wood (not gassifiers) too much work?

[penfrydd]

I read, with interest, all the posts regarding the question of whether or not gasifiers are too much work. Obviously, if one is to burn wood, then gasifiers are, by far, the best route to go.

However, let's face it guys...some folks have no idea what they are getting in to and wood is a lot of work. For some, like myself, it's a great way to clean up and improve your own woodlot and get the heat for your house in the process. For others, it's mild exercise. But there are those folks who are not used to doing much of anything physical and are used to just messing with a thermostat to change the temperature in their houses.

I'm not judging them, in the least. I just think that folks thinking about heating with wood should maybe "babysit" a friend's fire for a week, before plunging into something they've never done.

This is a great forum with a compendium of information. I wish there was a way to organize it.

penfrydd
tarm 40 going in this spring
lots of saws
lots of wood
former owner of a wood gun (a long time ago)
rite-way for many years

 

[603doug]

I have had folks come over who think a campfire is burning wood and be in hog heaven,the house at 74f and the hot tub 105f with FREE EASY HEAT and not a petro carbon (chain saw gas excluded) used. Then I take them out to the wood shed with the 6 cord nicely stacked, all the chain saws, splitter, bobcat,etc and asked what did you do last weekend and their reply the wife and I went skiing, to FL for the week etc. Well the Wife and I cut split stacked and healed from the wonderful exercise of wood gathering. Then their outlook changes alittle on what is free and easy.

 

[mtfallsmikey]

It's definitely a different lifestlyle, and commitment.

 

[djblech]

It definately is a different lifestyle. I spend alot of time getting wood ready for winter. I stoke fire every night and get up every morning and and do the same. Must kind of like being a dairy farmer. Even so there is no way to describe having a full wood shed when the first flakes of snow fall. Everthing is a trade off, and as long as I can I,ll keep doing this.

 

[Huskurdu]

I too enjoy the whole wood gathering bit. I bought a load of logs this year for the first time. It's so much easier than dropping/limbing trees. My friends think i'm crazy because I split everything by hand. I enjoy it though. I enjoy ash more than maple though... I feel better (after the pain goes away that is) after a few days/weeks of hard work also. I can breath again and my kids don't tire me out so fast. We also do much of it as a family activity which is nice. No computer games and no telephone.... and, as stated before, it's so nice to look at the season's firewood all stacked and ready to go for the next season.

np

 

[pybyr]

I always chuckle when people remark about wood being a lot of work--- when a lot of the folks who make that comment pay to go work out somewhere !

Heating with wood (and harvesting my own) is not only my heat source, it is my health club, my meditative outlet (running a chainsaw requires one to clear the mind of everything else), my effort at minimizing my environmental footprint, and my effort to be a participant in life and not merely a consumer of products....

 

[Nofossil]

I'll echo all of that and add that I get a great deal of satisfaction from being self-sufficient. For some perhaps atavistic reason, it's important to me that I and my family can take care of our own needs. We designed and built the house we live in, and did every bit of plumbing and wiring in it. We now provide the heat through our own efforts as well.

I don't know how to put a value on it, but it goes beyond the pure financial payback. I just don't like being at the mercy of others for my well-being.

 

[Piker]

Dittos... dittos... and more dittos.

SPRING FEVER HAS STRUCK. Just today I am out finishing up the yearly cleanout of the wood shed. The leftover wood from the load of logs I purchased last August is starting to stack up nicely in there, and it's exciting to watch the bays fill up with next years heat supply. What's even cooler, is that now that I am using a gasser, once I get all of next years wood stacked I still have room left over for the following year's as well... and the year after that.

I also love to split wood by hand, and probably 90% of what I use is split that way... but I don't mess around if it doesn't split easy. Two or three whacks and if it's not split it goes into the "logsplitter pile."

cheers

 

[ManiacPD]

Since I buy my wood treelength I feel good knowing my heating dollars go to people in my town who work outside, year-round, to put food on the table for their families. It is about the easiest way to support your local economy.

This year I could buy oil for about 50% more, or about $400, than I paid for my wood, taken a lot less Advil, not need to get up at 3am to fill the boiler, and still heated my house just fine. But screw the oil companies.

And when GM makes a pickup that burns wood I'll buy two truckloads a year.

"Hey, what's that thing get for mileage?"

"Oh, about 1,000 miles per cord..."

