Our house came with a pellet stove - I've always kept a bunch of pellets on hand for a short term emergency (wood stoves are nearly impossible to get permitted in our area). Came in really handy a couple years back when our furnace died in the middle of winter and it took a month for me to diagnose it and get the needed parts in to repair. Kept our 3,100 sqft house chilly but comfortable using about 1.5 bags every 24 hours. Ours has a 12v battery backup inverter that's supposed to run 48-72 hours on a pair of standard car batteries. If you rely on one, I'd keep a bottle of gel starter fluid on hand for when the igniter eventually dies.
I'd replace the pellet stove with a woodburner in a heartbeat if free wood was readily available around here, and if they didn't actively look for them in the winter. Pellet stove needs pellets (can't burn the furniture in an emergency) and electricity. That being said, bags of pellets can be hauled in the back seat of a sedan, have never brought bugs into the house, and are easy to store in little nooks and crannies of the house where wood wouldn't be practical...