How many of you have heard this...

[tjcole50]

i know im not alone..
Wood heat is the most expensive heat once you factor in your time...
little do some know we enjoy that time. Except for 2 years ago when I went hog wild getting 4-5 years ahead only to sell it all and leave two winters worth with the buyers of our home. Good lord those stacks were pretty...

 

[firefighterjake]

For me it honestly is one of the most pleasurable types of work I do . . . I'm outside and working with equipment. I will choose cutting, splitting, stacking wood any day over dry wall repair, plumbing, painting, etc.

As for it being expensive in terms of time . . . when an ice storm rolls through and many of the neighbors are sitting there in a house slowly growing cold by the hour due to no power or generator to hook up to their oil furnace or boiler and I'm just sitting there in the quiet house with a roaring fire all of that time spent working on firewood cannot be beat.

 

[Gotrek]

Beats jogging or going to the gym. Amazing we have it so easy we have to find other ways to exercise.

Sent from my SGH-I337M using Tapatalk

 

[tarzan]

Out of the many things I can't do anymore, (back problems) processing wood is at top of the list of things I miss.

I've always enjoyed working for myself on my own terms and timeline, doing things like gardening, wood processing, landscaping, etc. So much so that I couldn't honestly factor in my time when tallying up the expense.

If one MUST factor in there time (like they would actually be doing something more worthwhile) then just think to yourself, at least I'm not growing, stringing, and canning green beans

 

[Michael Sean]

I have to agree that gathering firewood is something I love to do. It's something about knowing that your the one who is providing heat for your family and not having to depend on anyone else.

The problem I run into is when I'm cutting down a tree for firewood and I see the beautiful grain in the wood. Like last year I cut down a dead black locust for wood but ended up getting it cut into boards.

 

[sportbikerider78]

Well, no one is going to pay me my normal rate on a Saturday afternoon to drive my atv, run a saw, have a smoke and drink a beer.

 

[BrianN]

I love my time away from every one on a Saturday or Sunday morning.
Also, while out getting my wood, I get to pick berries, see wild life, and, get to do some plinking with my .22
Really, nothing beats the time I get to spend gathering wood.
On top of that, as said above, there is no better feeling, in the dead of winter when we are at -30C and below, and our house is a nice, cozy 22C, and we are not paying a penny for heat.

 

[kennyp2339]

For me its a healthy hobby, I get to be outside, I work up a sweat, I use muscles to stay in shape, and the feeling of accomplishment is next to nothing.

 

[begreen]

Same thing could be said about gardening. We put a lot of time, work and expense into growing organic produce. The reward, like a warm fire, is in the unsurpassed flavor and variety of fresh produce. But it is also a good exercise program and most satisfying to watch your babies grow. It's not the destination that counts, it's the journey.

 

[peakbagger]

I agree with oil at les than $2 per gallon, wood is expensive except that I try to get my wood from places where its going to get cut anywhere. I was cutting from a site where the owner is building a house and wants it gone but starting this year I have some woodlands that desperately need thinning. The wood is partially a byproduct of another activity. If I had to buy wood I would probably think hard about oil again although my minisplit also factors in as its effectively "free" to run as I run it off surplus PV generation.

 

[WoodyIsGoody]

I never considered I should be paid for any of my hobbies. That would make life itself unaffordable!

I like cutting wood. I have no more room for additional wood piles so the last two days that I was fortunate enough to cut and haul storm fallen Alders, I had to find a place to unload it. Fortunately, I know a guy who was behind on his firewood so he let me drop it off there. Not only did he appreciate it, I didn't need to pay him to take it off my hands!

 

[WoodyIsGoody]

Same thing could be said about gardening.

Or collecting wild berries. My favorite are sub-alpine Blueberries. I figure I have about 10 hours into two wild berry pies. If I paid myself $20/hour that would make each pie $100! I could buy commercial Blueberries for $3/pint but they are the same in name only.

And oil heat is the same as wood heat only in the fact that both make your thermometer go up.

 

[georgepds]

No real choice.. wood is the main source of heat. Propane in my area is a racket, no natural gas, and no room for an oil heater

I put in a second mini-split to absorb the excess electricity from all the solar panels, but I'll probably still burn.. I love the radiant heat from a wood stove. Might not be cheap, but it is wonderful in the dead of winter

 

[WoodyIsGoody]

i know im not alone..
Wood heat is the most expensive heat once you factor in your time...

Your time would have to be expensed at a pretty high rate for wood to be more expensive than propane.

