The Psychology of Heating with Firewood

[Biker Dude]

I prefer to cut during the winter so I don't have a lot of "reserve wood" stacked up. I like to keep a couple of cord in reserve but right now I'm down to 1 cord so I'll be cutting for the next 2 days while the weather holds out to try replenishing my reserve stacks. I guess you could say the dwindling reserve/pile is a motivator but I cut most any day it's not windy and I don't have something else going on. I like to take the small rounds and burn them right away but usually I'll stack the nice straight splits in reserve. Crotches go in the boiler whole, and good riddance!

 

[kmcinms]

Wood is good

I've been heating my 2600 sf home with wood for 19 years. The original owner installed the insert that's in my den in 1980 and I use it daily in the winter. This Jan, I relined the chimney with 8" HS SS flex, so this is a bit different and I am anxious to see how much creosote build up I'll have. It should be a breeze to keep clean now.

I also have an insert in my bedroom which is 20 ft. from the den separated by the kitchen, so the house stays plenty warm with half fired stoves mostly. I'm not sure if I worded that right, but I'm hardly ever to the point of max fire and heat output. The den heater does get a bigger workout as far as pushing it, but still nothing to worry about as far as a safety issue. The good part about inserts is that I open them up once a day for open fires, mostly during lunch, and after dinner sitting in the den.

I've been cutting with the same two saws for years and splitting with hand mauls up until this year. I had to borrow a splitter a couple times during that period for some loads of gum and hickory, I also burn pecan which is a bear to bust. Finally got a splitter of my own this year and I am on cloud nine. :msp_thumbsup:
This is my favorite time of year to be with my son. Teaching him the business of cutting, loading, splitting and heating with wood is as good as it gets. He will also see how to make a few bucks from the folks that run out of wood during the winter that need to buy a quick load. Not the easiest money to be made, but sure is honest.

Now, the best part. Awesome exercise and fresh air!!! I keep pretty much fit during the winter from this hobby, so it's good all the way around. It's why I love winter. Thanks for the thread to share all this

 

[jimbojango]

I have tons of tree's around with my pastures so i like burning the damn things to just get rid of them My buddies come cut wood as well, i sell some, not much, that almost pays for my saws repairs and chains. I like getting rid of the #### outta the pasture more than anything, get "free" heat out of it too i guess.

I hate paying for propane though! i promise i'm far ahead of buying it at 1.90 a gallon

 

[Locust Cutter]

I have tons of tree's around with my pastures so i like burning the damn things to just get rid of them My buddies come cut wood as well, i sell some, not much, that almost pays for my saws repairs and chains. I like getting rid of the #### outta the pasture more than anything, get "free" heat out of it too i guess.

I hate paying for propane though! i promise i'm far ahead of buying it at 1.90 a gallon

Speaking of which Jim, if you need help cutting (especially Hedge) around your place to thin some pastures, I'll be happy to navigate out there and give you and hand when I get back. You'll just have to give me directions for how to get out there. I'm always up for fighting with hedge thorns.

 

[RacerX]

Just an observation. Although the usual motivation for burning wood for heat is economical after reading this thread I would say that saving money isn't the true motivation. It really has to do with the love of being outside, gathering wood, cutting, splitting, stacking, loading and the satisfaction that comes with that accomplishment. If you put a dollar cost amount on all of the time that one spends in preparing and using wood heat you really didn't save much money. And if you have to buy wood you saved even less or maybe you've saved nothing at all.

 

[woodguy105]

For me it's a couple of things...
A feeling of independence. If a storm is coming or power is out I can keep my family warm.

In this day an age where it seems like everything is out of control, I can look at a tree or log make the decision to turn it into heat for us and control the situation, not relying on anything/anyone other then me.

Also, I like the fact that I can see the end result of my work /effort. Too many times in the careers we work we don't always get a sense of accomplisnhment or importance. We do something but you don't see the final product, the end result. That big stack of wood each season brings me a sense of accomlplishment and satisfaction and it's a huge part of how we live.

Of course watching the oil man go to the house across the street is phychologically uplifting and in front of the wood stove is a great place to "cozy up" with the wife.

 

[Biker Dude]

In this day an age where it seems like everything is out of control, I can look at a tree or log make the decision to turn it into heat for us and control the situation, not relying on anything/anyone other then me.

You nailed it!

 

[Billy_Bob]

As to what my neighbors "see"...

I'm not a "sheep-do only what is ok with other people" type person. So it has not ever occurred to me that my neighbors might keep track of how much wood I have at any given time.

And as to what other people think about me... I think other people spend their time wondering what other people are thinking about them! (I have better things to do, so don't spend much time being concerned about what my neighbors are doing.) Basically it does not matter to me what other people see/think about my heating (wood, gas, oil, whatever).

