Any baby boomers still heat with wood?

[calamari]

Guilty, 73 and burning 16 cord a year in my OWB since 2005. Some of the wood is my own off of 14 acres and some is gifted to me by a couple of neighbors that want their dead trees cleaned up. Last years birthday gift form Wifey was 8 cord of hardwood logs delivered.

16 cords in a year! What do you do in the winter except throw wood in the stove like it was a locomotive?

 

[TRTermite]

(1959) Wood heat my entire life. Got to run my first chainsaw when I was 10 a little PL4? Bought a new Asley (circulator) Northern Leader (furnace) in 1980 and a Royall (Furnace) 2008 Grew up around a sawmill so wood was a logical way to go. Used to burn a LOT of cottonwood cut offs when we were young. Talk about a never ending chore of wood carrying . Dad never worried about how hard we worked s long as he didn't have to do any of it. Good thing I had 5 brothers (2 or 3 old enough) to help me. My sisters didn't help much.

 

[Jimbo72]

1946 here, started splitting firewood logs in 4-foot lengths when I was 15, for a house lot clearer in MA. Fast-forward 50 years of family upbringing, bought 37 acres of woods in a hill town, built a Moosehead cedar log home over 2 years weekends and eventually retired there with wife and her John Deere chainsaw. All the trees from land clearing.....yep, 4-foot lengths, split by hand and stacked, being burned at 3-4 years seasoned. Now, at 75, still splitting those 4-footers by hand, 4-5 cords per year, while also giving away at least that many more, unsplit 4-footers, the stringier ones, to some 5-6 other woodburners around town who choose to go the power woodsplitter route after they cut 'em shorter. Have 14 cord split-and-stacked 4-footers always on hand, so wood is seasoned average 4 years to burn. Use only wood for heat in a Lopi Leyden stove, except when gone to Maine snowmobiling for weeks at a time, then it's 48 degrees on the propane thermostat. Keeps a guy young and healthy!

 

[djones]

16 cords in a year! What do you do in the winter except throw wood in the stove like it was a locomotive?

I heat a 165 year old house from October to March, sometime April. Our boiler also supplies heat to our greenhouse and our domestic hot water supply. I use oil only from April thru September for domestic hot water. This old house is built with 4" walls and 3 added spaces over the years. Early insulation was non-existent so everything that could be reached to insulate was done after the builds. To fully insulate this house would require a major demo of half of the house, not happening. Boiler gets filled 3 times a day in mid winter time but only twice a day in the fall and spring. The boiler has paid for itself many times over. I buy oil only once a year at the end of the heating season and it lasts about a year. Cutting, splitting and stacking wood is my exercise time at my outdoors gym.

 

[VW Splitter]

1959 model here. 99.98% wood heat. 3 to 4 cords a year. Use the heat pump in the spring and fall just enough to make sure it still works. Installed a free standing Englander stove in the den when we built the house in 81. That's over 40 years on one stove. Looks like it will be good for another 100 years. I modified the stove to heat my water o about 20 years ago. I enjoy beating the power co out of the money. I enjoy the whole firewood process. With the right equipment, it's not that difficult.

 

[aokpops]

About the way I see it . I had a double bypass in 2020 I run about 3 times farther than before surgery . Really don't matter what generation you talk about .If you're robust . I did 40 years heating with wood . Just get smarter every year

 

[esshup]

Depends on how much time I have during the year to get a supply in for 2 years down the road, but I try to burn the fireplace insert as much as I can. Neighbors have a house that is about the same square footage as mine, 2 of them in the house vs. one in this place. My utility bill last month was right at $300 for gas and electric, the neighbors was over $500. I have a Natural Gas furnace and last month I used 192 therms @ $0.91099/therm and electric was 544 Kwh @ $0.2390/kwh.

I just ran the numbers. From last year at this time, natural gas increased 40.3% per therm and electricity increased 18.5%.

 

[GenXer]

I'm not a baby boomer, but I do exclusively heat with wood, farmhouse was build around 1850, and we have 3 wood stoves inside. I burn around a chord every 20 days on one stove alone. Burn around 10 chord a year.

 

[sand sock]

my parents are pushing 70 . when we were remodeling their house. i told them. i'm not buying you propane. so all you do is turn up the majic warmth box. i cant afford propane for my self and i'm not buying yours. we can splurge on a bigger more efficient wood stove and i dont mind cutting for you. we buy big fast running saws and work smarter, when cutting. they burn about 1/3 of a cord in the coldest parts of winter , every week. fire runs non stop from halloween to easter. maybe 3 or 4 cords a year.

i'm pushing 46 and thats all i heat with. not a drop of insulation in the house and burn alot more.

 

[mrhemihead]

My home owners insurance will not allow a wood burning stove.
When I signed on they sent an inspector to confirm. Propane logs yes, wood no.

Living in the sticks, no hydrants and 5 plus mi. from a fire company is a contributing factor.

 

[esshup]

My home owners insurance will not allow a wood burning stove.
When I signed on they sent an inspector to confirm. Propane logs yes, wood no.

Living in the sticks, no hydrants and 5 plus mi. from a fire company is a contributing factor.

Find a different insurance company. My sisters insurance company said the same thing. She switched and now they have 2 wood stoves in the house. She said switching actually saved them a few $$.

 

[Hard_Yakka]

Me too at 69.....since oil embargo of the 70's.

That's about when we started ... "They never spilled logs in Santa Barbara" was a bumper sticker they gave away and the wood stove store in Ashland..

 

[Idahomauledriver]

70 years old. I burn 20 cords per year in my OWB. I harvest the wood off my wood lot. My wife and I skid the logs out each year with a D7, handle them with a Mini Ex and then rent a wood processor for 2 days and it’s all done. Saves a lot on propane. Big house, cold winters in Northern Idaho . Burn wood from Mid September to May 1 for heat and hot water.

 

[Vangellis]

My stove burns wood or coal. I've burned both over the years. Since 2010 I have pretty much been burning coal. Just all around easier. I'm 68.

 

[savageactor7]

We still heat with firewood...

...just came in from throwing ashes on the driveway.

Sure the propane stove still fires up but the heat isn't as satisfying as wood.

 

[RichinNJ]

1957 model, we burn about 3 cords a winter in NW NJ using a Lennox Villa Vista. Saves us a boatload of $ instead of using Amerigas propane. Probably $2500-$3000 a year. It's more than paid for itself. We have a ton of ash trees that will need to come down. We had 2 38-42" DBH taken down. Most of it is ready to go after a couple of months.

 

[psvines]

1957 model here. Sitting by the wood stove in frigid central Virginia. Started it after returning home after Christmas, runs 24x7. Great exercise keeping a couple years worth of wood stacked and drying. Typically have 8 holzhausens around the yard. Bought the Englander insert new in ‘95

 

[sundance]

1953 model year. Mostly wood heat (95%+) for the past 35 years. Currently through a Vermont Casting Resolute Acclaim (1999 install). Typically 3+ cords a year in a 1200 sq ft house. Usually all scrounged, a bit purchased. Cuts the heating bill and good exercise.

 

[Captain Bruce]

70 years old. I burn 20 cords per year in my OWB. I harvest the wood off my wood lot. My wife and I skid the logs out each year with a D7, handle them with a Mini Ex and then rent a wood processor for 2 days and it’s all done. Saves a lot on propane. Big house, cold winters in Northern Idaho . Burn wood from Mid September to May 1 for heat and hot water.

God Love You!

 

[Chiefhobbs]

70 years old, still burning wood and I have a pellet stove for when the wood stoves not enough to warm the upstairs. Usually burn about 5 cords of mostly fir and some pine .