cost benefit analysis of heating with solid fuel

The real benefit comes from what you do with the money you save, pay down your debt with it.

My stove is not a big money saver due to the following:

-My wife wanted a cast iron stove, so it was about $3k with installation
-Electricity here is really cheap
-I am a city dweller with 4 small children. Therefore, finiding free wood and free time is difficult. I am currently buying doug fir split and delivered for $130 per cord.
-We have mild winters.

However, I will be getting a tax credit worth about $1k when I get around to filing my taxes. Also, one of the biggest savings is that I am only heating the main living area of my home instead of heating my whole poorly insulated house.

I ran some numbers and reviewed my utility bills. I am saving about $400/year. Therefore, I hope to break even in 5 years.

BeGreen said:

I hear ya on the aesthetics front, but the stove is a long term purchase. Having a stove that pleases the eye has value too. 5year payback is not too bad. Who knows what energy will cost 5 yrs from now?

FWIW, you are getting wood at a great price for this area. If I could get it for that I would not be scrounging at all.

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I agree, the aesthetics are important. I live in 100 year old house and the cast iron stove looks right. I plan to live there a long time.

The guy I am buying wood from is out of University Place. He might haul down to you (depending on how far south you live). If you search craigslist for "AJ Nash", you will probably find an ad. The first 2 cords he delivered were not quite full cords. I didn't give him too hard a time since he is only charging $130 per cord. The wood is green, but I can store it for a year or two.

Everyone forgot to add 1 thing into the equasion, the cost of the gas furnice. Everyone has the cost of the stove but not the furnice. I don't have a furnice and never have so there's no compairing gas usage for me. If you look at it like that I bet It pays off a lot faster than your furnice.

woodsmaster said:

Everyone forgot to add 1 thing into the equasion, the cost of the gas furnice. Everyone has the cost of the stove but not the furnice. I don't have a furnice and never have so there's no compairing gas usage for me. If you look at it like that I bet It pays off a lot faster than your furnice.

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You're right..furnaces break down and need cleanings and what not.

I didn't need to do an analysis. When we bought our house 5 years ago, the previous owners were putting 3-4K gallons of propane through it a year. And, it wasn't midwest priced propane. That buys a lot of stove, chimney, insulation, windows, etc.

I haven't seen anyone here calculate what their time is worth. This past winter, I estimate it took me ~80 hours to collect, transport, chop, stack, transport and re-stack, start fires, load fires, monitor the stove, and tweak the stove.

And that was with like 2.5 cords burned.

I value my time at roughly $30 an hour (i.e. I will usually pay someone $30 an hour to buy myself a true oil of free time....an oil change involves waiting somewhere else and I can do it myself, so I save myself that money, but paying a kid to cut my lawn saves me a true hour).

So I estimate that I spent $2400 in "free time" last year on the stove, whereas I would've spent maybe an additional $800 on fuel oil.

So right now, my stove is -$1600 in my book simply against the value of my own time. Does not include the $2200 I spent on the stove, axe, hearth gloves, bucket, hearth rug, etc.

Further, I've introduced a new and much more prevalent fire hazard into my home, a helluva lotta ash (dust layers in the hearth room go up exponentially in the winter), dirt, and combustion byproducts we're breathing in.

....

I say all this stuff because the typical calculator does not take into account time + home impact. You have GOT TO LOVE THIS STUFF to make it worthwhile. If you don't love chopping wood and starting your own fires, this will never be a worthwhile investment for you - it'd be far more efficient to take your normal specialization and earn money to pay for more oil. You will spend far more time on heating your home than worthwhile in dollars saved.

This is not the standard Hearth.com answer, but it is something that newbies need to carefully consider. I work 50 hours a week and am in a master's program. I make very good money. I miss my wife a good amount, and sometimes I'd rather be spending time with her than ensuring I have a steady supply of wood in the house or garage.

Hope this helps provide a different perspective.

I'll also add that wood availability is surprisingly easy....I have neighbors getting tree work done that offer me free wood, and my mechanic just offered to drop off somewhere between 2000-10000 pounds (he said a loaded trailer to the trucks capacity, which is 5 tons) of free wood.

If you aren't in a heavy burning area, simply talking about how you burn wood for heat sometimes makes wood become readily available.

SolarAndWood said:

I didn't need to do an analysis. When we bought our house 5 years ago, the previous owners were putting 3-4K gallons of propane through it a year. And, it wasn't midwest priced propane. That buys a lot of stove, chimney, insulation, windows, etc.

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Wow...that's a lot of propane. I thought my house was a pig at 2k gal/year. I'm down to about 300 now (that includes DHW).

I was out in the yard yesterday and the propane man drove up to the neighbors for a fill-up. On the way back he waved and kept on truckin'. He doesn't stop by anymore...I think he's a'feared of my woodpile.

joefrompa is right. You gotta love burning wood to do it otherwise its just one more chore. This is my first year and I never thought about heating my home as much as I have this past year.
I do not calculate the time invested in c/s/c and tending the fire. For me its a w ay to feel just abit more independent. There's just something about knowing that I have some control over my heating bills that gives me that warm and fuzzy feeling inside (and out).

