U.S. Census figures show the number of households using wood as a primary heating source nearly doubled in Maine from 2000 to 2010. Nationwide, the use of wood grew by a third over the decade.

Dan Stevens of Gardiner, Maine, says he got rid of his oil furnace and turned to wood in 2008 after heating oil prices spiked to over $4 a gallon.

He's been spending about $2,500 a year on cord wood, wood pellets and propane that he uses as a backup, which is about half what his heating oil costs used to be. He also likes using a renewable, local fuel source.

Nationwide, nearly 2.4 million homes used wood as their primary heat source in 2010, up from 1.8 million households a decade earlier.

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