who here has given up burning wood?

[par0thead151]

Im about to the point where i want to say F*** it....
heating with wood is cheap, sure, however i have a natural gas forced air furnace and a fairly well insulated home. savings per month range from 100-200$ in winter, 80$ on the shoulder season.

the only reason i keep doing it is because my dog loves to sit in front of the stove when its cooking away. how many hours do you guys put into each cord of wood you acquire? including splitting and stacking...
i should run the numbers and see how much time i am spending doing this, i bet i could get a part time job paying min wage and be ahead of spending the time prepping, cutting and splitting wood.

 

[Locust Post]

I also have natural gas and if I crunch the numbers I may not save much but I'll guarantee I am nice and comfy warm in the winter. I have said it many times on here, nothing warms you to your bones like a wood fire.Now of course I like the whole fire wood thing. Sometimes it is just not about money if you like what you are doing and it feels good to look out and know you have heat for several years without depending on anyone else.

 

[par0thead151]

yea im a pyro at heart, but when i run the numbers of if its worth it... it always seems like i am being foolish with my time.

 

[Locust Post]

yea im a pyro at heart, but when i run the numbers of if its worth it... it always seems like i am being foolish with my time.

I'm with ya par0t

 

[Coog]

I Don't do it for the money....just for fun.

 

[rudysmallfry]

I had a house with forced hot air once. As soon as the furnace shut off, it would get cold again. There's just nothing that beats the even warm heat of a wood stove. Not to mention the pretty fire, cats sleeping in front of it, glass of wine, James Taylor music and a little snow outside. Okay, maybe this year it was more like "are we really getting 38 freakin inches of snow and will my power stay on", but it's still the same result. Money reasons or not, winter will always involve a wood stove for me.

 

[begreen]

As long as there are power outages and long cold waves we will be burning wood. There really is no substitute IMO.

 

[rdust]

I haven't ever questioned if it was worth it to burn wood. BUT I've been questioning if it's worth it for ME to process wood. If I paid myself minimum wage I'd go broke with the time I invest into this. I could buy wood for 150 a cord or less and still save a bundle(propane) without loosing weekends a year to processing wood. Before I had kids it was a no brainer, now I question if I should be taking this much time away from my family.

Of course I'll continue to do it since I love it but it's getting harder and harder to find/justify the time. Once the kids are older I hope to make processing wood more of a family event.

 

[1750]

It's (fortunately) not about the money. I just like it.

 

[Sprinter]

the only reason i keep doing it is because my dog loves to sit in front of the stove when its cooking away.

According to my wife, that's reason enough

 

[Sprinter]

Seriously, though, if you don't actually enjoy the work, it probably isn't worth it for a modest savings. I'm sure you're not alone, it's just that most members here are enthusiasts and enjoy the whole process.

But you already have the stove, so at least lay in enough wood for emergencies and you'll be glad you have it for that.

 

[StihlHead]

No gas lines anywhere near here. If I had cheap NG here, I would not burn much wood. If I had a source of coal here, I would not burn much wood either. But anthracite coal is not to be had around here. My only options here are heating with electricity, which is ridiculously expensive (even at 10 cents a KwHr), or heating with wood. It is not that hard to do, does not take up that much time, and I like burning wood. Paying high electric bills with taxed income is insane in my view. I could heat with pellets or propane, or oil, but they are all more expensive and prices vary, and I would need a new furnace for them.

 

[simple.serf]

IF we still had NG, I still would have put the stove in, but it wouldn't run for 5 months straight every year. I wouldn’t be looking at boilers, however.

Due to the way the lease was written, when we bought the house, gas rights were terminated, and due to the poor condition of the well (it only served 4 houses, not owned by an energy company), I couldn’t negotiate any price for gas. About the only way I could keep gas was to pay to have the well conventionally fracked. Cost would have been about $20k. That buys alot of fuel oil, and a stove, and a boiler, and a splitter, and a few new saws.

I acquired 15 cords from a friend of my father's last year, who gave up heating with wood. he was done with the mess and the work and a catalytic stove that would never burn right. He built a new house right next to his old one (no joke) and has no way to burn wood.

 

[mywaynow]

No turning back now. Too much invested and enjoy it at the same time.

 

[swagler85]

I can see your point, I know I save money burning wood but the biggest things are what others said. The warmth from a wood stove can't be replaced with other heat. I will always have heat even during power outages, and I get the greatest satisfaction knowing I supply my own heat. And I love the work!

