How much do you save.

[atvdave]

No matter how you look at it I have to pay someone to heat my home.It might as well be me.

I like the way you think....

 

[Butch(OH)]

I have not saved a dime.
I have earned 24,000 in 10 years loading my Yukon wood furnace.
I look at it this way.
I have to write a check to heat to someone.It used to be the propane guys I'd write the check too.
Now I write a check to my wood guy for around 700$ a year for the 7 cords I'll buy.
Those 7 cords of oak make about 1750-2100 gallons worth of propane heat depending on the blend of the propane.
At 2.50$ a gallon on the low end I'd have written a check for $4375,then minus off the wood cost of $700 .
The difference is my pay for my labor of loading the wood into my furnace.
That's the second check I'll write.So I get $3675 this year.

No matter how you look at it I have to pay someone to heat my home.It might as well be me.

The other cool thing is the money I'll get this year makes my annual mortgage payment so to know my Yukon is making my house payments just tickles me to death!!!!!

Yes! exactly and another aside is father Gov aint collecting taxes on our labors,,,, yet.

 

[johnha]

In the not quite six winters I've heated with wood I have saved a total of $6,400.33 on my natural gas bill.

I spent a total of $900 on my woodstove install and about $2,500 on my insert install(my own fault for involving the wife in the purchase decision:censored: )

I've spent another $2K on saws and a splitter.

Dunno what I've done with the other ~$2K

 

[Greenthorn]

Heating 3 buildings with wood,,,I figure 5 - 6 grand a year. Only cost for me is gas/maintenance/repairs for saws.

 

[stihl sawing]

i wouldn't even want to imagine going back to paying full utility bills. I've been burning wood for about 35 years and it would probably bankrupt me to stop it. I do see stricter laws coming for us wood burners as pollution gets worse. Some of you are already experiencing it with bans on owb's and other heating stoves. As most of you have said it is also a pleasure to get out and run a saw. I know one day we will all get too old to cut wood so i wanna do it as long as i can.

 

[K7NUT]

Not sure yet?
We have lived in this home for 4 1/2 years and burned every winter. This past month we had a death in the family, so we had to go out of town and set the thermostat. When we got back we both got sicker than dogs for a week, needless to say neither one of us felt like getting wood and keeping the stove going. Heck, we didn't want to get out of bed!
So, this is the only measurable time to get that info. It was just over two weeks, so that should raise our electric bill. Great thread!

 

[Butch(OH)]

Dunno what I've done with the other ~$2K

Around here that becomes "our" money. "Our" is female secrete code for HER money

 

[tanker]

The better half feeds the c.b. in the a.m.,The kids nare supposed to keep the rack s full but I end up doing most of the time and I take care of it at night and I usually flip the bird at the Arabs and whoever else I'm sticking it to when I fill the boiler up at night.4th year with the c.b. and we figure the middle of last winter it was paid back and this year me and it are slick and here on is gravy.

 

[Joshlaugh]

I would say approx $125/month in spring and fall and closer to $200 -300 in the winter. I think wood heating is well worth it, for so many reasons.

 

[cjcocn]

I would say approx $125/month in spring and fall and closer to $200 -300 in the winter. I think wood heating is well worth it, for so many reasons.

I would have to say that my situation is similar to Joshlaugh's. (Again,) I haven't turned on my baseboard electric heaters yet this year and much prefer the feel of wood heat, as well as the experience of obtaining it. The dollar amounts are just guesses and will remain so since I am not willing to turn on the heaters to find out.

 

[Wood Doctor]

I save and average of $500 per year, even after natural gas prices dropped like a stone this year. ($14/mcf in June and $5/mcf now)

Note that they waited until this month to pass along this massive energy savings to utility customers like you and me. What were they waiting for? :chainsawguy:

 

[farmermike]

I figure I save between 400 to 500 a month for the cold months, less during November and March. Been heating my house with wood for almost 16 years. It adds up! Tack onto to that the 30 bucks a month on the fitness center I save and it looks even better ! Furnace was in the house when we moved in and will probably be here for many more. Like having a nice warm house where the heating vents are actually warm. Its alot of work but worth it for me.

 

[rngrchad]

3 Fuel Oil Bills would come to I believe around 1200 bucks. The last two years I haven't had to worry about Fuel oil, so I could say I'm saving about 1200 dollars a year. But truth be told....the amount of money I spend in 2stroke mix, bar oil, time in the woods, broken saw part replacements....chains, sprockets, filters, even axe handles(broke two of those oops), felling wedges (seem to go through about 3 or 4 a winter), worn out gloves (4 or 5 pair a winter), many 7/32nd files, many pairs of torn wranglers, lost or scratched up safety glasses, broke a phone in the woods, the list goes on. Am I really saving money???? Not really sure after I add it all up....but I wouldn't trade my wood pile for nothing. It's more of an independent "f-you" to the oil-man, and the electric company. Makes me feel better about myself knowing I'm not relying on them as much.
*I really need to quit being so long winded* YIKES!

