What made you burn wood?

  • Active since 1995, Hearth.com is THE place on the internet for free information and advice about wood stoves, pellet stoves and other energy saving equipment.

    We strive to provide opinions, articles, discussions and history related to Hearth Products and in a more general sense, energy issues.

    We promote the EFFICIENT, RESPONSIBLE, CLEAN and SAFE use of all fuels, whether renewable or fossil.
Status
Not open for further replies.
I just like playin with FIRE , and CHAINSAWS ;lol;)
Trying to keep the thermostat down, to save $ and being cold, I said to heck with that, now I'm warm, and gas bill is$15 a month
 
  • Like
Reactions: WellSeasoned
I didn't know there was another way.
 
  • Like
Reactions: WellSeasoned
Grew up with wood. Have had wood in a few houses I have owned.
Bought this house last year, came with a pellet stove. I thought, "Oh, okay, this is how people do it around here". After the first winter, $200/month hydro bill, 7 tons of pellets (over $1000) and cleaning the pellet stove every weekend. Then, there is the fact that the pellet stove could barely keep the room at 20C.
First chance I had, I went out and bought a wood stove. Had it installed and will not turn on the pellet stove for heat again.
Look forward to saving money this winter, look forward to going to get wood with the wife on the weekends and most of all, I look forward to being nice and toasty warm when the weather hits -25 this winter.
 
  • Like
Reactions: WellSeasoned
Huge icestorm brought down huge amounts of free firewood to those that can use a chainsaw. Mostly ash trees. I live next to the towns wood burning pit and can usually cut 1 cord per week of good quality ash/silver maple that people bring there. I have burned pellets for the last 10 years but the price of those is becoming prohibitive now also. Why not use whats free for a bit of work and almost delivered to my front door? (kicking self in rear end for not doing it sooner).
 
  • Like
Reactions: WellSeasoned
My reasons:
- Grew up burning wood in our house
- Had a woodstove in our cabin in Adirondack Mts.
- Now have expensive propane in our house, wood is free
- Enjoy/appreciate the heat more knowing I did all the work
- Love the ambiance of flames and smoke smell outside.
- My dog would have no place to lay all winter without it
 
  • Like
Reactions: WellSeasoned
Anyway, I've always been a fan of colonial times, when you worked for everything you had....you HAD to be self-sufficient.

Ditto. You really gotta spend some time out our way, Scotty. Plenty of colonial and Rev.war sights to see.

Best avatar of the week, right up there with TheTrainDork and the attractive redhead flying a hovercraft!

27704.jpg

I grew up in old houses with fireplaces. Aunt lived on a farm in my family since 1692 with 7 fireplaces, two of them being set at 45-degrees in adjacent rooms (two adjacent open sides). Great-grandfather a small house that dated to early 1700's with a fireplace open on two opposite sides (kitchen and living room). Another uncle had a house from 1740 with 5 fireplaces. Parents had a house with 4 fireplaces... just had to get a place with a few fireplaces myself. Was disappointed to find the PO had installed a wood stove in one of the fireplaces in this place, but my wife convinced me to give it a try, before tearing it out. Learning to use it lead me here, to hearth.com, and the rest is history!
 
  • Like
Reactions: WellSeasoned
I have an island beach house where I used to burn stuff in a fire pit out back. On my better days, I'd entertain with clambakes. Alas, I was not the best of home owners back then, I once burned a couch in the firepit.. the couch was my outdoor furniture that summer, and got more than a bit funky by the Fall.. Well you get the idea, young guy, not thinking straight, but liked fire.. I still can smell that sun dreached sofa burning starry night bright , with my face and belly hot from the blaze , and my buns and back cooled by the ocean breezes.

One day when my brother Tom was in town, with his pickup truck, I responded to a penny paper ad that said free firewood. I was thinking I could stand to clean up my act a bit, and burn firewood in place of furniture. I was pretty certain that the neighbors would approve of the change to the more conventional approach. That turned out to be true, judging by the subsequent diminshed volume of appeals to the local volunteer fire department. When Tom and I got to the site, we saw an old rusted Jotul combifire sitting in the field, next to the free firewood. The guy said his wife made him take it out of the house, and I could have it if I wanted. I took it home, sanded it clean, then installed it inside the cabin for winter use

Back in the 80's,after I got the the stove, I sometimes had winter off. That drafty old cabin became habitable once I started using the Jotul. I just took it out last winter and replaced it with a Woodstock Progress Hybrid. I'm married now, moving a bit slower, and wanted to see if a newer stove would cut down on wood use. One thing that helps is my wife buys into the idea of heating with wood ( the propane wall heater sounds like a 747 taking off) , so for the peace and quiet, as well as that deep restorative bone drenching heat in the middle of winter, we burn wood

One plus of a lakadaisical approach to life (remember the couch) is that a neatnick wife will not let me near the woodpile, she stacks it herself. I don't mind stacking, but self stacking wood is a plus
 
  • Like
Reactions: WellSeasoned
I think I found this site a few years ago doing research on firewood. It helped me get the idea that I could get a pine cut down and save money by keeping and burning the wood. The pine tree by the way was 80' tall before an ice storm hit and turned it into a 60' tall totem pole. I also had the remnants of a Mulberry taken down. I saved $500 by keeping all the wood. Split, stacked and seasoned and I was ready to burn. I wasn't sure my wife would keep up with it, but she has, I just have to make sure there is enough wood inside to keep her filling the stove. That was 3 years ago and haven't looked back...yet.
 
  • Like
Reactions: WellSeasoned
Economics!
I grew up heating with wood but 3 years ago I took a wicked pay cut to go work for the VA. I wanted a job where I could make a difference. Found a Garrison II for $75.00 and never looked back. My total install ran about $200 (stove included) and I have only burned about 20 gallons of oil over the last 3 winters.
 
love a good fire, burned fireplace a lot, aesthetics. then oil went up in price, enter my jotul f100. oil usage cut from 1400 gals/year to 600-700 gals. so it comes down to ,IT'S THE MONEY!
 
  • Like
Reactions: WellSeasoned
I took a wicked pay cut to go work for the VA. I wanted a job where I could make a difference

I think there's a little bit of that attitude and spirit in all woodburners, but good on you for exemplifying both, and really stepping up. Very nice to see the economics of burning helping you out in that regard. I hope you feel just a little extra warmth coming from your fires, well deserved....
 
  • Like
Reactions: WellSeasoned
Status
Not open for further replies.