so do you think all the folks getting into burning will stay with it

At current fuel prices I believe most will stick with it, but if it drops as it seems to be doing lately, there will be some that think the extra work involved with wood burning won't be worth it.

Stevebass4 said:

...do you think many of these new burners with stay with it or will we see a number of used stoves on CL in the next year or two

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Yes. Rick

I agree with Rick (I think) that there will be some bargins to be had. When heat meats work most people would rather complain and turn down the thermostat rather than work and heat the place well.

Some will not, but most will. I think most people think fuel prices will come down, but only for a while, be it 6 months or 3 years, but energy cost will keep going up. People are going to buy smaller cars, smaller houses, and conserve where they can. This winter is going to be hard economically for alot of people.

Oh no.... do I smell a winfall profits tax on "Big Wood" coming any time soon? %-P

I'm going to be a new wood burner. It doesn't matter how low NG prices go. It will never be free
and thats what the wood is. I look at my labor that I put into splitting and hauling wood as free labor.

Not if I keep scrounging. I burn all the evidence

I started burning wood when oil was .60 per gallon .I dont think most people will burn if the price drops . If you pay for wood i think it way easyer to use cole or corn or pellets .I dont no how you guys do it . Its real hard work . I have allways burned wood even when i was a kid . I get my wood on the side of the road for free . The thing is I drive a dump truck , so when i find wood i could load 2 cord and drive off . Getting a pickup truck load is a pita loading unloading Ect. No one wants to work .

people will cut back mostly in urban areas where wood will be the most... it will sorta even out.. but people who get wood cheap in the spring n such will continue...(or free)
its people who gotta pay 12-1500 for 4-5 cds that will say i'd only pay a couple hundred more for gas that can be paid over 12 months so go gas...
i have no choice i use between 700-100 g of oil =1400-2000 at 2 bucks a gallon if i paid 300cd 4-5=12-1500 i might go half n half but when will it be 2bucks again? so i will keep burning
but when those stoves do hit cl i will be buying

What I meant by "yes" was "all of the above"...some will stick with it and learn to love it. Some will hate it and never light the dang thing up again. Prob'ly others will sort of tolerate it and become occasional burners. In any case, a whole lot of folks out there are thinking they want to do this thing, knowing very little about just what all it entails. We'll gain some, and we'll lose some. Our job here is to tell them what we know to be the truth (well, most of the time). Rick

If history is any guide, and it usually is, 75% or more of people WILL NOT stick with it.

In fact, it could be more - because the earlier generation of wood burners were made up of some back to the landers, hippies, etc.....who might be a bit more hard core.

Some folks....like those way out in the country or with a real independent streak, will stick with it. But most will not. It is hard to see the forest for the trees, but the chances are that costs involved in heating a house in the future will not be (or at least not seem to be) as high as they are now . Even the current "crisis" is really spotty and mostly is affecting those who use Oil and LP...a rather small percentage of the total population. Natural gas is still a relative bargain. Efficient heat pumps are a good deal in many climes.

Whether or not we want to believe it, fickleness often rules the roost.

fossil said:

What I meant by "yes" was "all of the above"...some will stick with it and learn to love it. Some will hate it and never light the dang thing up again. Prob'ly others will sort of tolerate it and become occasional burners. In any case, a whole lot of folks out there are thinking they want to do this thing, knowing very little about just what all it entails. We'll gain some, and we'll lose some. Our job here is to tell them what we know to be the truth (well, most of the time). Rick

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Well said Rick. Pretty well sums it up as far as I'm concerned.

For me!I will stick with it.I should of did this 9 yrs ago when i had this house built,but money became real tight for awhile.Used the fireplace abit in the winter,boy!what a waste of heat that was.My last home we had a old cast iron wood stove(with the big double doors) that i burned alot in the finished basement.

I liked Bro Bahht's description. Old stoves in the shed, or sitting in the basement. The pig is fat for stove sellers right now- they deserve a boom cycle.

Great question, and a fair one. I grew up in relatively rural Connecticut and my dad burned wood all the time. We then switched to those "burning' down the house just a-waiting to happen" protable kerosene heaters. Bought a house in (more) rural Colchester and didn't see the need for wood burning (aside from the fact that my house didn't have a stove, fireplace, OR chimney) but now I'm fed up with oil and gas in general. I don't know if I'll stick with it, and I'm sure I don't know what I'm getting into... It just seems like a logical choice of action given the economy and increasing costs for eletcricity and oil (and let's face it, they will all rise whether it be now or in the future).

