I have ready access to wood, so wood stoves are quite practical for me. It's still a lot of work to keep the pile stocked; to get high BTU wood you have to cut it green, split it, and let it cure for a year. But there's a certain amount of hobby in this, so I don't mind.

(Some people go "postal" when they're really mad. I go to the woodpile and whack stumps with a splitting maul, thus getting exercise and accomplishing useful work while flaring off my "mad.")

The big challenge in very cold weather is moving the warm air from the living room into the rest of the house. I'm assembling parts to test a 12VDC blower system that will feed the hot air ductwork in the house. In an extended winter outage I might need to put a second, temporary stove in the basement (I have the parts on hand to do this with reasonable safety).

In regards to pellet stoves: there are many models that will operate off 12VDC when line power is not available. Also, some models can handle corn, wheat, pistachio hulls, all sorts of fuels besides sawdust pellets. Pellet stoves cost a lot, but because they can vent directly out of the wall instead of needing an insulated chimney, the costs balance out.