I would imagine that those neighbors with all electric heat and $400 heating bills might look at those of us with wood heat and sometimes wish they had that too?

As for myself, I get great pleasure each time I walk by my "turned off" natural gas meter. And I love it when I get my electric bill in the $30's range. And I am thankful to the greedy big corporations which send me endless piles of junk mail. (Free heating!)

Wood heat is just one element of my fighting back against corporate greed and constant rate increases. This is a challenge to me. They raise their rates... I think of ways to pay them less or no money.

 

[OhioGregg]

Just an observation. Although the usual motivation for burning wood for heat is economical after reading this thread I would say that saving money isn't the true motivation. It really has to do with the love of being outside, gathering wood, cutting, splitting, stacking, loading and the satisfaction that comes with that accomplishment. If you put a dollar cost amount on all of the time that one spends in preparing and using wood heat you really didn't save much money. And if you have to buy wood you saved even less or maybe you've saved nothing at all.

I agree & disagree, LOL The money spent on saws & etc. most of us on here have umpteen numbers of them. Its a "hobby" :biggrin: So, I have numerous saws I can use. I use a 3pt. splitter that I bought new for $300 25 years ago. Only expense really is gas & oil for the saws, Fuel for the tractors. My labor is cheap, lol I'm here all the time anyway.

The wood is "free" so to speak, have 26 ac. of hardwoods here. I sell anywhere from 7-10 cords a year to friends & neighbors. That helps offset the cost somewhat. The propane truck hasn't been here in years..LOL.

I do agree that I love being outdoors, in the woods, felling, bucking, splitting. For someone that doesn't really enjoy it, then its WORK. I'll admit, its work, even if you enjoy it. If we had to buy wood, then it might come out as a wash on which is cheaper.

I will continue doing so as long as I am physically able to do so. I'm 58 now, can't do quite as much at one time as I used too, but don't plan on stopping anytime soon.:biggrin:

Then there is the pure pleasure factor I get from going outside, like right now, with all the snow & ice, and smelling that aroma of oak & hickory smoke coming from the chimney.

Gregg,

 

[Dakotas Dad]

My brain doesn't "see" the shrinking wood pile I am using this year.. It "sees" the growing wood piles for future years.. Trying to be at least 3 years ahead by the end of this spring..

If my brain starts to wrap up around the "loss" of this year's wood, I just peer at my electric bill, knowing it will more than double for the heating months if I don't burn the stove.. If that doesn't snap it out of it, I lay down on the floor with the dogs, put that brain about 2' from the stove, and bake those thoughts out. Something that's just not possible with a heat pump.

 

[kmcinms]

Man I love this place. If I wasn't so dern sick with this crud, I'd be outside busting a load of elm right now...:frown:

 

[zogger]

I add to it as I take out

--I have more now then when I started this winter. I also have a ton cut up waiting to be hauled back, and around a dozen trees lined up for dropping along with a lot of big branches just waiting on me. When i walk the dogs I look for deadfalls and standing dead and leaners, mark them in my mind as "targets of opportunity" and go get them when I have time. Trying to build up to many many years in advance.

I have always thought of my firewood as "stored solar power" a sort of rechargeable battery, something like that.

One place I lived and worked as a caretaker had an outstanding big wood shed, they had some wood in there that was seasoned fifteen years! Man, that was some good stuff.

I *like* that firewood, especially stuff that comes from onsite, helps make you independent of outside utilities and 'bills". When we moved here, looked at several similar little houses and cabins, but we picked this one because it had two woodstove connections, plus its own water well, the other little houses had neither. Instant deal breakers for me. With a garden and firewood and well water and some chickens and access to hunting and fishing..you can be theoretically completely independent, no matter how bad the economy gets, etc. That's my main gig, getting independent, shooting for an eventual 100% self sufficiency. I know that is hard to achieve, but we are a lot closer than most people. I even have enough of a modest solar PV rig that if push come to shove, I could get by with that. Enough for a light or two, charge the cellphones, run a laptop, run a little TV etc. And I know it is enough, because that is what powered our Rv for a long time, we lived fine with that amount electricity.

For the well, I have what is called a "bore bucket", so even there I could still cruise even without mains power. I also have a small hand crank washing machine as my emergency back up! Doesn't do a lot, but it works, tried it out when I got it.

 

[daddy]

great topic.

This is a good conversation. Wood heat. What a beautiful thing. When my back is sore and the day is long, I can sit on the concrete block, on the floor, in front of my 1979 vintage wood stove, with the heat soaking into my vertebrae.

