Order Amish heat their homes in winter. One is to have a boiler in the cellar or basement that leads to a radiator. Another is to have a wood or coal stove/heater in the cellar or basement connected to ductwork that leads to the first floor (and the second floor in newer homes).
A fair number of Old Order Amish homes were built in the seventeen and eighteen hundreds, so heating them is challenging.
Heating stoves became popular in America in the mid-1800s, but the Amish and Mennonites were using wood stoves from the time they arrived in America—long before Ben Franklin’s famous all-metal stove that he patented in the mid-1700s.
Although most Amish have propane tanks in their backyards, few use propane to heat their homes. Propane is used for refrigerators, hot water tanks, and summertime cookstoves. Many Amish have two cookstoves in their kitchens: a gas one for hot weather and a wood-burning one for cold weather. Many Amish also have gas stoves in the basement or cellar for canning during those stifling hot summer days.
In The Hope of Refuge, Ephraim only had one type of cookstove: a wood-burning cookstove. Do you know why? For a chance to win an Amish-made washboard wall hanging and your choice of one of my autographed books, leave an answer below. Whether your answer is right or wrong or on another topic or just an “enter me,” you’ll be entered into the contest! A winner will be drawn Tuesday, April 27 (2010).
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I don’t completely remember…from what I do remember he was single and didn’t cook much so didn’t have the need for an additional stove. I hope you are going to post the answer at the end of the month!!
I haven’t read the book yet, but I do look forward to reading it. I loved all of your books.
Answer: He only had a wood burning stove to keep women out of his kitchen. It was an unspoken line of defense against women who wanted to get his attention.
I enjoy reading about the Amish as their faith is similar mine. Cindy, thank you so much for writing really great novels.
I love reading about the Amish. Keep the books coming. Thank you.
He didn’t do much cooking. His sister mostly cooked for him so he would have no need for two stoves! Can’t wait to win one of your wonderful contests!!
I have not read the book yet, just got this week. However, my father’s parents only used a wood stove in the kitchen for all thier cooking. Please enter me in the drawing. I really enjoyed the first amish series you wrote.
Please enter me
My great grandparents use a wood cookstove all year long. Crazy i think. In the winter there house is so warm and cozy..summer way too hot
Amish people do not use electricity. Ephraim was a single man. He didn’t cook much. Using a wood cook stove, it served to heat the house and could be used if needed to cook. His sister provided him with most of his meals. Being a strong Amish man, he didn’t want single women to see him as needy and weak. He didn’t want pushy, bold women to come in to his home.
I love your books. Please count me in on the drawing.
My answer is just going to be an ‘enter me.’
Plus I wanted to tell you that I just finished the Sisters of the Quilt series. I received an autographed copy of the third book from you and before I read it I had to buy the first two and read them. I have to do that with books in series.
These were the first books I read about the Amish and I enjoyed them thoroughly. I thought you did a nice job explaining how the Amish live and you are also an excellent writer. I love to read fiction and I was never bored by your story. It was more like I had trouble putting the book down and couldn’t wait to finish it.
Okay, so that’s my entry!
I just finished the “Sisters of the Quilt” series.
I just absolutely fell in love with the characters and am a little sad now that I had to say goodbye to them. It was one of my favorite series to read! Thank you so much for continuing to write, and I will be looking forward to reading whatever else you create.
He didn’t want to encourge any women to come in and cook.
Ephraim only had one cookstove because he didn’t want female company. He usually took his meals at the family’s table and he didn’t do a lot of cooking, just making coffee or eggs. I’m betting that the stove was probably ‘repossessed’ from his grandparent’s dawdi house as he was frugal.
Just finished reading your wonderful book “The Hope of Refuge”. I’m thinking Ephraim had a wood stove because he lived there alone mostly and didn’t have a wife to ask for a better one. It worked for him, so he didn’t need another.
Do you only have five books in print so far? That’s all I’ve found. Can’t wait for the new one in September.
Please enter me in your contest.