What started it all for me was when oil jumped up to $4 a gallon a few years ago. I just didn't like the feeling that the oil man had me by the throat and there was nothing I could do about it. Now, he still has me, but at least his grip isn't so tight. I used 218 less gallons this year saving me nearly $700. Yes, some of that money was spent on a few things needed for burning, but I still look at it with me being ahead of the game.

I don"t calculate the time I spent on wood because for me every minute is a pleasure knowing that I control the heat in the house and how much money I spend for heat, not the oil man.
I consider c/s/s to be enjoyment for me right now, so I don't put a price on that. Can you put a price on watching the ball game, listening to music, hanging around, or whatever else you find relaxing and enjoyable? That's all time you could spend working and making money to give to the oil or gas man. So, instead I give the money to me in the form of savings on heat.

Okay, enough rambling.

You are absolutely right august. I think some people are surprised I spend the time to chop wood but I prefer to hire a landscaper to mow my lawn 2x a month for ~7 months a year (about $500 a year). It is what is worth my time.

To be honest, I don't have kids but we're trying, and I can see myself dropping out of burning after maybe 4-5 years and we move houses. It will have paid for itself by that point and I'll have more taking my time.

Ya know, I say that, and then I think to myself, "Well, I'd really love to try a free-standing mid-size stove with an exposed chimney in a great layout and see how that works. And it's not that expensive..."

I guess time will tell

My payoff in pure dollar terms is estimated at 3 years. I paid $2k for my stove (post tax credit) installed. So I figure I'm going to save roughly $700 a year.

One thing different in my wood stovesetup is its not in my main home and i burn waste wood from rehab jobs i otherwise would have to pay to dispose of ,so theres a cost saving there as well, this way it gets torn out of the house cut up and right in the stove. before i used to pile it up and take it to the landfill. PAy the landfill and pay for oil or gas to heat the jobsite,a 2fer.

Haven't been around much this year, but I thought I would chime in. We were the lucky guys who got a free stove, but had to pay for the install (insurance company had opinions) so that was close to $3000, but also saved on the taxes for that. Add in a new chainsaw and a few other things like a couple of days rental on a splitter, new axe etc.

Last year I burned only free wood and the savings were close to $600/mo on natural gas (yes we have a drafty house and very expensive natural gas)--so we were close to break even the first year--and it was like night and day as far as comfort.

This year, too many other projects kept me from getting wood together, so we have been burning Woodbrick Fuel. Even paying $265/pallet for these we are still in the black about $200 month for the winter months.

For next year I should be able to get wood together, so I hope we can get back to scrounged wood, although we just got fresh snow this morning which hampers me getting an early start on that project.

Have to admit work burning is definitely a hobby. I enjoy running my saw and splitting, watching the fire, etc. Cost savings is just a way to justify it. If I really cared about my time, I would probably burn pellets - they cost a little more but are a whole lot less work than log-length firewood.

Yes it is a hobby with pretty good benefits. If I spent the time and money on golfing or something like it instead, I would have a hobby too, but the rest of the family wouldn't benefit much and there would be no financial incentive either.

I agree about the hobby. Why else would I cut more wood every year than what I can use. I simply enjoy doing it and therefore would not include it into any calculation. However, if I had to buy the wood that might be a different story and we've already heard from some folks on here that say they do not enjoy doing this work and some do not even like filling the stove. They should stick with oil or gas but still stick with wood heat simply because they still are able so save some dollars. Maybe not save as much as some of us do, but still are able to keep some dollars in their wallet rather than paying the gas man.

As for me, I really enjoy working in the woods, cutting trees and even enjoy the hauling. I also enjoy the splitting (especially when I can do it sitting down). The stacking is not necessarily enjoyable but I just take that as a necessary thing just like putting the wood in the stove or taking care of ashes. And in all this, we pay very little in real estate taxes when compared to others. Nope. No doubt about it. God has blessed us.

It's important for prospective members to hear that: its a hobby that happens to save money. Don't go into it thinking it's minimal work and saves alot of money. There is a passion to it, like doing all your own car work.

I think you are right Joe. For sure if I didn't like this work it would bub me raw and I'd probably either start buying wood or start burning something else. I just happen to enjoy the work and having done it most of my life it just seems the right thing to do although it never seems to be a chore like some other things.

joefrompa said:

It's important for prospective members to hear that: its a hobby that happens to save money. Don't go into it thinking it's minimal work and saves alot of money. There is a passion to it, like doing all your own car work.

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+100 on that Wood stoves are not for lazy people,it takes a certain breed of people to do the work required to heat their homes with wood.
Chances are if your on this website,your the self sufficient type already.
But even if you BUY the wood theres work involved,so if your allergic to sweat as so many are today dont waste your money on a stove.
If you are a woodburner congratulations on the pioneer spirit and the american way,were a dying breed.