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We had a fire here a month ago. Won't be long till I have to light the 2nd stove.
2 weeks ago I was burning 24hr/day for a few. Light a fire almosst every evening now. This way above norm temp is due to die out tomorrow. Was 80 in Spokane yesterday. Just came in from bucking/loading willow rounds - was T-shirt time at 9am.
 
Haven't lit a fire yet, but have run the heat pump a few times. Hasn't gotten cold enough yet to justify a fire; if we tried we'd be opening the door and venting the place half an hour after lighting the stove.
 
I never start a fire until after deer season, I'm gone for 3 weeks so it's late November.
Can't trust the wife to load the boiler, been there done that.
 
Really? Who owns them and why?
Reindeer owners. I don't know exact history, but Reindeer herding is a very old source of livelihood in Lapland. I think this brochure gives you better understanding than me trying to explain :)

Reindeer brochure

There's also a wild subspecies called Finnish Forest Reindeer. Hunting of Finnish Forest Reindeer is very limited due to its small populations.
 
Imagine what this photo would look like in France, the UK, or Germany.

View attachment 1118434
The energy crisis here in (western, I'm from Belgium) Europe, mainly caused by the war in Ukraine and certain political choices, is far from as bad as some media portray it... Especially Russia had some misinformation campaign portraying Europe as if we were freezing to death.
You obviously don't have to believe me, all I can say is that I'm somewhat in the middle of it - France and Germany are neighbouring countries. There is a lot of justified criticism toward energy policies here, but it's not like the situation right now is desperate or anything.

Prices increased (and lowered again), and if one commodity (e.g. natural gas) goes up the others follow, so wood, pellets... also got wáy more expensive.

It is/was bad for the economy, some companies simply stopped producing for a while (e.g. enameling ovens burning lots of natural gas). Some people had problems paying their bills, but the government basically lowered the taxes on fuels to somewhat mitigate. For me it didn't matter, I have been cutting for a couple of years and my wood stack is considerable :). I have a propane tank but mainly use it for water heating, so consumption is low anyway.

What's happening in Israel now probably won't do any good for the prices, but we'll see...

Still temps around 20-22 °C (68-72°F) during the day here, and around 15°C (59°F) during the night. Way warmer than normal, but next week temps would take a dive, and I'll be lighting the stove probably. Almost can't wait 😁.
 
The energy crisis here in (western, I'm from Belgium) Europe, mainly caused by the war in Ukraine and certain political choices, is far from as bad as some media portray it... Especially Russia had some misinformation campaign portraying Europe as if we were freezing to death.
You obviously don't have to believe me, all I can say is that I'm somewhat in the middle of it - France and Germany are neighbouring countries. There is a lot of justified criticism toward energy policies here, but it's not like the situation right now is desperate or anything.

Prices increased (and lowered again), and if one commodity (e.g. natural gas) goes up the others follow, so wood, pellets... also got wáy more expensive.

It is/was bad for the economy, some companies simply stopped producing for a while (e.g. enameling ovens burning lots of natural gas). Some people had problems paying their bills, but the government basically lowered the taxes on fuels to somewhat mitigate. For me it didn't matter, I have been cutting for a couple of years and my wood stack is considerable :). I have a propane tank but mainly use it for water heating, so consumption is low anyway.

What's happening in Israel now probably won't do any good for the prices, but we'll see...

Still temps around 20-22 °C (68-72°F) during the day here, and around 15°C (59°F) during the night. Way warmer than normal, but next week temps would take a dive, and I'll be lighting the stove probably. Almost can't wait 😁.
I would still say Germany made a huge mistake when they ran down their reactors. They are coping yes but the cost for the environment is high due using even coal as energy source again as I think they are doing.
 
Yeah a lot of stupid decisions were made in general, also in Belgium. Oversubsidized solar, leading to overproduction when the conditions are good, so the grid can't handle the power. No nuclear development (except for in France, the ITER project I believe it's called). At the same time fossil fuels apparently 'just have to go' (not everywhere, Germany burns a lot of brown coal indeed, e.g. for the steel industry), we have to switch to electric cars 'asap' while they're still trying to adapt the grid to decentralised production, etc etc.
On the green/left side you hear more and more criticism toward wood burning too. I can understand that if it's people from densely populated areas, especially when wet or treated wood is burned (which obviously is a stupid thing to do). But I've about had it with all the moaning, especially because there's no, or not enough, valid and affordable alternatives... Also, air quality has been improving or at least stabilizing in a lot of regions anyway.
 
Same here, I lit my stove about an hour ago (8PM here now).
Could easily have spent the evening without a fire, possibly a bit chilly though, and my farmhouse from 1860 doesn't exactly excel when it comes to insulation. I have roof insulation and double pane glass, apart from that just (very) thick brick walls. Which like moisture about the same a sponge does (working on that though), so the heat must be kept up in the cold season🔥.

Picture taken about 15 mins after I lit the fire, from the top as I usually do.

IMG_20231014_192953.jpg
 
Well...held off until this evening here in mid-eastern PA. We have been unseasonably warm with a few minor exceptions. Dipping hard to mid-20s by tomorrow night - so much for making it to November!
 
23 here as well, wood stove feels really good now. Doggo comes and says thank you while I'm building a fire, and after the stove is up to temp, our critters will be gathered around it, in various states of melting.
 

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