 

[woodbooga]

We supplement the stove with an oil furnace, which runs from about 3am-5:30am.

Before we went with wood, we did about 800 gallons of oil. That's when oil was $1.199. We switched a number of years ago and, naturally, our consuption plummeted.

YTD, we've gone through a 1/4 tank - about 60-70 gallons. And the end is in sight. With only a few more weeks of deep winter left, the oil burner will be needed less. I reckon that the convenience of oil will run us about 100 gallons by the end of the season. I paid $2.699 last fall, so...

at ~100 gallons, I'm out less than $300.

Conversely, 800 gallons of usage would be pver $2100

Unlike many on this site, I do not suffer from CAD. My stable of little saws is quite adequate to zing up the tree tops and roadside/blowdown wood my stove converts into heat and ashes. So my only real operating expenses are a few marginal hard costs and the opportunity costs of what I would be doing if not doing firewood. But, truth be told, there are few things I enjoy more than the dozens of hours involved with firewood. And I don't think I'm capable of that much *snuggling* anymore. But it might be fun to try.

 

[Laird]

It's actualy a darned complicated equation when I sit down and think about it the last three years are;

Wood burner pluses (annual)
Actual natural gas savings (2006 prices) $2500.00
Don't need to belong to health club ??????
Quality time with my sons in the woods priceless
Time away from the daily hum drum for me priceless


Wood burner costs, spread over last three years
Woomaster 4400 and install (2006) $7,000 (close estimate)
Spare parts and repairs $50
Chainsaw addiction $1500
Chainsaw repair and operating $200
Wood splitter mods and repairs $500.00
Mauls axes, handles $150
Fuel for hauling and splitting ?????? $300??????
wear and tear on truck(s) ?????$500?????
Have to figure electric power as a wash, seen no differances in bill?

And now for my pet peeve in life
For those who think or ask "whats your time worth??"
My standard responce
Same as sitting on my arse in front of the darned TV, sleeping, or typing responses to Internet posts ZILCH!!!!

I will count my wood cutting time in dollars when somebody is paying me in cash for doing it, there just plain aint any other way to look at it IMO
Sorry. of my stool

:agree2:

$1,600 - 2,000 per year in LP depending on the temps. This year 2k or more. I have about 200 gal in the tank and the only thing still on it is the dryer. Wonder how long it will take to go through that?

 

[CrappieKeith]

And I don't think I'm capable of that much *snuggling* anymore. But it might be fun to try.

The only thing I got to snuggle with is my lab and a fist full of fishing rods.
Neither one spoon well.
20 Below last night and 75 inside.Dang I'm glad I don't have to call the gas guy!

 

[mranum]

Our place is 3 years old and we averaged about 1200 gallons of lp a year with the thermostat set at 68*. We put in a high efficiency fireplace this past summer and so far since October we used a whole 40 gallons, thats with a house temp averaging around 78* and its been freakin cold. My costs are about $300 invested in equipment and free access to downed Oaks. I can handle that.

We borrowed the money for the install but that payment is money well spent since after about 2 years that payment should end up in my pocket.

 

[DAVID451]

I reckon i save anywhere from 200 to 400 dollars a month on utility bills by burning wood. All depends on how cold it is and this year has been a cold one so far. What do guys figure you save. All that extra money is needed with the economy like it is. Think i've paid for all my saws and everything involved in getting firewood several times over. If this topic has been discussed recently, I apologize for a repeat.

In the uk, Scotland I have saved nearly £1600 a year, mostly used for my oil fired boiler. I struggle a bit to get more than 50c from my log boiler, probably because it's sited outside and doesnt draw as well as it should, so I use the oil on occasions to top it up.

In the summer months I heat all my hot water with a 20 tube solar system, more than I need, and in the winter it gives me about 30c on a bright day. It cost me about £1300 to install myself and runs total auto with no maintenance.

Making sawdust bricks at the minute so see how they get on later this year once I master it.

I guess the money saved has bought me my landie, the solar kit and all the saw stuff, and instead of nothing at the end of the year I have money to buy someting material other than just a piece of paper with a heating bill.

It is a step backwards tho in terms of the work you have to put into it, but it's a buzz, particularilly when you are ripping up trees, bit like golf everyday is different.

So what do you prefer sittin on yur butt or out in the woods wif yur saw in a landie wif the wildlife.

 

[Scootermsp]

The work

My wife asked me if I was tired of loading the OWB yet. My response was, "The way I look at it I'm being paid every time I go outside, you don't save money by WISHING to do so". Too many people are afraid of a little hard work. I will say exercise (running, woodcraft, etc.) keeps you young.

 

[sloth9669]

gas bill

well jan to feb gas bill is here used 14 therms for heat and hot water. in june-sep i used 9 for my hot water olny...so iam saving a ton. bill was 32 bucks last jan before wood stove bill was 120 keeping it at 50 when it was under construction. so yea ill get my 3grand back pretty fast ( stove and liner ) and even if i didnt atleast i dont have to worry about price spikes and power outages. love my woodstove...and saws