Any Gen-X’ers heating with wood?

[GoBigRed]

Love this thread. Wood heat was common in the Pacific Northwest when I was a kid. However everything is gas now. Folks are just too busy to be bothered by the work for wood heat. While everyone else was getting rid of the stoves I was wanting to install one. Finally did in early spring 2019. I love it and love running a chainsaw to buck firewood. I’d rather do that with my time than work so I can just pay the gas company.

 

[Sandhill Crane]

I'm from '77. My first house in 02 it had a BIS insert and I loved it and that got me started with a poulan wild thing that I couldn't even sharpen (the things I could tell my younger self to do different!). When I build my house in 06 put in a Heatmor outdoor furnace and also have a PE super stove in the basement. Warm house, warm garage and no gas bill. Allowed me to acquire some nice saws and justify them and my little tractor.

I used to get all the wood I wanted from land clearing at work, but after changing jobs I don't get as many opportunities for easy oak downed and loaded by an excavator or loader. I have enough acres of wood for forever though. Can't even keep up with all the dead elms, oaks and downed wood. I am building trails and every new trail opens up a new world of firewood access. I love working in the woods. It is a break from the stress of work for me.

I did not own the property I cut dead and blow downs on neighboring property. So no trails. With a quad and a good trailer I cut enough to burn for a year, keeping several years ahead for seasoning. One year a storm blew down dozens of the big double trunk oaks. I ordered the LogRite arch. Again no trails needed, tiny foot print for a while, and gone. The trailer is much better for all round use, medium and small stuff.
Edit: Photos of Margaret (spouse, winter, stocking garage for a week); daughter; son; and brother visiting from CA. All enjoying the outdoors and a little fun work, years past.

 

[Lee192233]

I was born in 1979. My parents didn't heat with wood but my grandparents on both sides heated with wood. I helped them with wood every year and stayed at their places quite often while growing up. When my wife and I bought our land and started building our house I had a wood furnace installed along with our propane furnace. There definitely was a steep learning curve to figure out the best way to burn but I pretty much have it down. If I heated with wood exclusively I would burn approximately 5 cords a year. I burn 3-3.5 now.

My favorite part is definitely the chainsaw work.

 

[ElevatorGuy]

Unfortunately I’m classified as a millennial too but I don’t fit in with them. I’m 35, most of my friends are 10-25 years older. My best friend is 57 and we both heat with wood. I’ve helped him cut, load, split and stack a lot of wood in the last few years. He tells me he remembers when he moved that fast in his 30s lol.

 

[sean donato]

Unfortunately I’m classified as a millennial too but I don’t fit in with them. I’m 35, most of my friends are 10-25 years older. My best friend is 57 and we both heat with wood. I’ve helped him cut, load, split and stack a lot of wood in the last few years. He tells me he remembers when he moved that fast in his 30s lol.

Your in the same boat as me. Hate being in the millennial club.

 

[ElevatorGuy]

Your in the same boat as me. Hate being in the millennial club.

Yup, My brother is 45. We’re almost the same person, I was just born 10 years later.

 

[pauljoseph]

I did not own the property I cut dead and blow downs on neighboring property. So no trails. With a quad and a good trailer I cut enough to burn for a year, keeping several years ahead for seasoning. One year a storm blew down dozens of the big double trunk oaks. I ordered the LogRite arch. Again no trails needed, tiny foot print for a while, and gone. The trailer is much better for all round use, medium and small stuff.
Edit: Photos of Margaret (spouse, winter, stocking garage for a week); daughter; son; and brother visiting from CA. All enjoying the outdoors and a little fun work, years past.

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If I had that equipment, I’d be cutting wood all the time! Nice!

 

[pauljoseph]

Your in the same boat as me. Hate being in the millennial club.

Same boat here. When I see a meme or come across a critique of millennials, it makes me cringe. Some things that should’ve been passed on from one generation to the next didn’t quite make it to some of us. Or maybe I should say a lot of us.

 

[Northerner]

I guess iam an xer as well... grew up with heating wood and always making firewood. So why stop. I have 2 wood stoves going around the clock all winter now, the odd time they are cold for a day or 2.


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[dannystrad]

Second year heating with an Ideal Steel and I'm 30 haha. Youngest one here?

 

[husky455rancher]

I just turned 41. Wood has been my only source of heat for 12-14 years if I had to guess. Haven’t bought a drop of heating oil. I burn about 5 cord if I had to guess. I run a fireplace insert in the beginning and end of the season. Usually a little before Christmas I switch over To the big blaze king in the cellar. The exhaust for that stove is in place of where the oil furnace exhaust was. Technically I can still use it I just need to put the exhaust back in place and refill it with water. I did this summer for the hell of it just to see if it worked. It fired right up on some diesel but it was smoking pretty bad lol.
I’m a one man show here. One of my daughters helped me bring in wood as I kinda hurt myself earlier the previous week doing wood. I’ve bought way too many chainsaws and a crappy log splitter that I made work pretty damn well. I’m seriously considering getting a Wolfe ridge splitter. I’m kindaaaaaaaa saving money here lol.

 

[SandRidgeMill]

24 and have been heating with wood primarily for 4 winters. Growing up we heated with natural gas so I was never really around much, except our hunting camp that has an old cast iron cook stove. Currently heating my home and garage with a OWB and wood stove the house. My wife and I put up about 10 cord a year. Enjoy everything about heating with wood. Also enjoy hearing and learning from the older generation.


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[saxman]

1957 vintage here so I’m an old broken down old man. Been burning wood since 2000. But as I get older I tend to work smarter not harder. Good sharp saws, Kubota tractor with pallet forks and industrial wire baskets to take the splits from the splitter and move wherever I want. Still love the wood heat and so does the wife.

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[MNfarmer]

I was born in 83 so I don't know what generation I'm technically in, but I prefer things simpler and a little more old fashioned so I'll claim the gen x title. I've been burning wood for about 15 years and in those 15 years it's been my only source of heat. I burn 10-12 cord a year.

 

[woodfarmer]

I’m 52, been in a house that burns wood my whole life, 3 cottages too. When I built my last house in 2013 I finally installed a wood boiler in my shop so I don’t have to carry wood into the house anymore.
The last house my Dad bought 25 years ago has a fireplace, fireplace insert. A wood stove and wood furnace in the basement and a wood cook stove in the addition.
15 years ago he started to winter in Florida, ordered a new prefab home and you guessed it, had a wood fireplace put in it, ya know, just in case.

 

[xraydaniel]

‘78 here and I love my Jotul #3. Got a few cords of hard maple ready to go and just started the first fire on Saturday. Note to the Millennials and Boomers. It’s not a ageist thing. It’s the freedom that flows in your veins that makes us one.