The Economy of Wood Heat

[CTYank]

Been using woodstoves since the late '70s, and laughing all the way to the bank. Got to be a pretty competent scrounger. Navy-buddy who worked for Mobil was fellow-sawyer got a discount on oil from Mobil- no big help to him financially. He was the "numbers-person".

Recent years I've been volunteering, mainly with saws on the p/u, for local Land Trust and now the Audubon Society. With the LT, we just put in place a 400-tree plantation of blight-resistant American Chestnut. Took a week's+ work prepping the property, clearing the boundary and removing decrepit ash trees, ailanthus, etc. Chipper being limited to 8", guess whose p/u hauled out much of the wood, definitely not ailanthus, though, only white ash.

A big white oak blowdown on the same property is ready to be split for hauling out. Two to three serious loads on a lil Ford Ranger. No shortage of such exercise available on more of the many properties owned by that Trust. Jeans that used to fit tightly now fall down without a belt. That's a huge benefit, maybe the biggest. All the wood I can haul is seen as partial payback; no argument there.

Now the Audubon folks have arranged some sort of scheme, on paper or wherever, to be able to go forward clearing up massive damage from Sandy. Of course as a volunteer, my pay is all the wood I can load & haul, starting with some hickories, thanks. So many large oaks hanging! So many I may have to talk to @spike60 about deals on a 372 or 576.

If you make yourself available to volunteer with folks that can find an opening for you, and you can do the job, it seems that good things can happen. After a while, "word gets around". As to the numbers, no gym could exercise body & mind to that extent, there are some serious deductions in play, and I can load out all the prime wood I can handle. All of it is about as much fun as you can have clothed.

Some LT people would like me to work on servers, but being retired, that'd be really boring, and no wood to cut & load there.

 

[sb47]

Here is an interesting fact i discovered during my remodel project. Some of the 3/4 ply I used in the floor was already painted and some was not. In the winter, the painted floor was colder to the feel then the non painted wood.

 

[sb47]

The main cost of firewood is transportation cost. Wood is heavy and gas is high.
My Mesquite suppler went from 250 a cord to 500 a cord, overnight. He clams its because he hast to haul it further.
Same with my hickory dealer, he said the timber company doesn't want it and he can take all he wants.
He has a 18 wheeler logging truck with a loader arm on it, so he can load and unload where ever he wants.
I asked hi how much can you haul in one load, he said about 8 to 10 cords of strait logs.
I then asked how much you charge to deliver me a load, he said about 600 dollars.
I reached into my pocket and said, hey I work strictly with cash and I have here 1000 dollars and am ready for your delivery.
He seemed happy to make a sale and said he'd get right in it. Been calling and even stopped by and he keeps making up every excuse in the book why he cant do it.
I'm no fool, I didn't pay till I saw wood on my lot. His loss, not mine.

But to be fair we all sometimes get caught up into something that diverts our attention.

 

[svk]

The main cost of firewood is transportation cost. Wood is heavy and gas is high.
My Mesquite suppler went from 250 a cord to 500 a cord, overnight. He clams its because he hast to haul it further.
Same with my hickory dealer, he said the timber company doesn't want it and he can take all he wants.
He has a 18 wheeler logging truck with a loader arm on it, so he can load and unload where ever he wants.
I asked hi how much can you haul in one load, he said about 8 to 10 cords of strait logs.
I then asked how much you charge to deliver me a load, he said about 600 dollars.
I reached into my pocket and said, hey I work strictly with cash and I have here 1000 dollars and am ready for your delivery.
He seemed happy to make a sale and said he'd get right in it. Been calling and even stopped by and he keeps making up every excuse in the book why he cant do it.
I'm no fool, I didn't pay till I saw wood on my lot. His loss, not mine.

But to be fair we all sometimes get caught up into something that diverts our attention.

Getting a semi load of logs can be a challenge these days around here. Price is way up as truckers are in much higher demand. All of the railroads are shipping more and more oil related stuff which is pushing agriculture and mining onto the highways. Truckers are much more interested in getting good pay from a corporate contract versus hauling logs for a low yield.

One of the larger firewood guys around here is the brother of a logger and still has trouble getting logs hauled in.

 

[olyman]

I would say it all depends on many factors. such availability, type of wood and cost to process what you need.
And of course your time.
Id say some years it makes no difference, other years there can be a big savings to wood heat.
On a health note, your most likely to be in much better physical condition gathering and storing your own wood.
Economically, your off the grid, and that is worth a lot to me.
Amateurs probably lose money till they get the hang of how to process proficiently, Once one get experienced and has common since and have learned a better way do much better.

