The Economy of Wood Heat

[No Regerts]

. And i have kids who think doors are not supposed to be completely shut.

Gosh that post nailed it. If you have kids, you're always wondering where the money went. Who wants to compound it by worrying about the open doors?

 

[timberjak]

I dont stress when my boiler is running and doors are left open.

It also never fails.

A friend or relative heck anybody before they leave your home. They feel the need to stand in the door while its open. The cold air just flowing in. Literally for 2-10 mins.
If my propane/electric was running i politely shut my door. If they decided to stay fine. But really folks dont open a door and stand in it when the temps outside are well below zero. While saying your parting convo.


Timberjak

 

[svk]

I dont stress when my boiler is running and doors are left open.

It also never fails.

A friend or relative heck anybody before they leave your home. They feel the need to stand in the door while its open. The cold air just flowing in. Literally for 2-10 mins.
If my propane/electric was running i politely shut my door. If they decided to stay fine. But really folks dont open a door and stand in it when the temps outside are well below zero. While
saying your parting convo.


Timberjak

I was going to say I thought that was a Minnesota thing. Then I saw that's where you are from LOL.

 

[No Regerts]

Keep the doors shut is the international language. lol

 

[timberjak]

Not in mn. Its a fad to leave someones building cooler than when u arrived.

My kids have gotten better about it. It must be genetic cause they did not learn it here.


Timberjak

 

[No Regerts]

Mother's side. lol

 

[timberjak]

Your right there i forget about the inlaws as often as I can.

Thanks for reminding me.


Timberjak

 

[olyman]

I saw what happened around here just last winter..no propane! You couldn't get it! It was unobtanium for any money for a few weeks. All the trucks got hustled up north to provide propane up there when people where running out due to the polar vortex blast. Thing is, people around here got the same blast and ran out. See, the companies don't give a crap, they go where they can squeeze the most dineros out, they'd let folks freeze around here, they don't care.

QUOTE]
dang straight, zog.. I was talking with a man,,that goes to canada to get it. he said it was 67 cents a gallon....nice LITTLE profit margin...esp when in NE,,they were charging as high as 6.21.......

 

[president]

Your right there i forget about the inlaws as often as I can.

Thanks for reminding me.


Timberjak

Ive often thought I should have installed those heavy hydraulic
door closers when the place was built

 

[zogger]

I have a buddy that lives in an uninsulated home, last year he burned over 64 full sized truck loads of wood. They said before they bought their OWB, their heating bill was very high. They spent 8,000 on the boiler. They can't keep up, he works a ton of hours and she is working now also. That would be a situation that would be tough. Unfortunately they could have invested that 8,000 in insulation along with a chimney liner and stove and in return burned a fraction of the wood and stayed much warmer. After spending that much for the boiler, they became slaves to it.

There are exceptions of course, but typically the best energy savings *are* putting the cash into better insulation, etc. Not upgrading appliances to just burn more fuel. No fuel is free, and once burned, gone.

 

[No Regerts]

I think we're about to get another tornado here in the Midwest. There's wood for a decade every time it happens.

 

[No Regerts]

http://www.wandtv.com/story/27500804/northern-illinois-businesses-selling-out-of-firewood

 

[bayard]

interesting cost analysis . i use about 8 cords a year,that is 12- 14 truck loads of cut wood .it takes about 1 hour to cut a truck load a .1/2 - 3/4 a cord per load. i go after locust most of the time.i do a few paying jobs, thats even better. 1 hour to split per cord.so 24 -30 hours per year for 6 months of heat and hot water.house is 73-74 deg.

 

[chucker]

interesting cost analysis . i use about 8 cords a year,that is 12- 14 truck loads of cut wood .it takes about 1 hour to cut a truck load a .1/2 - 3/4 a cord per load. i go after locust most of the time.i do a few paying jobs, thats even better. 1 hour to split per cord.so 24 -30 hours per year for 6 months of heat and hot water.house is 73-74 deg.

pretty much cost effective as long as you have the essential's to process wood even to the point of all manual labor.(poulan saw/ axe/maul, wheel barrow, trailer small car or midsized truck.... you don't need the best to get the job done!