 

[tekguy]

i have natural gas and can easily spend $300-350.month in winter to keep house around 60,don't even want to know what bill would be to match heat output of wood stove

 

[BrianN]

We (myself, wife and cat) love the heat from the wood stove. We live in an area where we get frequent power outages. Pellets stoves are too expensive, to buy pellets, then the hydro bill sky rockets when in use.
One suggestion, as noted above. At least keep enough wood for emergencies, or, if you just want a fire on an extremely cold night.
Another thought. Buy a few cords of wood, and have some one else do the dirty, hard work. You just sit back and reap the benefits.

 

[nate379]

I dunno, maybe 3-4 hours per cord if I figure in stacking it out back and again on the porch.

Really all depends on your equipment. Can be tons of work or nearly no work.

 

[PapaDave]

I think I'd rather spend my time c/s/s than going to a min. wage job in order to do gas instead of wood.
Takes about 9-10 hours/cord here. I'd gross about $80 at a minimum wage for those jobs, just to be able to adjust the t-stat.
It's still time away from home and family, and less choice about when/how I spend that time.
Besides that, the wood is almost tax free, while your 2nd job requires fed. and state (possibly local/city) tax, then you get to pay tax on the fuel (whatever it is for you) too. Paying taxes on a product with taxed income...hmmm.
As has also been mentioned, when the power goes out, the stove and wood can still keep you warm. The furnace is going to just sit there while you freeze.
Then, there's this "As soon as the furnace shut off, it would get cold again. There's just nothing that beats the even warm heat of a wood stove."
Pretty sure it's wood for me.
HTH

 

[Frugal]

In 1979, new to wood burning, my wife and I worked 450 person-hours, bucking, splitting, stacking, hauling an 18-ft U-Haul worth of "free" wood in and ashes out, to save $750. But it was $750 we didn't have, and fuel oil went from $0.49 to $1.29 in what seemed like minutes. But we were hooked anyway, and got more efficient about it as the decades went by. Now I don't count the hours anymore. Some folks need a gym membership for exercise with all those fancy machines. My "fancy machines" are the 1979 Stihl 015L, an 8# maul, 8# sledge, 3 wedges, a Collins axe, and a couple of bow saws. Burning 2 cord and saving 400 to 450 gallons of fuel oil a year, can't beat the comfort and the view of the fire. The Lopi Endeavor and chimney have now been through 5 seasons and are paid for. Burn wood, life's good.

 

[firefighterjake]

Never figured in my time . . . probably because it is one of the few "chores" that doesn't seem like work . . . I enjoy cutting, splitting and stacking wood . . . seeing the wood stacked up as a future hedge against the cold and bitter winds of winter.

As for financial purposes . . . no access to natural gas means I would be paying close to $2,000 for heating oil each winter which isn't admittedly a great amount (I burned 580 gallons of oil in 2007 I think it was . . . this would equate to $1,971 with the price of today's heating oil at $3.39.) Getting access to "free" fuel means other than the small cost of filling up the fuel tanks in the chainsaw, splitter, ATV and truck, a few miscellaneous expenses (bar oil, new chain once in a blue moon, etc.) -- time is the only other thing I'm out of . . . and time is one thing I am fortunate to have . . .

As I said, $1,971 is not a huge amount . . . but a cruise for my wife and I was only $1,100 (well a bit more once you factor in the air fare, excursions, hotel, etc.) . . . I take the amount I save in heating and use it for a "luxury."

Like others I also enjoy the heat, the view and the knowledge that in a power outage I will stay warm.

I'm not sure about saying no other heat source is the same as wood heat . . . honestly the hot water baseboard from the oil boiler keeps the whole house at a pretty toasty, even temp . . . but that comes at a cost . . . in an oil bill.

 

[northwinds]

I also have natural gas. I save a few hundred dollars per month on natural gas and a hundred dollars per month on the health club membership
that I don't need. I like processing wood and being outside, especially during the spring and fall. I hate the smell of stinky socks and locker rooms.

 

[rdust]

I dunno, maybe 3-4 hours per cord if I figure in stacking it out back and again on the porch.

Really all depends on your equipment. Can be tons of work or nearly no work.

IIRC you buy logs? That takes a pretty big chunk of time out of processing a cord.

 

[BrotherBart]

I doubt that the folks that have given up burning wood for heat hang around here much after they stop burning.

 

[Waulie]

I save a ton of money (to me anyway) vs. propane. If I didn't save a ton of money I would still burn wood because like everyone else, I actually enjoy the work and LOVE the heat from the stove. I also own many, many dead trees so what the heck right? I would probably burn a bit less though.

Felling, bucking, spitting, moving, and stacking is probably around a full days work for each cord. I never spend that much time at it all at once though. It's amazing how an hour or two here and there adds up to a nice stack o' wood. As for spending time away from the family to do it..... Hell yes! I don't feel too bad about a few hours a week for a few weeks a year of me time. At least I'm not at the bar or something.