When they call up and say I'm cold can you sell me some firewood, I say sure. Then they hear the price and all of the sudden they think your trying to rip them off.
I tell there fat asses to go find haul cut split and stack and season your own wood and then get back to me and tell me how I am ripping you off.
Pay the price or go somewhere else where the prices are all the same. Or stay cold, I don't care.

It reminds me of the grasshopper and the ant.

Dennis

straight!!!

 

[olyman]

By the way I had 45 calls for firewood just today alone.
Why do these people wait till it gets cold before ordering wood?
Two thing are a guaranty about the weather. It gets hot in the summer and cold in the winter.
These are the very people that will beg plead and steal when the **** hits the fan.
They don't look ahead or paperer for it even though they know its coming.
I say let them suffer.

two in a row!!!!

 

[Sawdust inspector]

I figure it takes me a 30 pack of beer per 3 cords made

 

[Chris-PA]

I figure it takes me a 30 pack of beer per 3 cords made

The 30 pack is a wonderful invention - you can drink a 6 pack on the way and still have a case when you get there!

 

[olyman]

The 30 pack is a wonderful invention - you can drink a 6 pack on the way and still have a case when you get there!

and be alcohol impaired,, cutting wood....yup.....

 

[Chris-PA]

and be alcohol impaired,, cutting wood....yup.....

Apparently, just like logic, humor is lost on you.

 

[olyman]

Apparently, just like logic, humor is lost on you.

BS..........whassamatter,,get caught??? so you dodge??? phony...

 

[cus_deluxe]

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.

On this note, even if on paper it may come out "a wash", that does little to consider the actual cost of fossil fuel production and the way it is used in this country. There is plenty of gas that can be produced to power saws and splitters forever. a staggering % of the fuel in this country goes to food production (corn for cows). Burning firewood is as close to carbon-neutral as you can get with combustion. this does have to count for something

 

[hamish]

Plus remember if you use oil to heat your house a lot of the profit goes to people that really don't like us.

You best figure out where your oil supplies are coming from, as the vast majority are domestic.

 

[sb47]

On this note, even if on paper it may come out "a wash", that does little to consider the actual cost of fossil fuel production and the way it is used in this country. There is plenty of gas that can be produced to power saws and splitters forever. a staggering % of the fuel in this country goes to food production (corn for cows). Burning firewood is as close to carbon-neutral as you can get with combustion. this does have to count for something

You have some good points. working up your own wood for heat does off set fossil fuels.
lots of wood doesn't nee a lot of processing to be used as fuel.
And it keeps you in shape.

But every living thing is carbon based, that includes wood. when a tree dies and rots on the ground, It is relising that stored up carbon at a slow rate.
When you burn it, you release's it at a faster rate.
The world is made of carbon, it's only the amount that is being stored and realest that keeps the balance of our weather the same.
If this balance were to change, witch history proves it does in natural cycles, be man made or not, the weather and climate will tip and eventual change anyway, with or with out us.

 

[hamish]

and be alcohol impaired,, cutting wood....yup.....

On 6 beers? Best not travel north.

 

[sb47]

On 6 beers? Best not travel north.

I'd have to stop and pee so many times, I'd never get there!

 

[hamish]

I live rural, closest natural gas available is a pot of beans on the stove, most insurance companies in the province will no longer insure if heating with oil, so things boil down to propane or wood. Wood is my primary heat source with propane reserved for cooking, hot water, fridge, and backup minimal heat during the winter.
Everywhere I look theres wood. Cut about 2 cord a year just heading to the lake to go fishing. Cutting wood for me is not a job or a chore, just a way of life/hobby.
I live small and simple, burn about 10x of wood in the shop than I do at the shack.

 

[brenndatomu]

most insurance companies in the province will no longer insure if heating with oil

Really?! What the heck is the issue with oil heat as far as ins. co. is concerned?!

 

[hamish]

Really?! What the heck is the issue with oil heat as far as ins. co. is concerned?!

Basically a political bureaucracy that feeds upon themselves and ensure the continuance of there practices, at the cost of the other voters and all taxpayers. Too many layers of government and agencies make a simple 2 gal oil spill at a residence a million plus ordeal.

 

[sb47]

sub division my house is in was fitted with it before our building was done being built. i believe it was an experiment but it sure worked out. the system is powered by a central circulation pump for the floor heat and then we have an hvac designed to pull heat from the foundation to heat the air. heck, i can be outside in -10c, touch my foundation and it will be toasty warm. a block away there is a field that the geo thermal system is built on. i think they plan on making it a ball field cause nothing can be built on it due to that system being underground there.

Is it one of those that circulate water through pluming in the flooring?
If so the only draw back is you have a power outage and those pipes freeze, it would be a mess.
Maybe there full of glycall and cant freeze. just guessing.