Did you run your heat last night?

[DavidV]

That's the question I ask my coworkers on days like today. I have a smile on my face when I ask it. And they know it means I didn't. Surface temp on the stove right now is about 400-450. Got the blower on high and a nice fire going inside it. I'm getting ready to head outside ans swing the axe for about 30-45 minutes. Get some exercise and process some firewood all at the same time. When it gets really cold and stays that way, I'll probably turn my furnace on and set it for about 63 just incase the fire burns down at night. Everyone laughed at me 3 years ago when I pulled the gas logs out of my fireplace, had the pipe disconnected at the other end of the house, and put in an insert. Nobody's laughing anymore. Some have asked me how they can do the same thing. Most will buy their wood because they lack the time or desire to cut/split their own but they sure are looking at doing something with that wood.
I keep expecting to se an end to the hardwood that gets dumped at our landfill, but everytime I go to take a load of brush I see almost a full pickup truck of elm, oak and hickory tossed on in with the brush that's been dumped there. From time to time, I will pick up the most manageable pieces and toss them in my truck bed.
I understand not wanting to do all the work involved in wood burning and I know many people's lives are just to hectic to do it. But most people sit on their butt every night watching the tube and I can't grasp sitting there feeling chilly every night when it's so easy to change things so that you can sit around in shorts and a tshirt even in the dead of winter.

 

[Rick]

I didn't use any heat (non-wood) here yesterday, but it was also 60 degrees where I am. I couldn't agree more with you. When I installed my first wood stove at a previous home 10 years ago, people thought I was nuts. Back then oil was 75 cents a gallon. I spent $1000 on the insert, and had to buy 2 cords of wood because it was my first house and I had no wood at all. It was $110 a cord for wood that was probably cut a few months before. That was the last time I ever paid for wood. So I was into it for $1200. It took me 4 years to get my money back. I would have done it for free. I installed another wood stove in my new house last year, which was my second winter in this house. This one cost me roughly $3000 for the stove and all the other materials. So far in 2005 I've used 800 gallons of oil less than 2004. I pay $209.9 for my oil so I'm half way towards paying this one off. I would do it for free. I have a friend who cuts trees. People pay him to haul away the wood he cuts and he dumps it here. He's given me roughly 15 cord of bucked up hardwood this year, plus roughly 100 yards of chips. But I still scrounge through my woods for dead-falls and brush big enough to burn. I just enjoy it. There are 2 hydraulic splitters in my family, I borrow one day a year. I split as much as I can that day, trying to get the biggest, toughest pieces done. Then the rest of the year I split by hand. A little each time. I really enjoy that. Aah, yes, people still call me nuts.

Rick

 

[wg_bent]

David...Nope...Furnace was set at 55. Temp outside was 27 this morning, and temp in the dining room was 70. A little shuffling of coals, a few dry peices of old Elm, and within 10 minutes the stove was cooking again.

The other night when it was real warm here, I was bored, and didn't want to watch TV at all. So at 10:00 at night, I went out to split wood. I have a utility light by the wood pile and it's plenty of light to split wood by. It's quiet, kids are in bed, and in an hour, I can probably split as much as 1/4 of a cord of wood...Unless there's a lot of green Elm. Then it takes me an hour to split one 8" piece of wood. Did I ever mention how much I hate Elm? If I didn't in the last hour, it's worth repeating....Elm is evil...It's a cruel joke by Mother Nature. Oak is the 300 yard golf shot straight down the fairway...while green Elm is the shank into the pond. And all you guys with 1000lb splitters...your cheating! Real wood burners split their Elm with a hatchet!

 

[bruce56bb]

yep, one of our furnaces kicked on yesterday morning. it is currently 18* here with a predicted high of 32*. but my insert is roaring and doing a great job of keeping most of the house warm.