Have you noticed more wood heating?

[artwood]

Locoweed, you forgot to deduct or add gym costs depending on which fuel source. The lack of excercise from just turning the thermostat, you have to pay for sooner or later.

Remember the old saying: wood heat warms you twice.

 

[django]

$2.11? Yikes. Must be special U.P. Propane. I lost a bet with a co-worker today, he said gas would be below $2 before Thanksgiving back in September.
He was right. I don't mind losing that one.

 

[django]

Let me clarify. I meant Gasoline, not propane. Propane is no where near $2 around here.

 

[bwalker]

he said gas would be below $2 before

We have the highest gasoline prices in the state. Most stations are around $2.30 with some at $2.40. Diesel is a wopping $2.99(thank go for off road,lol). That propane price was straight of my last bill BTW and its actually came down a bit..

 

[cunrya]

Sounds like you have opted for that nice red offroad fuel. Hey I've run it on occasion too in a pinch, but be very careful who knows about it, and you better have some other diesel equipment you run quite a bit, to justify your fuel consumption. Trust me Red fuel filters and Red Tank dip sticks can be alot more expensive than the $.50 a gallon tax, fines can be in the thousands! Unless you burn several thousand gallons a year legit I wouldn't even consider it.

 

[smcowboy1974]

I charge $45 a face cord for mixed hardwood. Oak, ash, hickory, cherry, ironwood, and a little elm. For softwood which is mainly popple and soft maple I'm asking $35 a face cord. Cut and split but the people have to pick it up by themselves, I don't deliver. Does that sound like a good price or not?

 

[Blowdown1]

economics

I have a spreadsheet that can give the break even cost on wood vs. other fuels and it takes into consideration all of the things including the costs associtated w/ cutting your own wood.

Even w/ a pricey wood burner it is still cheap fuel, even when paying for wood (which thankfully I don't do). When you consider all things such as efficiency of the units being compared wood can still be cheap. My break-even cost for a cord (at the current oil rates) is over $300 if I recall from doing the math a couple weeks ago.

We saved almost $1000 last winter, maybe more w/ the electric included since we otherwise use an oil furnace w/ forced hot air. And that was with some poorly seasoned wood. This year we have plenty of good oak and I love the fact that we haven't had to use the furnace yet.

 

[tesart]

Unseasoned spilt hardwood here is $150 a full cord delivered. A truck of logs (5 to 6 cords) is also about $150. We just installed an outside boiler. I love it.

 

[Sylvatica]

The bunny huggers have not been unaware of the recent wood burning increase. Wood burning is an evil to serious to not restrict, and their friends, the states' attorneys general, are starting to focus upon wood burning devices.
And the prospect of reducing the destruction of trees for the purpose of mere burning for heat is an added benefit.

Watch out in the future for wood stoves to become demonized for their deadly, diesel-like, heart disease causing "PM" (particulate matter.)

 

[asb151]

I had an oil fill up a month or so back and at the time the $2.60 a gallon the bill was an eye opener (275 gal tank). I went out and split an extra cord in addition to my normal amount. I am also considering one of the new Quadra-Fire wood stoves to replace my old wood stove.

I could almost buy 2 saws though for the price of the new stove.

 

[bwalker]

Sounds like you have opted for that nice red offroad fuel. Hey I've run it on occasion too in a pinch, but be very careful who knows about it,

Of course I am talking about using it in a tractor or skidder.... They sell red at the pump here and many people(not that I know any) run it in their trucks.Provided your not a farmer, logger or construction company i think you have a snwoballs chance in hell of getting checked. I have been pulled over many times with my diesel trucks and have never been checked. In fact the only one that can check you in MI is the sate police motor carrier division.

 

[cunrya]

yeah, I'd say your good and safe up there, didn't realize you were all the way up in outlaw country down here in Ohio there starting to crack down, have a couple friends who are auditors for the state, and lets just say things could get sticky for some come tax time.