He had a wood cookstove to discourage women from coming by and cooking in his house. Although he had dated several women, he was not in love with any of them. He knew that when he fell in love, he would buy a proper stove.
Ephraim only had a wood-burning stove because he did not in the beginning of the story care enough for a woman to have a gas stove, which would have made cooking easier for his sister and girlfriend(at that time) easier.
Cindy, I so enjoyed “The Hope of Refuge” and look forward to the 2nd book in this series (and hope there will be more!)
I appreciate this book was on audio CD since I have been going through eye problems (detached retinas and cataracts.)
I got on your website right after I finished the last CD to see if you had written any more books and was pleasantly surprised that you have written many more!
Thank you for putting your heart into your writing, it shows! God bless you!
Cindy,
Each book you write gets better, you have now reached the pinnacle…I thoroughly enjoy your writing and eagerly await the next. I made a little clothes pin amish gal and stood it in front of my amish made horse and buggy and when my little neighbors, Sadie and Levina come to see me, they always touch it and are amused by it…Please enter me in your contest, I love your take on life! Fondly, Jeanne Bender
Ephraim didn’t want women trying to convince him of their wife-worthy kitchen skills, of course. I cannot wait for your next book! Thank you for wonderful plots, interesting details, and characters to love.
Because they were not allowed worldly things..
It was the only type stove they had at the time.
Enter me
“From” only had a wood burning stove as he had no basement and he did not can. He needed the wood stove for heat and did not put a gas stove in to discourage young ladies from cooking for him.
We are restoring my husbands homeplace built in 1911. This home was heated with coal coming from the basement up through vents. We are updating it to modern conveniences.
Wood is and was easily obtained and used????
it’s because the kitchen is where the amish do most of their visiting…it is the central focus point in the amish life..where friends and family gather….my sister and I love the Amish way of life putting God before anything…and we love your books..keep writing
Jean
he didnt cook much and didnt like anyone else there to fuss over him..he was a simple person..
oh the smell of cooking on a wood stove…my sister in law has a wood stove in a little house and she cooks up some biscuits in it thats…yummm..for some reason they are so much better…
love the book and the infor on the way the amish heat their homes..
He only had a wood stove to keep pushy women out of his kitchen…it was an unspoken line of defense.
Great Book Cindy, as always!
I would love to enter the drawing! I am absolutely hooked on the Christian Amish Novels! Thanks for your work!! =)
I think the reason Ephram only had a wood cookstove is because he did not have to use it. He normally ate with his family next door or his sister came to his house to cook for him.
Perhaps the weather was cool enough there was no need for a “summer” stove.
I enjoy your books, have read all of them. Thanks for the fun contest. I just discovered your web site as I was checking to make sure I had read all available of your works.
I would love to be enter into the contest and I enjoy reading the amish books.
I have read all your books and can’t wait for the next one. I read a lot about the Amish and Mennonites. I find it so fascinating how they live and work together in their communities. I truly value their sense of community and how they always are there to help each other.
I live in the heart of Mennonite country and actually drive them to their various places ie. Doctors, groceries, auctions etc… So i have learned a lot about their ways i must say that i truly love it. The rumbling of their wheels and click clock of the horses as they head down the road. The amish are the most friendly people i’ve ever met and one of them i know actually fixes cars lol..
If I rememver right it was because he was single and didn’t eat there much. A friend has my book. We heat with a woodburning furnace. It is wonderful heat. A constant heat.
as a bachelor he didn’t cook or like anyone else in his home so he had no need for anything else?
i’ve enjoyed all of your books that i’ve read ciny and i look forward to reading much more of them to come may god bless you as you continue to write a fan denise quintin
I love reading your books! I just bought the newest one…will start reading it soon!
Can’t answer the question just yet. Thank you for sharing your love of writing and knowledge of the Amish lifestyle with all of us.
I love reading your books. Also love the warmth of a wood stove heating my home.