 

[tjcole50]

Well all this came about when i discuss our new house being built and wood stove. I have heard this before about time etc. problem is some of these people have short memories. Yes last year will filled up our propane tank for the first time because it was 89 cents a gallon. People around here seemed to have forgotten a couple winters ago when it was -20-30 for long stretches and the propane man claimed shortages and spiked prices to 3.00$ + a gallon

 

[begreen]

Propane prices vary a lot with location. We were well over $4/gallon at that time. Now we're down a bit under $3. I haven't seen 89 cents a gallon here in the past 25 yrs.. IIRC it was around $.95 when we moved into this house back then.

 

[electrathon]

I have to agree that gathering firewood is something I love to do. It's something about knowing that your the one who is providing heat for your family and not having to depend on anyone else.

The problem I run into is when I'm cutting down a tree for firewood and I see the beautiful grain in the wood. Like last year I cut down a dead black locust for wood but ended up getting it cut into boards.

View attachment 198603

I love black locust. I was splitting some last weekend and realized I broke open a good sized burl. I sat it to the side to make tool handles.

 

[Squirrely]

Well all this came about when i discuss our new house being built and wood stove. I have heard this before about time etc. problem is some of these people have short memories. Yes last year will filled up our propane tank for the first time because it was 89 cents a gallon. People around here seemed to have forgotten a couple winters ago when it was -20-30 for long stretches and the propane man claimed shortages and spiked prices to 3.00$ + a gallon

Our propane company also offers a low introductory 99 cent per gallon rate for the first fill. Currently the regular price is $2.39 per gallon. We get 100 gallons twice per year, and time the buys for May and October so as to never have to buy in Winter. Averages out to $40 a month for hot water, cooking, and clothes drying.

Greg

 

[Squirrely]

For me it honestly is one of the most pleasurable types of work I do . . . I'm outside and working with equipment. I will choose cutting, splitting, stacking wood any day over dry wall repair, plumbing, painting, etc.

As for it being expensive in terms of time . . . when an ice storm rolls through and many of the neighbors are sitting there in a house slowly growing cold by the hour due to no power or generator to hook up to their oil furnace or boiler and I'm just sitting there in the quiet house with a roaring fire all of that time spent working on firewood cannot be beat.

i hear ya.

A wood stove becomes an indispensible tool whenever the power goes out. I'm 69 and cutting wood keeps me young. It's also a satisfying expression of independence, self reliance, and individual sovereignty. Wood is by choice our sole source of home heating, and I wouldn't have it any other way.

We have a mutually beneficial win/win deal with our local tree trimmer. The wood he normally has to pay to dump at the landfill, he dumps for free on our land, so we have all the free firewood we can burn for the rest of our lives.

Greg

 

[jetsam]

I would not heat with wood if I wasn't able to process my own firewood. Not only does it stop making financial sense, but I lose the exercise and sense of connectedness that I get from CSS.

I probably get more out of it than most people (well, maybe not most of THIS crowd) because I've been doing it since I was tall enough to lug a hatchet, so I have a lot of early memories built around the fire.

 

[jetsam]

The problem I run into is when I'm cutting down a tree for firewood and I see the beautiful grain in the wood. Like last year I cut down a dead black locust for wood but ended up getting it cut into boards.

View attachment 198603

I HATE that. I grew up with a woodworker. I can do it, but don't really enjoy it ... so now I see pretty wood and I have to put it aside to saw into boards or tabletops or whatever... which, if my brain was being honest with itself, I would already know wasn't going to happen.... so I have this lovely maple that was water damaged when it was alive and has spectacular graining, and this beautiful straight oak, and this big knotty oak crotch that is just the size for that new patio tabletop, and I am basically unable to process cedar for firewood at all....

It's an illness!

(Nice tables!)

 

[begreen]

When we took down the old maple in the yard from interior rot I was astounded with the beauty of the grain. As it got into the main trunk there were large dark streaks that looked almost like walnut. I gave all the burls and interesting limb junctions to a local bowl turner who made some really nice bowls from them.

 

[Texas123]

It might be more expensive especially if you have to purchase most of your wood as I have to. Yet, the ability to heat your home independent of the electric company is the benefit for me. When the rest of the workers go Oh No! at the thought of power outages I know I and my wife can keep our home warm.

 

[WoodyIsGoody]

It might be more expensive especially if you have to purchase most of your wood as I have to. Yet, the ability to heat your home independent of the electric company is the benefit for me. When the rest of the workers go Oh No! at the thought of power outages I know I and my wife can keep our home warm.

How much wall insulation is required in your area?

 

[edyit]

I purchase my wood in log lengths and then css it. Even with having to buy the wood it is still cheaper than buying fuel oil and heating solely with that. You also can't put a price on coming in from a cold day at work and enjoying a beer in the recliner by the stove.