Are Wood Stoves Going the Way of the Horse and Buggy?
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ColoradoPine
New Member
What do you mean by "cleaner"? Fewer particulates? Yes. But that is not the same thing as fewer new carbon molecules being released into the atmosphere.
Natural gas burns carbon that has been trapped deep within the Earth and would not otherwise be released. Wood burns carbon that would have been released as the wood decayed anyway. So, from a carbon standpoint, wood is carbon neutral. Natural gas is not.
ColoradoPine
New Member
Assuming you aren't cutting down living trees for firewood, there's no need to plant new trees in order to be carbon neutral. The carbon contained in the dead tree you are burning would have been released as the wood decayed anyway. The same cannot be said for natural gas, which burns carbon that was trapped deep within the Earth and would not have been released anyway.
Well some of it would be released into the atmosphere some would be injested by bugs and some would end up in the ground. Its still about as close to carbon neutral as it gets. But it is not.
I can’t see it hurting to plant new trees. I mean, there are worse ways to spend your time.
Yes, unless covering up a crime scene. Otherwise, generally a good thing.
Some years ago, my town cut down a bunch of trees on land right near my house. They were planning on putting in an access road that they later realized was impractical without major engineering that they had no interest in paying for. So the result was a loss of maybe a couple of dozen trees. I then went out and purchased twice as many Douglas firs and tried to replant them. Only a handful took. Others have since grown back in independently. Will be years before the damage is fully undone. But it had an impact on my son, who was maybe three at the time. He and his mom had been really upset by the cutting of those trees. They were crying together, which was what motivated me to call the town and give the guy in charge hell. The replanting gave him a sense that losses can be assuaged. There was a kind of optimism. Tree planting is good for the human heart and human soul.
Some years ago, my town cut down a bunch of trees on land right near my house. They were planning on putting in an access road that they later realized was impractical without major engineering that they had no interest in paying for. So the result was a loss of maybe a couple of dozen trees. I then went out and purchased twice as many Douglas firs and tried to replant them. Only a handful took. Others have since grown back in independently. Will be years before the damage is fully undone. But it had an impact on my son, who was maybe three at the time. He and his mom had been really upset by the cutting of those trees. They were crying together, which was what motivated me to call the town and give the guy in charge hell. The replanting gave him a sense that losses can be assuaged. There was a kind of optimism. Tree planting is good for the human heart and human soul.
Up here in the mountains of TN I can't see it going away in my lifetime. Many people heat with wood as the primary if not only heat source. The Fatboy propane tank I see couldn't do much in a pinch. This time of year I see many piles of pine trunks in a yard being processed, it's just too easy and cheap.
I have more wood to burn than I will in my lifetime and lots more on the way. There are 100s of saplings each year I have to deal with around the house. Since these pines are just waiting to fall, not if but when, I get rid of them close to the place but let them go further out in the woods.
I can understand the problems y'all have with the Ken and Karens in some areas. They run on emotions rather than reason. It was said and is true, one ice storm will make a lot of people rethink the total dependence on the electrical grid. It's just sad it'll be such a sharp lesson to learn.
I have more wood to burn than I will in my lifetime and lots more on the way. There are 100s of saplings each year I have to deal with around the house. Since these pines are just waiting to fall, not if but when, I get rid of them close to the place but let them go further out in the woods.
I can understand the problems y'all have with the Ken and Karens in some areas. They run on emotions rather than reason. It was said and is true, one ice storm will make a lot of people rethink the total dependence on the electrical grid. It's just sad it'll be such a sharp lesson to learn.
Honestly there is really very little widespread push against woodstoves. There are some areas prone to air inversions where the smoke just lays there and is pretty unpleasant. Those are generally the areas with no burn days and stricter regulations. And anyone who has lived next to someone who smolders wet wood all day will eventually get annoyed. Nothing we can do about the air inversion areas. But proper burning techniques with good fuel will avoid most problems even with old stoves.
Wood stove regulations have gotten more strict over the years. Where I live, there have been no burn bans in the cold months. But my son tells me that where he lives, one can no longer burn. I've not asked if this is 100 percent of the time or only here or there. It's enough for him, as a home owner and home flipper, to feel any fireplace or wood stove needs to be replaced with something artificial or removed entirely. He's in California.
Yes, our geography does lead to occasional wood burning bans in some years. They are a good idea when there is a major temperature inversion with no air flow between mountain ranges. FWIW, we didn't have one last year.
