Wood burners...

[TonyG]

are selling at an incredible pace.
I went to my Central Boiler dealer to place my $500 deposit and grab my Thermopex. He had 36 sitting there with SOLD stickers on 35 of them with the new owners name.
The owner, Randy of D&R, sells quite a few of these to begin with, but hasn't seen these kind of sales.

I guess it's safe to say there are many disgusted folks out there...

 

[Octane]

I dont regret having a wood stove. Its well-worth the hours spent in the summer cutting, splitting, hauling and stacking wood when the heat bill comes during the winter months and its $80 instead of being $300-$500 a month.

 

[Rookie1]

I agree. As long as I am healthy enough and wood supply is relatively easy to get I will keep burning. Last winter I was getting $100 oil bills and neihbors were getting $500 bills. I think its well worth it. I have been burning for years and think its funny seeing people running about buying wood burners and the like. It also makes me mad that ill have to look harder to get good east wood.

 

[chainsawaddict]

wood heat is well worth it. you wont get any argument from me. Just let this be a reminder to everyone. If you cut wood on someone else's land be sure to thank them and clean up after yourself because it looks like there isn't gonna be a shortage on guys looking for firewood anytime soon.

 

[aandabooks]

We'll see how many woodburners there are out there once the insurance companies start getting claims for house fires caused by woodburners. What you are going to see is people with no idea how to properly heat with wood jump right in. They'll burn green and won't maintain properly.

As to collection of firewood. This alone will weed some people out of the woodburners. They will discover how much work it really is and decide to turn up the furnace or they'll just buy by the cord and have it delivered. But it is going to be much harder to find that free wood. People with land might come to realize that they can cut and stack wood to sell rather than give it away.

 

[Octane]

Im good to go as far as being able to find wood goes. My parents live on 3 acres of land in NE Wisconsin and mother nature supplies us with more wood than we could ever need.
My parents, my brother and I all heat with wood heat and the only trees we take are the ones that are dying. Even then, we cant hardly keep up with Mother Nature.
Not that Im complaining...

 

[Husky137]

We'll see how many woodburners there are out there once the insurance companies start getting claims for house fires caused by woodburners. What you are going to see is people with no idea how to properly heat with wood jump right in. They'll burn green and won't maintain properly.

I think you are confused.

 

[aandabooks]

Why??????

 

[TonyG]

Well,

on that note, we'll need a proactive approach from the "dealers" to properly instruct new buyers. Don't just sell, educate, these aren't't toys!
Follow local codes, stack height(very important), proper setback distance from there homes and equally important...neighbors homes. Don't burn just any old crap as well.
You know, this topic reminds me of the inconsiderate ATV owners (kids mostly) around here. They run through the communities streets at 50 mph and wonder why there being picked on. The more responsible ATV owners are all balled up into the same group, and I certainly see that happening here with OWB's.

I think if your aware of the fact that your not the only ####head that lives here will carry you well through life.

 

[Haywire Haywood]

I'm looking at buying a stove now and the only thing that I'm worried about is finding that free wood. If I have to buy it, there's no point. I have about 4-6 cord out back now now that I had intended to sell this fall, but I got that from one source (dozer pile) and that one is long gone. My other option to reduce heating costs with wood is to sell firewood to offset the propane bill when I could find it for free. That way I wouldn't have to stare at $3000 worth of cold wood stove and chimney when I couldn't. The stove sitting there would be motivation to look a little harder tho. I'm still muddling it over.

Ian

 

[TonyG]

Haywire,

for this coming year, I might purchase seasoned wood too help insure less visible emissions.

 

[Husky137]

Why??????

Because the units we are discussing sit outside and pose no fire risk to your home. Central Boiler manufactures outdoor wood boilers.

 

[aandabooks]

Because the units we are discussing sit outside and pose no fire risk to your home. Central Boiler manufactures outdoor wood boilers.

I see what you're saying. I was talking about woodburners in general. I'm not sure that just because they sit outside they pose no fire risk to a home. That would depend on where they are placed on a property and what is around them to catch fire and spread to the home. As more residential people purchase them to move away from the price of gas, they will get squeezed into residential lots with woodpiles and other outbuildings being in close proximity.

And before you say that they don't get bought by residential customers, I can site 3 examples in my area of Illinois, where there are people on a regular lot with an OWB and the requisite woodpile that goes along with it. 2 of these are in a town of 2,000 and the other is in a small town of 250 residents.

