It's like anything, if you do the sweat equity yourself, you'll save money. The more work you farm out, the costlier things get. I do all my own vehicle repair. When "x" is broken on a car, and I tell the wife I need "x" money for additional tools to fix it, she doesn't blink an eye as she knows that's still cheaper than than having the mech at 60 bux an hour do the work, and she knows those tools will fix something else down the road. You have to look at wood stoves the same way.
I relined my chimney myself for under 500 dollars, bought my (current) wood stove one year used for 450 dollars, and cut, split, haul the wood myself for nothing more than the cost of my time and the gas (which has a real value, but in the scheme of things not much as I'm not missing work for it and not missing out on overtime opportunities).
When I cut / split wood, I generally do it with a few buddies. That means we get to BS / have a few beers after / turn the work into a bunch of fun. That said, the cost of doing it in terms of gas and time comes out to be the same or less as it would have been to sit with the same buddies at the bar for that amount of time and catch up, or else go to a movie, go out to dinner, etc, etc.
Also, how many folks spend gas / time / money going to a gym to work out? I get my workout on firewood for myself, my cabin, my friends cabin, my grandmother, etc, etc.
That said, for some folks it's a labor of love. If it's not, then either find a way to make it such, or else turn the furnace on if there isn't a way to justify the costs / work.
pen
I relined my chimney myself for under 500 dollars, bought my (current) wood stove one year used for 450 dollars, and cut, split, haul the wood myself for nothing more than the cost of my time and the gas (which has a real value, but in the scheme of things not much as I'm not missing work for it and not missing out on overtime opportunities).
When I cut / split wood, I generally do it with a few buddies. That means we get to BS / have a few beers after / turn the work into a bunch of fun. That said, the cost of doing it in terms of gas and time comes out to be the same or less as it would have been to sit with the same buddies at the bar for that amount of time and catch up, or else go to a movie, go out to dinner, etc, etc.
Also, how many folks spend gas / time / money going to a gym to work out? I get my workout on firewood for myself, my cabin, my friends cabin, my grandmother, etc, etc.
That said, for some folks it's a labor of love. If it's not, then either find a way to make it such, or else turn the furnace on if there isn't a way to justify the costs / work.
pen