CA has a lot of air quality issues. Most of the bans there apply to urban areas, namely in the LA and SF region. Flippers and real estate agents have very different objectives from a homeowner. They don't pay the future utility bills.
CA has a lot of air quality issues. Most of the bans there apply to urban areas, namely in the LA and SF region. Flippers and real estate agents have very different objectives from a homeowner. They don't pay the future utility bills.
Definitely. My son, when looking at a house, doesn't consider what he wants or considers attractive. He looks at what sells most easily. Of course that too can be a guessing game. But he seems to have a good sense of it. If there were widespread demand for wood stoves, he'd put them in. That he replaces or rips them out tells me he doesn't think most people want them these days.
EbS-P
Minister of Fire
They don’t want a barn for their buggy either
maybe other toys or horses but not some equine powered wheeled conveyance contraptionI'm among the youngest of millenials at 31 years old. I installed a Kuma in the basement of my house last year and installed the chimney too. I do all my own work. In the Twin City suburbs. Not at all where you'd expect anyone burning wood. I also built my own logsplitter to make the process as fast and efficient as possible.
Few reasons I did it:
-No matter what, I'll be able to heat my family in the winter. The most basic of a Man's Duties.
-Money savings. A little up front saves me on the back end. Especially as energy prices increase with time.
-Tax rebate made the upfront cost easier.
-Collecting firewood is working for myself. My labor is tax free and 100% goes to benefit my family.
Burning wood for heat is like growing your own food, providing a connection to the Ways of the Ancestors.
I have only met one other wood burner, an older pipefitter in rural Wisconsin with an outdoor boiler. That's it.
Few reasons I did it:
-No matter what, I'll be able to heat my family in the winter. The most basic of a Man's Duties.
-Money savings. A little up front saves me on the back end. Especially as energy prices increase with time.
-Tax rebate made the upfront cost easier.
-Collecting firewood is working for myself. My labor is tax free and 100% goes to benefit my family.
Burning wood for heat is like growing your own food, providing a connection to the Ways of the Ancestors.
I have only met one other wood burner, an older pipefitter in rural Wisconsin with an outdoor boiler. That's it.
I go by what I see. I live in rural Appalachia with plenty of trees and a heritage of wood/coal burning. I couldn't give away firewood when I logged off a piece of property. People can't be bothered with woodstoves and these are the families that were raised here with nothing but wood/coal for heat. The wood that people burn is for their fire pit in the backyard, you don't see homes with a fireplace. You never see new homes being built with any chimney, it's all heat pumps as our electricity is affordable. The stoves you do see burning are simple steel stoves, many with very questionable installs and a lot are in garages.
Coming for rural people's wood stoves will be as divisive as guns, in my opinion. I know there are certain cities (Montreal might have tried to move on them), but I think you are messing with people's independence by trying to do this. If I lived in the northeast, I would never rely on heat pumps as my primary source. Maine was pushing hard to drive people away from oil, gas and wood by offering rebates for heat pumps. We are due for a severe cold winter and with the electric grid stretched thin, I would not want to be reliant on a heat pump only. In my mid 50's.. I buy my processed wood now but do it for comfort and security. We have 4 sources of heat in the house that could keep us from freezing. Wood, Pellet, Oil boiler and heat pump.
You've really got your bases covered. We have several heating systems too. Primarily, we use our heat pumps (two separate mini-split systems, a total of five heads). One big one for the main part of the house, an intermediate sized one for the master suite and smaller ones for the bedrooms and office. We use our wood stove for backup. Also have a gas fireplace that runs on propane that sits in a 500 gallon buried tank and gets refilled once a year. We use that for the hot water heater, the dryer, the kitchen range and the fireplace. We also have a radiant heating system that I keep shut down because it's really inefficient. I suppose all the space heaters sitting in the garage are our last line of defense against the cold.
When we were between stoves, it was a problem when we had a cold snap and the power was out. Fired up our generator but the heat pumps alone couldn't keep up because it was too cold and the gas fireplace didn't put out enough heat. Probably should have rented a motel room but we piled into the one small room with a newer heat pump that can heat its way through anything. Then, when we had to use the bathroom or kitchen, we wore heavy coats and/or froze.
Hit it on the head there. The 'powers that be' want everyone to be dependent on the system. A dependent people are a controllable people. Electric heat = dependence. Electric transportation = dependence. Fiat currency = dependence. Convuluted grocery supply chains = dependence.
The list goes on.
We probably shouldn't get into politics.
And your posts will be deleted if they get to political. That was fine but I won't allow much further
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