I hope to be a scrounger to get free wood when possible, but I'll probably be the guy who orders the pre-split cords. Maybe it won't make a difference in the wallet after you do all the real math, but I hope it will at least add another dimension to my home and living in the winter. The house feels a bit antiseptic in the middle of a snow storm with no fire.

Plus, when we lose power I have no means for backup power or heat. We'll see.

On the bright side, if I dump out, maybe someone here will get a nice stove at half cost!! %-P

I think BB nailed it. Reminds me of the late 70's early 80's when everyone put a stove in. Most didnt last long or were not used every winter when oil became cheap again. High oil prices couldnt have come at a better time for me. We have wanted to put a stove in for years but did not have the flip for a new seperate chimney. This year we put an addition on and a garage. both have stoves now, will see how it all works out this winter. Next years project is solar panels on the roof for domestic hot water. If that works out then im off the oil mans delivery schedule for good.

I grew up with a big old cast iron wood beast. There was nothing better than coming in wet and cold and standing next to the old girl. As a new (returned) wood burner I am putting in a stove/chimney this year and can't wait to fire it up. I have 13 face cords split stacked and dryed. All my wood came from fence lines on the farm and tree tops from logging. I think the key is motivation whether it be to get in the woods or go scrounge firewood. If you are motivated to get up in the morning and get the job done(and save some money in the process) us newbies should be fine. In this day and age though I question some of the drive folks have.

Great question. Basically I think it depends on the cost of traditional heating. There's going to be some who will realize that there's additional work involved in burning wood or pellets and at first will think that's Ok I'm saving $$$'s. But I think after the first season once the novelty ebbs some of them will figure it's just not worth it. I've been burning pellets since 2005, instead of using my oil burner, and at times I've asked myself is it worth it? At this point the savings from using pellets instead of oil, less the cost and install of the stove is pretty much a break-even. I have 5 tons of pellets in the garage that I paid $230 per ton so after next winter (figuring oil will be about $4 per gal) I'll be ahead of the game by at least $1,000. That's thinking like an accountant, there's also intangible factors to consider.There's the daily schlepping of at least one 40 lb bag of pellets, 20-30 minutes weekly of minor cleaning, once a year of 2-3 hours of major cleaning, and losing one bay of my 2 car garage to store the pellets. There's also positive intangibles. Having the stove operating 24/7 in winter provides great atmosphere...it's almost as cozy as a fireplace operating, our cats love the stove, and it eliminates having a nite lite in the lower level. Maybe this is psychological, but the heat generated from the stove just feels more comfortable, and it seems to emit a nice aroma in the house.

If my neighbor is anything like some of the other folks who are jumping into wood burning, then they will get lazy and burn only occasionally or forget about it all together. The guy next door ran to the stove store and bought the Avalon Arbor right after I got my insert last year and got his 3 cords of wood delivered soon after. It was a rare occasion he had any sign of smoke coming from his newly installed smoke stack. All his wood sat in the same unstacked pile that was dumped from the truck. Meanwhile my wife and I were burning 24/7 all winter. I went through 5 cords and started borrowing from his pile when I ran out of seasoned wood I asked him what his deal was and he said he always had some lame excuse not to start it up and feed it. So he opted to just pay for oil and keep the house on the cold side.
I think his proverbial eyes were bigger than his stomach.
We'll see what he does this year with the oil even more costly. He and I had 6 grapple loads delivered since last winter and we bucked it all, but I'm the only one back there splitting and stacking it, so I guess he plans on burning last year's wood or maybe none at all again
Me thinks a beautiful Avalon Arbor (hardly used) will be for sale next year to pay for someones heating oil

I'm thinking there's going to be a large number of stoves offered for sale by next summer, and I'm hoping to find an insert at a relatively fair price at that time.

I started burning in '79 for both economical and political /ideological reasons.

I'll admit I was a little less diligent when oil prices were low but I never stopped.

Firewood is a part time weekend job of hard physical labor but the income is tax free. This year my hourly rate is looking like 10-15$ free and clear.

My feeling is that stoves installed will stay installed and used in direct proportion to the cost of oil, represnting a structural change in demand.

When oil prices go up the woodpiles will get bigger. When prices fall, we'll use the resources at a reasonable price.

I expect to stay with it. I don't mind the extra effort (I think ), and self-sufficiency is very important to me. At worst I'll burn this year, hate it, buy a bunch more wood for the future and then wait until there's no more heating oil for sale before using it