 

[JLROOT]

Seems like everyone around here is selling face cords. I can still find places to cut though. Some people will not take the time. It cuts into their HD TV time too much. Last time I looked around in the woods it was high def. I don't need a flatscreen for that!

 

[qphrfd01]

14 years later, me too.

To start with everyone has an opion on what is best for their situation and I too bought a unit from the same dealer Tony did. I first started researching that brand from a dealer somewhere north of Albany, NY at least 14 years ago. In my case this time the dealer and the local installer sold me. Is it the best brand? I don't think.... I don't want to know what is though!!!!
My point I never installed one due to work related moving, a kidney transplant, woodstoves and $1.50 heating oil but mostly my own large supply of wood. Local wood supply in "Rural" N.W. New Jersey was never a problem "back in the day" when everyone knew each other waved and talked. "Rural" NW New Jersey now are mostly 5 to 10 acre lots with Mc Mansions with SUV's and not P/U's with dogs. Oil is now $4.00 I have saved to pay cash for the unit etc. Plus I have my health, thanks to my sister donating me a kidney and we also have 304 acres of woods 4 hours away. I have been wondering since I also witnessed all the 35 units with sold stickers, do these people really understand the amount of work to make the OWB work, plus feed it? Did they talk to owners of stoves or was it a knee jerk reaction to recent oil prices? I guess time will tell if there are alot of these units for sale "Used only 2 seasons". I could be wrong but these "wood hogs" are not parlor woodstoves nor is the work load. My wife has always said that even if oil was still a $1.00 I would still have a OWB. Wheather you agree with me or not you should at least give a big thanks to anyone donating an organ to save a life, I do, with every piece of wood cut and stacked.

 

[aandabooks]

If the OWBs are selling at that rate, imagine how many people are buying woodstoves and putting them in the livingroom to try and save some money. These are more the people I was talking about in my first post.

 

[fiasco]

If the OWBs are selling at that rate, imagine how many people are buying woodstoves and putting them in the livingroom to try and save some money. These are more the people I was talking about in my first post.

Hey, I resemble that remark! :greenchainsaw:

But I put the stove in because I was running the fireplace so much this past winter, I got into this year's wood supply, burned too many crap-wood fires and got to hear the jet engine in the flue, have the fire department show up, and find out I cracked the flue. I learned my lesson there. Turns out the deputy fire chief had done the same thing the week before...ooops.

So now it's lined for a stove and I have a new Vt. Castings Encore (it's the model made without catalytic converters, Jake) in place. I was pretty limited in stove choices because of the fireplace install and home layout, the top load works well in my situation and I'm used to it from having a Vigilant in my my house as a child. It takes a little while to get going, but once it does it makes good heat.

I'm hoping with some careful wood management I can get the free 3+ cord I've already split and stacked (with at least one more waiting for me in the yard) dry enough by the time snow flies. I'm hoping to get a basic 8x12 woodshed built to put 3 or 4 cord in this summer.

But yeah, you'll probably see a chimney fire spike this winter.

 

[Hugenpoet]

No surprise to me whatsoever that both OWBs and woodstoves are selling like crazy. Remember heating oil started out last season well below $3.00 per gallon (and many had locked in contract prices around $2.70 for the season) and natural gas was cheaper than 2 years ago. Firewood was still readily available in this area up until the middle of November.

Now heating oil is $4.70 and looks to be heading toward $6.00 if the $200 per barrel pundits are correct, natural gas is steadily increasing in price and, at least in this area, firewood sellers aren't taking any more orders for either seasoned or green wood because demand is so high.

 

[Backwoods]

Not everyone gets there firewood stacked and seasoned ahead of time. I have known more then just a few people that wait until the snow flies before cutting the first stick for the stove. For those that are new to the whole firewood heating you more then once thing flipping the thermostat up will be there first move. What percent stick it out is hard to tell, but firewood prices are on the rise as well.

 

[Haywire Haywood]

firewood prices are on the rise as well.

I think firewood prices will rise with gas prices because once you get your saw and splitter paid for, the fuel for your vehicle and equipment is the most expensive part of it, at least for small time sellers that don't have to pay for labor, insurance and such.

Maybe I need to think about waiting another year or two before getting my stove... there might be a lot of "only used one winter ! Wife says it's gotta go !" type stoves on Craig's List next summer.

Ian