 

[Duetech]

I've been asked "can't you just work over time and buy the fuel to heat your home? It seems like splitting all that wood is a lot of work!" Okay good question. Let's see. $500 a year (some more some less) on wood but hot water heat is around $540-600. Let's call that even for now. $3000 for fuel oil (some years more, some years even more still) to heat the home but here we have to talk take home pay not gross pay because I can't buy anything that the tax man takes out (except today it seems I get debt from the tax mans efforts). For me that ends up being 160 hours of overtime or four straight weeks of my effort to feed the oil company's of the world. Or 20 Saturdays of the year devoted to life in the shop committed to breaks on their schedule. Even if it were an exact dollar for dollar trade off working for myself when I determine and not being under scrutiny when I decide to let up or divert my interest is as they say "priceless" but as mentioned since working wood is like my exercise I don't pay health club fees and I have more time to devote to things of preference and or need with less shuffling or stress. Did I mention I get to spend time at home with family? This is only my scenario but NO I can't work the overtime and pay the gas man and come out ahead.

 

[pybyr]

Well said, Cave 2k. And, besides, don't we all spend enough time at the daily grind already (that is, assuming that we have one that hasn't been downsized, outsourced, or cratered in the economic meltdown...) that it's a healthy thing to do something different, in a different setting, with fresh air and fresh views? I used to have a business partner who thought I was crazed to be doing DIY wiring, plumbing and rennovations as compared to working extra hours on a Saturday and hiring someone else to do it... but to me, that variety, in my own time, space, and pace, is restorative. And the skills and self reliance- and passing it on to kids and family- are beyond price.

 

[pybyr]

Since I buy my wood treelength I feel good knowing my heating dollars go to people in my town who work outside, year-round, to put food on the table for their families. It is about the easiest way to support your local economy.

This year I could buy oil for about 50% more, or about $400, than I paid for my wood, taken a lot less Advil, not need to get up at 3am to fill the boiler, and still heated my house just fine. But screw the oil companies.

And when GM makes a pickup that burns wood I'll buy two truckloads a year.

"Hey, what's that thing get for mileage?"

"Oh, about 1,000 miles per cord..."

Ha- (regarding wood-burning vehicles)- it's possible, just not an off-the-shelf option yet-
see-
http://www.vedbil.se/indexe.shtml

 

[BrownianHeatingTech]

Wood is work. I spend most of my time trying to talk folks out of it. If I can't, then they're obviously serious!

On the other hand, it gives a lot of options. For example, I intend to do a snowmelt system in my driveway and front walk. To be able to operate that, I'm going to have to keep loading the boiler when the snowmelt is running, or it will not keep up.

So... do I go outside in the cold and shovel (work), or do I stand around inside and periodically toss some wood on the fire (work)?

I'll take tossing wood on the fire, inside, over shoveling outside in the cold...

Similarly, I'd rather do the labor of wood prep and loading, at home with my family, versus going out and getting a second job somewhere...

Joe

 

[Tree farmer]

Mega Ditto's to everyone,
Self reliance
Self accomplishment
fresh air
free workout as many times a week as you like
teach the kids what real work is
great joy in thumbing my nose at the oil cartel
Nothing beats the feel of wood heat!

We may all be way ahead of the game in a few years, people may be looking to steal your wood cause they can't afford anything else.

 

[Rory]

We cut our work for the next couple of years. My father has an ancient John Deere that I usually use to get my wood from stump to stove, but no matter how you cross my land, there is a wet spot between the good wood and my house, and it presents a challenge. I decided to get a jumpstart on my next two year's worth and hired a neighbor with a skidder to yard me out better than 10 cords to a spot where I can work it up and bring it to the woodshed without concerns about getting stuck. $400 included felling, limbing and hauling, and it was money well spent. Much better going to a young neighbor than some sheik on the other side of the world.

 

[rphurley]

Many of my friends think I'm nuts. I'm new to burning this year, but so far I've embraced it fully. I have a small amount of land that has been neglected so there are plenty of dying trees to cut. I do a fair amount of scrounging from the side of the road and from friends's lands, as I don't have children yet and have plenty of free time. My buddies joke that I've become obsessed with cutting, collecting and stacking firewood and they can't understand that I find the whole process quite rewarding and relaxing. Not to mention the feeling of satisfaction when your see that full woodshed and know that you need to build a bigger one! I have to thank all the posters to this forum that have taught me so much about woodburning.

 

[muncybob]

I've never burned wood for indoor heat but I can't wait!! I have started on the wood pile...I'll most likely be picking up a splitting axe this weekend and am actually looking forward to the "work". Even my wife wants to give it a try. We cancelled the gym membership yesterday thinking this "work" will be enough exercise for both of us and it will pay us back! Joe, I hope you start a thread on the snow/ice melt project as I have the same idea for next winter.

 

[djblech]

I went out to my landing yesterday and loaded my dump trailer. 7x14x3. I stacked it in the trailer to see how much I could get in. I think about 2 cords, maybe a little less. Brought it home (only 3 miles) and stacked it. I am so stiff and sore last night and today, what a workout. I thought I was in better shape. Only 3 more loads to go.