I can empathize with this. About 12 years ago I moved from the farm owned by my gradparents. That house was warmed only with a propane heat stove in the kitchen. The heat rarely got upstairs in the cold Nebraska winters. You knew you had enough blankets on your bed when they were too heavy to easily roll over at night. My mom grew up like that. I grew up visiting often and had lived there for about 6 years.
I can’t answer the question because I haven’t read the book…(hangs head). I had a wood burning stove when I lived in Ohio and loved how warm and cozy it made the house. I also loved listening to all the popping sounds it made.
Please include me in this giveaway, I would love to choose one of your books, and that wash board is beautiful
I’m not sure, but maybe he enjoyed the feel of the wood stove…very different and more comforting than the other types of stoves.
He wanted to find a girl that would accept him (his kitchen) the way he was. I think.
It’s been a while since I read the book but I remember that Ephraim lived alone and his sister usually did the cooking for him at her home. It seems like it was a one level home and only needed the cookstove to heat. I did really enjoy the book and would love to be entered into the contest. Thank you.
Look at all these comments. Please enter me in the drawing.
Frances
Please enter me in the contest!
I would love to wake to a woodburning fire. I love the smell of the burnt wood. The way you tell us about your Amish friend make me feel like I am there with you.
Hi Cindy. Thank you so much for the stories of the Amish. I continue to be in awe of such talent that you have and the way of life of the Amish. I am a fan for life. Trish
As a child we heated by oil stove in our kitchen and if lucky had one in the living room, we often bathed by the stove because it was so cold. The cleanest child went first then to the dirtiest — lol.
Ephraim only had a wood cook stove because He did not want eligible girls cooking in his house. He thought it would make it harder for them. A gas stove is easier to use, and they might come and cook for him to try and get his attention and have him court them.
It kept women out of his kitchen and it was what was there. Thanks for keeping up your writing and keeping me entertained on facebook. You are an awesome Woman of God!
I’m not sure of the answer maybe because he was single and he didn’t worry about it so much. I love your books and want a chance to win. Thanks for the great books!
I am like a sponge when it come to the Amish, I soak it all up….just can’t get enough. Very inertesting to me!
I think it was to keep women out of his kitchen! Love the books I have read so far.
I can hardly wait to start reading your books. I am finishing up other books that I had prior to learning about yours. Thanks for sharing your knowledge of Amish life with us.
I think it was because it was what the bishop allowed. I loaned out my book to my mom or I would go get it! I love your books and can’t wait to read the newest!!
I think he used it because it served his purpose and if something works, why change it. Of course, too, he was pretty independant–not wanting to “bend” to pressure from the women in his life.
Don’t know the answer but love your books.!
I would love to win this contest
I read all your books so far and am patiently waiting for the next one…LOL..:)
The answer to your question is :
“One reason he didn’t own a gas stove was to keep women out of his kitchen…
The wood stove was an unspoken line of defense against pushy women who wanted to win his fondness…” These are quotes from the book..hope this was alright??
I love the Amish, have some great friends with them and the way they live make me relize that we can get along without so many “gadgets”…
Please enter me…
Can’t wait for the next book.
He used a wood cookstove because he was single and didn’t cook much.He ate most of his meals with his family-maybe?
I love your books and each time Amazon.com offers one-I pre-order it and check my account often hoping the release date gets moved up.When I start reading,I can’t put it down.Thanks for a wonderful job.
I also think that it is wood heat and some kerosene heat maybe as well!!!! They have to haul lots of wood for a cold winter as well.
I think maybe the woodstove was for cooking, I know my grandmother used to tell us that she had a wood stove that she did her cooking on. My mother in law in Mexico does the same, they often use wood stoves for cooking also, you can smell the aroma of wood burning through out the day as the women are preparing the meals for breakfast and supper. I love it. I am waiting for the second book to Hope and Refuge to come out, I see it is due out on my birthday. can’t wait.
I think they still use the wood stove if not some may have the electric fire place.
My mother cooked on a wood stove until I was 10 years old. She loved it.
I would love to win the book and have it signed. I have all your books, they are awesome.
