Bogman said:
Ugg... please dont get into that part... oil is not going to run out anytime in the near future.
And no tax credits for wood stove. (we are carbon polluters remember....)
Oil Bill Savings with Wood Stove Insert??
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Ugg... please dont get into that part... oil is not going to run out anytime in the near future.
And no tax credits for wood stove. (we are carbon polluters remember....)
Bogman
"peat is my middle name"[/quote]
Ugg... please dont get into that part... oil is not going to run out anytime in the near future.
And no tax credits for wood stove. (we are carbon polluters remember....)[/quote]
First =oil will eventually run out. what ya gonna do ressurect the dinasaurs??
Second= wood is carbon neutral.
Third= you were just joking, or you are a real bone-headed fossil?
"peat is my middle name"[/quote]
Ugg... please dont get into that part... oil is not going to run out anytime in the near future.
And no tax credits for wood stove. (we are carbon polluters remember....)[/quote]
First =oil will eventually run out. what ya gonna do ressurect the dinasaurs??
Second= wood is carbon neutral.
Third= you were just joking, or you are a real bone-headed fossil?
I guess I was asking that since we are using fuel that is somewhat renewable (no net decrease in forest area in northeast?) therefore approaching Carbon Neutral, wouldn't that be more favoarable to burning Oil which is releasing carbon back into the environment after being buried for millions of years? Anyway, maybe we should start a lobbying group to get ourselves some tax breaks, not that I mind paying taxes all that much, especially when it goes to the local schools, roads etc
We could call ourselves the "Splinters" lobbying group
Anyone got any other name suggestions?
We could call ourselves the "Splinters" lobbying group
Anyone got any other name suggestions?
Oil can and will eventually run out...I don't think anyone really thinks otherwise...but realistically we have absolutely no idea how much more is left in the ground. 35 years ago during the OPEC crisis we were talking about how oil was going to run out in our lifetimes...but we keep discovering new untapped fields and bringing them into the production. Whats really going to happen is that we will run out of economically viable oil, that it to say oil that is cheap enough to extract that its worth the investment to do so. Nobody knows when this is going to happen, but there was a very compelling article in this month's National Geographic that suggests we'll be at or very near "peak" oil, meaning that withint the next 10 years demand will likely exceed all possible production capacity, even with new wells being drilled and new fields coming online. In truth we probably never will actualyl run out of oil, but wht wil be left will be too expensive to bother extracting.
On the subject of wood heating being carbon neutral...I've been on the fence ont his one. I can see both side of the argument about cabon neutral and carbon polluters...I understand that burning wood is really consuming a natural resource that would eventually just die and rot on its own, releasing all its stored up carbon...on the ohter hand I also tend to think that so long as we're cutting down living trees for fuel and burning them, we are definitely releasing more carbon into the air than if we didn't burn at all. Not trying to start an argument, just curious on points of view.
I do agree that I'd rather burn wood than oil though.
On the subject of wood heating being carbon neutral...I've been on the fence ont his one. I can see both side of the argument about cabon neutral and carbon polluters...I understand that burning wood is really consuming a natural resource that would eventually just die and rot on its own, releasing all its stored up carbon...on the ohter hand I also tend to think that so long as we're cutting down living trees for fuel and burning them, we are definitely releasing more carbon into the air than if we didn't burn at all. Not trying to start an argument, just curious on points of view.
I do agree that I'd rather burn wood than oil though.
Well I planted two native American Paw-Paw trees (delicious fruit) so at least I'm trying to offset the carbon inbalance...and I compost too
Ive heated my 3200 sf house since 1994 with a dutch west stove in 2002 i turned my gass heat off and never turned it back on.so i save 100% I still heat water with gass and run a dryer.
I burn only nights and weekends with a small stove that usually doesn't hold a fire overnight and is not centrally located. I took only two oil deliveries of 100 gals each last winter. Pre-stove I'd be using about 3 deliveries of 150-200 gals each for a winter.
So conservatively, I'm using 50-60% less oil without even burning 24/7. Also, I can have the house as warm as I'd like. On oil alone, I'm chilly....programmable thermostat on rather low (68 F day, 63F night) settings.
So conservatively, I'm using 50-60% less oil without even burning 24/7. Also, I can have the house as warm as I'd like. On oil alone, I'm chilly....programmable thermostat on rather low (68 F day, 63F night) settings.
We decided to jump on the wood burning bandwagon this year specifically because of the cost savings. We used 800 gallons of oil last winter. That's roughly the equivalent of 7 cords of wood burned in an airtight stove, according to http://www.cdc.gov/nasd/docs/d001201-d001300/d001235/d001235.html
When oil is $4 per gallon, the cost per million BTU is $43.96. Cord wood around here is quite expensive, but at $250 per cord, that's $25.51 per million BTU. Obviously markedly cheaper. My husband used a very conservative estimate of what our personal savings would be. We assumed a wood stove installed in the great room (primary living space during the day for me and our toddler), burned during the waking hours, would be able to replace 30% to 40% of our oil usage. If we used it for 35% of our heat, that would be 520 gals of oil ($2080) and 2.5 cords of wood ($625), totaling $2705 and saving us about $500.
So I went shopping for a secondhand stove and found a 1991 EPA-certified Avalon 998E for $500. Unfortunately since we did the numbers the price of wood has climbed even higher and the best price I could get a cord of seasoned wood was $280. On the other hand, the price of oil went even higher, with our pre-buy contract being offered at $4.59. So our costs are higher ($2438 + $700 = $3138) but the cost of another 800 gallons of oil is even higher ($3672). Even so, we still break even this year despite having to buy the stove and buy seasoned wood. Next year the savings should be significant, since we'll have been scrounging wood, buying green and the stove will already be installed.
So we're doing it for the savings, but it helps that I'm home all day, I don't mind heating with wood and neither of us is afraid of hard work. And yes, I know 800 gallons of oil is really high for a 2200sf house. We're taking other steps to improve the insulation too.
When oil is $4 per gallon, the cost per million BTU is $43.96. Cord wood around here is quite expensive, but at $250 per cord, that's $25.51 per million BTU. Obviously markedly cheaper. My husband used a very conservative estimate of what our personal savings would be. We assumed a wood stove installed in the great room (primary living space during the day for me and our toddler), burned during the waking hours, would be able to replace 30% to 40% of our oil usage. If we used it for 35% of our heat, that would be 520 gals of oil ($2080) and 2.5 cords of wood ($625), totaling $2705 and saving us about $500.
So I went shopping for a secondhand stove and found a 1991 EPA-certified Avalon 998E for $500. Unfortunately since we did the numbers the price of wood has climbed even higher and the best price I could get a cord of seasoned wood was $280. On the other hand, the price of oil went even higher, with our pre-buy contract being offered at $4.59. So our costs are higher ($2438 + $700 = $3138) but the cost of another 800 gallons of oil is even higher ($3672). Even so, we still break even this year despite having to buy the stove and buy seasoned wood. Next year the savings should be significant, since we'll have been scrounging wood, buying green and the stove will already be installed.
So we're doing it for the savings, but it helps that I'm home all day, I don't mind heating with wood and neither of us is afraid of hard work. And yes, I know 800 gallons of oil is really high for a 2200sf house. We're taking other steps to improve the insulation too.
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