Hey, by the way what's the snow situation like up there? Been talking about heading for the UP in the next week or so with the sleds if this storm were sposed to get doesn't pan out. Probably end up around Curtis, MI. Gotta love the UP in winter!

 

[bwalker]

The trails dont open until Dec 1. We only have about a 12" on the ground right now and the ground isnt frozen, so you really cant ride sleds yet. Curtis gets much less snow than we do, so I imagine its really marginal in that area.

 

[turnkey4099]

Locoweed, you forgot to deduct or add gym costs depending on which fuel source. The lack of excercise from just turning the thermostat, you have to pay for sooner or later.

Remember the old saying: wood heat warms you twice.

Yep. I look at my cutting/hauling/splitting/stacking/feeding stove as recreation and exercise. As excercise it beats paying for a gym membership and I think you get a better workout. Too bad that it is seasonal, at least for me. I keep telling myself to get back on the old treadmill again but I can't think of a more boring way to spend time.

Harry K

 

[046]

getting a custom fireplace insert made

 

[bwalker]

getting a custom fireplace insert made

Make sure it is UL listed or you will be up a creek without a paddle in the event of a fire as far as insurance goes. My insurance company will not even insure a house with a homemade wood burner.

 

[Rickmn62]

I live about 50 miles north of Minneapolis. I've sold about 15 cords of oak @ $180 /cord.plus delivery over 10 miles. I've had fewer calls this year than normal, but have had calls 2 weeks after the ad was run from people who had trouble getting firewood. As for the corn stoves,, my brother in law has one, costs him about $200-250 a year to heat his average size house, not bad eh?.Waiting lists to get a corn burner are anywhere from next Feb. to next heating season. If i didnt enjoy wood cutting so much i'd think about the corn burner myself .

 

[CNYCountry]

What is propane going for in some of your areas? Ben, I can't imagine a $600 month bill for your house. It ain't that big, and it ain't that old. What do you keep it at 85? At 6-7K for an outdoor boiler it willl take Years of high fuel bills to pay for one. I have one, I like it, but I built it. I no way would pay 7 large for one. Plus, as has been mentioned, any solid fuel appliance is work. People as a general rule, don't like work. I believe we will see a lot of solid fuel appliances for sale in a couple of years. There is a romantic element of "sticking it to the man" that is selling a lot of stoves, the reality will set in for a lot of people soon enough. There is an outdoor boiler called the "Free Heat Machine" oh how I laughed.

I used to heat a rented house that was under 1000 square feet with propane in central NY. This is from 2000 to 2004. There was one winter I was locked in at only $1.30/gal of propane (what's that, about 4 pounds?) and I would spend about the same as he did. Insulation sucked though, but we kept the house at only 60°! That's why I would imagine that those costs aren't unreasonable at all for a larger house along with the much higher cost of propane now. There is so little heat really in propane, not like oil. Great for a dryer or water heater but no good to heat a house.

Now I am heating with wood with our new house just like we used to when I was a kid in the 70's/80's. Feels good to "stick it" to the oil companies but I've always liked wood heat better anyway.

 

[turnkey4099]

Well, the usual people are busy burning down their houses through stupidity.
1. Bag of ashes cleaned out of stove set on porch = porch gone, house saved but smoke/water damage.
2. Chimney fire. Unlined, probably not inspected and it leaked heat into the framing. House saved but mucho damage.
3. Big 2-car garage and all contents gone. Yep, wood stove burning unattended in the garage. Nothing but pile of ashes in the foundation so no telling what the stove installation looked like.

All within the past few days in Spokane, Wa.

Harry K

 

[infomet]

GOOD GRIEF!
I thought I was in a high cost area, near Raleigh, NC. Apparently not.
I think dry hardwood is about $150 here. I've never heard of anyone selling pine. Over $200, I doubt if one would save money with wood. When you consider that many of the dealers cheat on the loads, that $269 is stunning.
Wilson