I believe it was to scare off women he was not interested in. I LOVE your books! Have read them all and can’t wait for the next.
Please enter me into this contest. I love reading books about the Amish and Mennonite. I can read and speak a little German, which is what Pennsylvania Ducth is taken from. So it is really gut (good) to see you use this language in your books. The two languages are slightly different from each other but I can still understand what is being said. Thank you for including a translation at the back of the book for the words I have trouble with.
Cooking on a wood stove takes a lot of talent!
Enter me I haven’t read that book yet. But have read all your other ones.
I think it’s because he hasn’t married yet and that the Bishop hasn’t approved a propane stove because he was unmarried. Not sure since I haven’t read this book yet.
have read your other books and love them. The Amish have a way of making life seem sooo simple.It’s a joy to read about how they live and wonder what it would be like to live like they do.
I really enjoyed Hope Of Refuge and now look forward to Bridge Of Peace. You’re a terrific writer!
enter me pls……<3
Cindy I have not read the book yet but I plan on buying book 1 as soon as I get paid this week. Thank you so much for sharing all this information about the Amish and their way of living. I love reading about the Amish They are not caught up in a world of materializem they find meaning and peace being with family and friends and devoting their lives to goodness and peace and to living for Christ. God bless.
Was it for practical purposes? He could use the one stove for all of his needs?
I remember when my mother cooked all our meals on a wood stove. Some how the food just seemed to taste better cooked on a wood stove.The wood stove added warmth for the winter months but also in the summer. Canning our food was done outside over an open fire. Love reading the amish books you write. I think it is so nice of you to have these contests. Please enter me.
I don’t know the answer to that question about The Hope of Refuge, because I did not read the book yet. I am waiting until the whole series is out, but I would love to have the Amish made Washboard! Thanks
He had no cellar?? I really just took a guess. Love your books and the contests are so much fun…
Back in the days the amish only had wood for there sort of heating,cooking and etc.I would love to winner your book and washboard.thank you so much for all your contests and your though on the amish,I just love read about them.
You are so lucky to have an Amish friend and to know how they live their lives. I visited a Amish family a couple times who were friends with my Aunt and Uncle in Lancaster. It was a long time ago but I was always amazed by how simple their lives were.
Wow that is amazing how they heat their homes!
I think it would be interesting to try and cook on a wood stove, at least if your electric went out you would still have heat!!
Since you wrote your first book I have been hooked with your writing. Your first book made me cry.
I hope someday I can visit Amish country. Down here in SC we have Mennonites but I am not friends with any. Back in SD we had Hutterites.
I love reading about the Amish!!! Keep writing such wonderful books!!!
I started reading your books last summer, and became very fascinated with the Amish way of life. I learned they do so many wonderful things with what God has given them. Sometimes I think there way of life would be so much less complicated than the way we are use to living. I visited Holmes County a few weekends ago, and cannot wait to go back, when I have more time to spend, and the weather is warmer, so there are many more things to see and do. I cannot wait to read your new book.
My grandma used a wood cookstove every day (until she got too old to live alone). She was not Amish (although she was German). So she had an electric cook stove right next to her wood stove. She refused to use it though. Even when it was hot in the summer. She always lit a fire in her wood stove and cooked that way.
Didn’t he have a shop to make things out of wood, perhaps he was recycling scraps besides obeying the rules of his order.
Maybe he only needed one stove. Love your books. Please enter me in the contest.
In a day and age where people rely on electricity, the Amish have managed to make do with God gave them. A cookstove would have been used for many things, cooking, warming , making tea, and as a gathering place by many families on a cool night. As my library never seems to have the book in so I can read it again..lol, I do not know of Ephraims stove usage, but I know I would use it for all the above, and to make tons of hot water as my daughter is a clothes hog to wash with…LOL
There is a Dutch (Holland Dutch) word that describes wood burning stoves and/or hearths- gezelligheid -the g’s are a throat sound and if you can do them, you must have a dutch background (it’s one of those words that doesn’t really translate but would be close to coziness). That’s what i think of when I am in a room with one or smell them in the air on cold days. Again, i love your books. Keep writing
Just enter me, please!!!!