 

[No Regerts]

Cutting cordwood is faster than large chunks and crotches, too. I guess It can be done well a full 3/4 cord pickup load in less time than I do it. I sure like being out there alone without a bunch of loud machinery though.

 

[c5rulz]

If I did it for the money, I wouldn't do it. Can't put a $ figure on the physical & mental benefit gained from a day collecting firewood vs. a day in front of the TV or at my desk in front of the computer.

Three years ago I burned $800 worth of wood to save $300 in natural gas over the winter after factoring in my Home Owners Insurance premium for a wood burner. Now I just sell the wood

I agree, I did the same thing. The amount of wood I burned will be a wash for the natural gas in my old garage where I had a wood burner.

woooo, somethings wrong with that scenario.....

What is wrong with that. I cut a lot of wood and can sell as much as I cut. My insurance Co put the kibosh on the wood stove in the garage when they asked if there are any combustibles stored inside. Well it's a garage and almost everything has combustibles in there. Now with a natural gas furnace the garage is 45-47 degrees and will rise at the rate of 1 degree a minute to get it toasty when I want to work out there.

 

[zogger]

pretty much cost effective as long as you have the essential's to process wood even to the point of all manual labor.(poulan saw/ axe/maul, wheel barrow, trailer small car or midsized truck.... you don't need the best to get the job done!

That's pretty much it, any chainsaw that runs, an axe or maul, and any sort of vehicle to get the wood home. Anything after that is gravy.

 

[Dalmatian90]

If you think your time is worth something, burning wood probably doesnt pay off. I charge $35 per hour for myself... IF I COUNT MY TIME....

For the vast majority of folks who do firewood, they either don't have the opportunity or desire to do work for hire instead of firewood.

I could make more than $35/hour doing computer work, but it would just burn my brain out more and leave me less effective at work.

And is the $35 before or after 1/3rd goes to taxes and other deductions? Do the folks who charge their own time also allocate other costs like health insurance? (To be consistent with factoring in wear and tear on equipment...)

===========
Anyway, for me I used to figure $35/cord times four cords per year (probably closer to five).

That was for the equipment I actually used primarily for firewood (and not including some toys that didn't pan out or weren't really necessary) depreciated over expected life, including stove, plus supplies like gas and oil.

I didn't count costs for my truck (would own it otherwise, and extra gas was minimal), or land (I'd own my 12 acres whether it contributed to heating my house or not).

Couple used saws, Fiskars axe, Logrite Peavy, helmet and chaps, my *good* stove is 40 years old and cost me $400 (it replaced a new stove I bought for $199 before steel prices spiked, and sold for $100 eight years later), tool box with miscellaneous tools and supplies. $1000 for the stainless chimney made 15 years ago remains the most expensive item I've bought specifically to burn wood.

Recently I've been buying logs for $100/cord. Better stove, but that reduces my usage to 2 maybe 3 cords a year. Though I can cut my own wood, saves a lot of time buying logs -- and the wood will still be there if my economic situation declines in the future.

So let's call it $150/cord now. $450/year.

Filling up my 275 gallon oil tank is $950 right now if you buy the cheapest oil in Corrupticut. And I went through two tanks a year before I started using kerosene then wood.

 

[JeffHK454]

pretty much cost effective as long as you have the essential's to process wood even to the point of all manual labor.(poulan saw/ axe/maul, wheel barrow, trailer small car or midsized truck.... you don't need the best to get the job done!

That's pretty much it, any chainsaw that runs, an axe or maul, and any sort of vehicle to get the wood home. Anything after that is gravy.

This is where I deviate from you guys.

If I didn't already have a dump truck from scrap hauling and a loader for around my property I wouldn't be messing with fire wood ..and splitting by hand ain't never been a consideration.

 

[No Regerts]

I must say it's nice.