The Economy of Wood Heat
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Its funny people get lulled into the same traps over and over, gas price drops, get a vehicle that drinks it, gas spikes for 2-3 years and new vehicle becomes a millstone around owners neck, oh well @ least all the too big to fail banks will be OK
cus_deluxe
Commie Satan turd
There is no doubt that wood burning makes more sense for some than others. If a guy has to make a 40 mile round trip for some firewood, that can get costly and defeat the purpose (other than mental and physical benefits). Some people with property will have a lot easier time and be able to be more efficient.
I love the work that goes into firewooding, and im lucky to work at a golf course that seems to remove a handful of trees every year and then pile it up for firewood. pretty handy to clock out and then go fill the truck w wood (wood i got paid to cut in the first place) ,without an extra trip.
I doubt there is much economy to be had tho, by buying truckloads of logs. last i checked around here a 10 full cord load was about $1600. We could heat our house (and run other gas appliances) for almost 2 years for that $.....improving scrounging skills will help bigtime
I love the work that goes into firewooding, and im lucky to work at a golf course that seems to remove a handful of trees every year and then pile it up for firewood. pretty handy to clock out and then go fill the truck w wood (wood i got paid to cut in the first place) ,without an extra trip.
I doubt there is much economy to be had tho, by buying truckloads of logs. last i checked around here a 10 full cord load was about $1600. We could heat our house (and run other gas appliances) for almost 2 years for that $.....improving scrounging skills will help bigtime
! oh yes, the good old days and ways of our fore fathers and how they toiled from day break till back ache... we suffer the pain of propane or oil, only to foil the man with the dastardly mind to raise the price this we despise ! today is the day we will sit and do none of the old ways!!!! "oh yes, the good old days".......
Big_Al
ArboristSite Guru
Don't think it's any cheaper for me to burn wood. I just enjoy cutting & splitting wood. My highest natural gas bill was 150 in January running the furnace . Have 80 acres to cut on but by the time you figure in my time, gas ,oil etc it's a wash.
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I feel this new found glut of oil and gas is going to backfire on us dramatically down the road! Just postponing the inevitable.
Chris-PA
Where the Wild Things Are
It's not a glut, it is a financial scam - they are trading oil and gas leases like they bad mortgages.
The US peaked in oil production in the early 1970's, and we've never come close since. And that oil was vastly less expensive to produce too - price counts.
It will fail dramatically though!
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The Curmudgeon
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The one thing that stands proud above the spectacle of collapse which seems to awe so many is the resourcefulness of the rural American people. They leveled our skyscrapers, grounded air travel and major league baseball for a week and all that came with it. Guess what, my fire never went out and my chickens never stopped laying eggs.
No matter how you cut it and micro analyze it wood heat is good cheap and comfortable . For the guys that say they needed to get a new dually diesel pickup a new husky pro saw. A super splitter drums of gas and drive ten hours one way uphill to get the wood at 80$ an hour of your precious time. ..then yeah it won't pay to do lol for the rest of us the wood is dirt cheap it's local and often times free right on your property .or your neighbors .A day of your leisure time could translate into a month or more of free heat ! That translates not only into a huge savings but also the added God given gift of independence I feel and security knowing my family will always be warm even if there is some national crisis or terrible ice storm we will be okay and not at the mercy of a greedy bank cartel , OPEC , or the rationing of the local fuel oil / propane companies
I remember the crash of 08
My brother calls me and says what ya think about all of this?
I ask him do you have a credit card
Nope
Do you have stocks,401k,retirement acct
Not really no
You have a high payin desk job in a big city
Heck no
I said dont worry then. The rest of the nation will have to live like u for awhile. The money you make is the money you have thats it. The other losses are not going to affect you. You work hard just like before and you will be fine.
The economic hamster wheel is what u make of it. You want more then try more.
Burning wood for me is economical. No natural gas out here. I have 4 daughters whos fav thing is a long hot shower. I get paid thru my tree service to haul out their wood.
I remember every tree from every job usually. Since i never seem to get an easy tree since 08
Plus they are usually standing dead and dry!
Timberjak
My brother calls me and says what ya think about all of this?
I ask him do you have a credit card
Nope
Do you have stocks,401k,retirement acct
Not really no
You have a high payin desk job in a big city
Heck no
I said dont worry then. The rest of the nation will have to live like u for awhile. The money you make is the money you have thats it. The other losses are not going to affect you. You work hard just like before and you will be fine.
The economic hamster wheel is what u make of it. You want more then try more.
Burning wood for me is economical. No natural gas out here. I have 4 daughters whos fav thing is a long hot shower. I get paid thru my tree service to haul out their wood.
I remember every tree from every job usually. Since i never seem to get an easy tree since 08
Plus they are usually standing dead and dry!
Timberjak
Having credit cards does not mean you are being stupid. You do have the option to use it wisely, like cash, and you do have the option of paying it off every month. It's called self discipline.
Those of us who have invested in 401k accounts have had them recover nicely.
Those of us who have invested in 401k accounts have had them recover nicely.
I am not a sir.
Whoa. I agree with slowp for a change.
Rural White Heath, 10 acre wood lot with tons of biomass. Most of the wood is on milled 8x8's so no ground contact.
firebrick43
Life is all about big saws
I was able to make a killing in the crash of 2008 on my 401k. Tripled its value. Got out at the first hint of a major slide and back in at first signs of recovery.
But I know the future possibility of it being worthless or confiscated as well but hope it will be there for retirement.
Company is very generous and matches 100% of up to 6% of our pay. Yet only 20% take advantage of it?? Where else can you double your money for nothing?
Firewoods biggest advantage to me happened last week. It was 15 degrees out,9 pm and off went the power. It was off for over 8 hours. Some neighbors were panicking, I just light the Aladdin kerosene lamp and throw another split on the fire. One was going to put in a automatic standby generator until he priced it out. Installed was nearing 8000$
Yes. I have two of the Aladdin lamps, and assorted camping gear. I've even got a battery powered shower. In the third world part of the country that I lived in, the power would go off during the summer, too. That was a hot and buggy place. Now, I live in a better place, but wish I had the battery powered fan that I now have. I don't have a freezer because then I'd need an emergency generator, and that would see more money flying away. Plus, gas runs out fast here in the hinterlands when we get cut off from the rest of the world. I do like having the availability of a shower, and have extra water cached away for that scenario. Our socialist power company does a fantastic job of keeping our lights on so I haven't had to use it yet.
Without electric I couldn't run the boiler but if it all goes south I've got a gas fireplace insert in one room and a wood fireplace in the other family room. I've got a 1000 gallon propane tank at 80% full so we could cook and supplement the wood heat for the duration of winter. About 2 miles away I know a spot that you can easily catch a 10+ lb northern a day and there are lots of deer close to home so we'd be good for quite a while on food.
lknchoppers
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If you think about it you can get your wood home for very little. Scrounging skills are paramount, but I don't mean you have to stop at every little pile of wood and try to get it. Go for quantity and easy access, you will be amazed at how fast you can have a processed cord or ten.
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