I think a wood burning stove would be good for heating the home as well as cooking too. I am so excited about your new book!!
I would guess he couldn’t afford but one stove. Love your books!!
Cindy, I love your books! Cannot wait for more!!! Thanks, Melanie
I am so interested in all things related to the Amish and have great respect for them.
That was the only stove in the house. He hasn’t put a gas stove in cause he has not married. Can’t wait for book 2. Awesome reading.
Love reading all your Amish books.cant wait till the next one comes out.. Thanks
I love this artical,it is full of information.I love your books.I would love to win an autographed copy.I haven’t read this book yet,but my guess would be that wood is all he had.Can’t wait to read it.God bless you.
Love books about the Amish….would like to stay at an Amish Bed and Breakfast sometime…blessings
I assume he only had a woodburning stove for heating the home and cooking. He probably didnt see a need for anything else! Love your wonderful stories!
When I was growing up we had a coal/wood burning furnace in the basement my Dad would fill it up in the morning before he went to work and then in the afternoon when he came home from work and again before he went to bed.We stayed warm all winter.I love reading about the Amish in some ways they remind me of the way I grew up.
I loved that book! He only had a wood burning stove to keep women out of his kitchen.
i’m sorry to say this but i have no idea why just the one cook stove . i haven’t had the joy of reading that book yet but i will soon.i love reading and learning about the amish lifestyle when you think about they work they do it makes you stop and think just how much easer it it for me to clean and get things done so why do i complane about it lol keep the books coming love them god bless
i have all your books along with other amish authors,i just enjoy them all so very much. keep up the good work !!
I haven’t been able to buy that book yet, but I would like to be entered in the contest. I do remember visiting relatives and a church in West Virginia where the cooking and heating were done with wood-burning and coal-burning stoves. My aunt would often have a tea kettle with water in it on the stove, and sometimes also a pot of soup.
I think it is because that was all that was allowed by his bishop.
I am new to your books and thrilled to have found you! I look forward to reading them all. I am currently reading the Sisters of the Quilt series.
I have no idea why he only had one stove – but I’m grateful I have modern appliances, although the Amish way of life is much simpler…
I read this book a while ago and really liked it. I enjoy Amish fiction where the Englisch and Amish come into contact. I thought he only had the one stove because he was a bachelor and did not feel a need for more than that for just himself.
I believe it’s because he was Old Order Amish and he was obeying the requirements of his community. I love all your books. I usually don’t buy amish books but, read them from the library. After reading When the Heart Cries book #1 in the Sisters of the Quilt series, I decided I would buy each one of your books as they became available. Love reading your comments each on FB. God bless you, Cindy.
I can’t imagine living the way my dad did in the 20s. He said there’d be a skiff of ice on the water bucket in the kitchen when they got up on winter mornings.
I just read the first book by you in dec…can’t wait to read more!
very interesting, have always wondered how they do it, a lot of work I am sure as well. Thanks for the info always enjoy learning about the Amish.
The wood burning stove would make it possible to cook and also heat the home.
Thanks for so many good books!
That’s so cool!…ummm, warm!
Since this book is in my “to read pile” I’ll take a guess & say he had only one type of cookstove because that was what everyone was using at the time period that this story was written in.
I love your books Cindy. I also love the Amish. I respect them for holding to their lifestyle regardless of the modern world around them. I would love to win the Amish-made washboard wall hanging. Years ago we used to heat our home with a wood stove and I loved the warm cozy way it made the home feel.
Thanks,
Darlene
I think you are just wonderful, and so talented, I love everyone of your books and I would love to win this wall hanging and or one of your books, If I remember right it was because that is all that was available at the time
Gods Blessings to you and yours
I am not sure of the answer. Wood burning would be easier to get fuel is the only thing I can think.
Thanks and I love your books. Some of the Amish are my best friends so I really enjoy the stories.
