Keep Your Family Warm and Safe—No Matter What

Not very. Rothschild's dealer network is built primarily around gas and electric fireplace work, since that's what most village homes run on. Wood stoves aren't unheard of—some homeowners on larger parcels near the Eau Claire River bottoms or the edges of the village do run them, often as supplemental or backup heat—but they're a minority choice compared to the surrounding rural townships of Marathon County, where wood heat is much more standard.

It's not a climate problem—at 8,174 heating degree days and winter lows averaging 7°F, Rothschild is plenty cold enough to justify wood heat, roughly on par with Duluth, MN. It's more a housing-stock and infrastructure issue. The village is densely platted with smaller lots, which makes hearth clearances and chimney routing tighter to work with, and natural gas and electric service (through Northern States Power Co. and Wisconsin Public Service) already reach most homes. Fewer local dealers stock and install wood units as a result, simply because fewer customers are asking for them.

Because wood is a smaller share of the local market, pricing here isn't as standardized as it is for gas or electric. As a general benchmark for the upper Midwest, expect $3,500 to $8,500 for a wood stove or insert installation, depending on whether you're venting through an existing masonry chimney, running new Class A pipe, or adding a hearth pad for code clearance. Get a firm, in-home quote from a dealer who regularly installs wood-burning units—not just one who happens to sell them alongside a gas lineup.

Marathon County's forests supply oak, maple, birch, and aspen—all common species around Rothschild. Oak and maple burn longest and hottest, making them the go-to choice for overnight or primary-heat burning. Birch is a solid shoulder-season wood with a pleasant, quick-catching flame. Aspen burns fast and comparatively cool, so it's often better suited to kindling or quick evening fires than sustained heat on a 7°F night.

Yes—new wood stove installations require a building permit through the Village of Rothschild, and the unit itself needs to meet current EPA emissions standards. An inspector will also check clearances to combustibles, which matters more here than in a rural setting given typically smaller village lots. Most established hearth dealers handle the permit paperwork as part of the installation, so it's worth confirming that's included before you sign a contract.

It can be a good one. With average winter lows around 7°F and occasional deep cold snaps well below that, a power outage without backup heat is a real risk in Rothschild—not a hypothetical one. Unlike a gas fireplace with electronic ignition or most electric units, a properly installed wood stove keeps working with the power off. That's the main reason some homeowners here choose one even though it isn't their everyday heat source.

A wood stove is freestanding and can go almost anywhere with the right clearances and venting, which makes sense for newer construction around the village. A wood insert drops into an existing masonry fireplace and uses the chimney you already have—a better fit for some of the older homes in and around Rothschild that were built with a traditional fireplace. If your home has an existing masonry chimney in decent shape, an insert is usually the more cost-effective route.

Cordwood sellers throughout Marathon County typically sell full cords (a stacked 4x4x8 pile) in the range of $180 to $260, with oak and maple running toward the higher end for their heat output and aspen toward the lower end. Some sellers offer seasoned wood ready to burn immediately, while green wood needs 6 to 12 months of drying—ask before you buy if you need it ready for this winter.

For most Rothschild homes, gas is the default for good reason: it's widely available, low-maintenance, and instant-on, which fits a village where most homes are already piped or tanked for it. Electric fireplaces are the simplest retrofit—no venting, no gas line, and straightforward billing through Northern States Power Co. or Wisconsin Public Service at roughly $0.158–$0.162 per kWh. Wood makes sense in a narrower set of cases: homes with the lot size and clearances to support it, or households that specifically want heat that keeps working when the power doesn't. If that's you, it's worth working with a dealer who treats wood as a real product line, not an afterthought.

An insert is a fireplace that slides into a pre-existing wood-burning fireplace—if you don't have one, there's nothing to insert it into. A zero-clearance fireplace is built into a framed wall, which makes it the answer for remodels and new construction. Simple test: existing masonry fireplace means insert; blank or framed wall means zero-clearance.

New wood stoves are 70%+ efficient, so far less heat goes up the flue—which also means less draft to get a fire established. The rule: build a genuinely hot fire for about 45 minutes before you choke it down. Skip that and you get smoke in the room, creosote in the chimney, and a fire that never takes off. Most performance complaints trace straight back to this.

On average, a fireplace adds back to the home about the same amount you spent installing it. Add the monthly savings from heating the rooms you actually use instead of the whole house—often hundreds of dollars a year—and the value case is strong before you even count what a fire does for how your family uses the room.

If you're putting a fire in your house on purpose, it's best to work with an expert. Unless you're genuinely experienced in framing, gas line, vent pipe, and the national code on clearances to combustibles, have a professional do it—and ideally the same company that sells you the fireplace, so warranty, service, and liability all live under one roof.