When I have the fire fixed, and turn my back on it to feel it's warmth, inevitably my best dog weasels her nose under my hand to prompt me to pet her. She knows who loves her. Life is good.

One of my best friends caught me off-gaurd one time... we were having one of those what would you do if the SHTF? talks with a group of folks drinking and relaxing. He pointed to me and said, I'd go to Jarret's place. What a compliment.

 

[Wood Doctor]

This is a good conversation. Wood heat. What a beautiful thing. When my back is sore and the day is long, I can sit on the concrete block, on the floor, in front of my 1979 vintage wood stove, with the heat soaking into my vertebrae.

When I have the fire fixed, and turn my back on it to feel it's warmth, inevitably my best dog weasels her nose under my hand to prompt me to pet her. She knows who loves her. Life is good.

One of my best friends caught me off-gaurd one time... we were having one of those what would you do if the SHTF? talks with a group of folks drinking and relaxing. He pointed to me and said, I'd go to Jarret's place. What a compliment.

That's a 10! Holy cow, I may never stop cutting wood for my stove after reading this (and 20 or more posts above.)

 

[daddy]

Thanks wood doc. I've had a few cups of wine tonight, and was hoping I wasn't over the top. At least I connected with one other.

The brotherhood of wood burners!

My best dog is 7 yrs. now. I can't believe how fast dogs out live ya. It will be especially hard with this one. She is by far the best dog I ever had.


And I've had my share of good dogs.

77 deg F. upstairs, and I'm sure it's 80 something down by the fire.

 

[kmcinms]

Best thread ever

I'm a caveman. I like it simple, and cheap. Been cutting with the same two saws for nearly 20 year. Splitting with a maul mostly till this year when I bought a 20+ year old Brave splitter. :biggrinbounce2:
Fire in the man cave is great for the libido. :msp_biggrin:

SRV rocks :rockn:

 

[danrclem]

This is a good thread.

I was getting a couple loads of wood out of the barn the other day and moving it up to the wood shed outside of my basement door. Before the season I usually visualize a certain portion of the wood in my barn that I will use and I did notice the amount of wood that I have used this year. It wasn't a bad feeling because I know what wood burning means to me. Unless things change drastically I don't think I'll use as much as I did last year.

Burning wood means a lot of things to me. I enjoy the gathering, splitting but not so much the stacking and moving but that's part of it too. I love the good heat that it puts out, the savings and the self sufficiency. Oh yeah, and not paying taxes on anything but some of my equipment that I have bought in the past and the gas and oil. If things do get bad I can go a few years without cutting and still stay warm.

I do have a lot of money in my equipment but it's paid for itself a long time ago. I am going to put up a new chimney this year but it probably will cost less than my heating bill would have cost this year burning propane. I'll then be set for a long run of not much more that a little gas and oil for the cutting unless I decide to buy a longer bar for my 372 which isn't necessary.

Life is good for a wood burner.

 

[jjett84724]

The best part of cutting wood is the feeling I get when I see my wife and children come in the house and stand by the wood stove to get warm. My mom comes over and sits with her feet facing the fire and comments how much she likes the wood burning heat. It just "feels" warmer.

My sons love cutting wood and ask every year if they are big enough to run the chainsaws. My oldest (17) has been running the saw for two years and the next one down (14) will learn to drop trees this summer. The 4 year old and the 12 year old both load while the others are cutting rounds.

I don't know how to explain the feeling I have when watching these young men cut, load, and split the firewood. They are smiles ear to ear whether they are running the saw or the splitter. It's almost like they enjoy it. :msp_biggrin: I guess the emotion that sums it up the best is a mixture of pride and contentment. I know that they have learned to work hard and plan ahead. It's a life lesson as much as a work ethic.

 

[Wood Doctor]

Think of the Work Involved...

Yesterday I talked to an old friend at breakfast, and he said, "Boy that old ash tree ash we brought in last summer made great firewood. Fabulous heat."

I agreed and said, "Don, did you ever stop and think what it took to get that 'fabulous heat'? We had to carefully drop that old dying tree that was threatening a house. Then we let it sit there for a month to start drying. We cut hundreds of branches to length and hauled those out, saving what we could. Then we cut the trunk into three sections and hauled that to the splitter with a loader.

Then I cut the big rounds to length for splitting. Some were so huge they had to be quartered. Saw needed sharpening twice. Then we split the rounds, stacked the logs for drying, and eventually carried them to the stove. We also fought millions of carpenter ants that had nested 20' up. Ticks were everywhere. The log splitter needed repair in the middle of it when the coupling broke apart.

Yep, that was fabulous heat. Now, you could have written out a check for $200 and bought propane instead. Right?" :msp_biggrin:

 

[Hedgerow]

I hate ticks...