If he has only one stove the wood burning cook stove will heat his house and cook his meals at the same time, and wood is to be found anywhere.
Can’t wait for the new book to come out. When I was a young girl, we heated our home with a coal stove in the kitchen and a kerosene stove in the living room.
I haven’t gotten a chance to read it yet. So I am not sure why. I plan to this summer if possilbe. I always have a book with me when the kids are playing outside.
I have no idea, but just wanted to say that I have read all your books, really enjoyed them and is eagerly waiting on the next one. Thanks for the great stories.
I believe it was because that, simply, was what was in the house to begin with. Neccesity in the mother of invention, especialy when it comes to staying warm, lol!
Do they have any strategies for keeping thier homes cool during warm/hot weather?
Hi Cindy,
I can’t remember as I read the book quite awhile ago. I just love your books, they bring me to a simplier life, and right now, that is exactly what I need. I can’t wait to read the sequel. Thanks for bringing peace to my life.
God Bless
Jo Ann McGowan
thank you so much for sharing your knowledge of the Amish and your experiences and their stories with us!! Have a wonderfully blessed day!
That was all he had available to him at that time.
I don’t know the answer, but I really enjoyed reading the article! Thanks for your information and sharing it with us!
My grandmother had a wood cook stove when she was raising my sister and myself. I read all your books and you arre a wonderful writer.
I would like a chance to win
It’s been so long since I read that book, but I think it had something to do with discouraging the women that were interested in becoming his wife. Eagerly awaiting Book 2!
My grandmother had a big cookstove in her kitchen. When I was little we would open the side door and sit around it talking with our feet on the door to keep them warn in the cold Wisconsin winters. They are great memories.
I would guess that a cookstove would serve both practical purposes – heating and cooking so a practical man would only see the need for 1 stove!
I have read all the books you have on here so far. I love reading abot the Amish people. They come to the Island where I live in the summer when we have horse sales. They are very nice.
I”m slow, forgot to leave my answer. He probably didn’t have the funds or could see the need for 2 (men are like that sometimes!).
If you are only going to have one stove then one you can cook and heat with would be a good idea. Hope I win!
would have loved to have a cook stove like the one the amish had
Was it because it was before propane was available? Guess I need to speed up my reading and get the book and find out!! Love the contests and the wall hanging is so nice.
my first home as a married woman had a summer kitchen that at one time held a wood cook stove. This room was seperated from the main house by a covered walkway.
Love reading all the amish books.Hard to wait till a new one comes out
Cindy, I appreciate you so much for sharing your experiences online and on the written page through very engaging fiction.
I haven’t read it yet!! I’m getting laid off from my job April 30th… I’ll have plenty of time to read then! lol.. It’s an opportunity to do something different.
Blessings,
Kelly Hunt
Learning about the Amish is very comforting. When times get tough for us we think it is the end of the world, but we can gleam wisdom from them and that they survive each day have joy in it! Love your books and your contests:-)
I see the ads in the paper all the time about the “electric” fireplaces that the Amish make…I’ve always wondered if they are legitimate.
Very informative! Thank you!
Hello, I would LOVE to be the winner of the book. I am very interested in the Amish and very excited that I have found you, Cindy Woodsmall, author. I am so happy I have read some of your books and will read more and more.
Thanks and good luck to ME…….
I grew up near the Nappanee area in a town called Mentone Indiana. When I was about 4 my mom and dad had an Amish girl live with us during the week to help with my new brother. Her name was Mary. I loved her so much. And what a blessing she was to my family.
I love your books it makes me feel like I am at home again.
He had only one type of cookstove because at the that time, everyone used wood-burning cookstoves. Twas what was done at the time. In parts of the country where wood is plentiful, it makes sense to do so.
Hi!
The Amish only have a wood cookstove, as they have no electricity in their homes. And this story took place in the summer, I guess. My maternal grandma had a wood cookstove in her kitchen and always provides wonderful memories for me! The kitchen was really the basement in her Amish style home and it was always cool in there too!
God bless!
Dianna
i think you are just awsome!!