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Make It Easy:  Heating with Wood  |
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cecelia
True Blue Farmgirl
497 Posts
cecelia
new york
USA
497 Posts |
 Posted - Jan 06 2005 : 7:11:14 PM
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Here's how to save money on those high heating bills this winter:
1. buy woodstove $1385
2. find reputable wood dealer 76
3. buy chainsaw, ax, etc. 329
4. buy old truck/scrap after first load 595
5. new 4 wheel drive truck 10000+
6. replace rear window on truck twice 300
7. work gloves "borrow from shop" -0-
8. fine for cutting trees in State forest 500
9. buy 5 acre woodlot 5000+
10. splitting machine, beer & brandy 500+
11. fine for littering 500
12. tow charge (get truck out of creek) 100
13. gas, oil, chain sharpening, Bandaids 100
14. doctor's fees (splinter in eye) 50
15. safety glasses (borrowed from shop) -0-
16. medical (broken toe, log dropped on foot) 50
17. safety shoes 100
18. repair burn hole in carpet (unsuccessful) 25
19. new living room carpet 700
20. new paint - living room/remove smoke odors 200
21. taxes on new 5 acre woodlot 700
22. lawyer for woodlot boundary dispute 200
23. roof repair for chimney fire 800
24. fine for assaulting fireman 50
25. extension ladder 100
26. chimney brush 50
27. medical cost - broken leg (fell off ladder) 200
28. chimney cleaner service 100
29. coffee table replaced (chopped up & burned old
one while too drunk to bring in firewood) 200
30. divorce settlement 50,000
31. annual cost of fuel saving (gas/oil) $300
TOTAL COST OF USING WOOD FUEL/STOVE $75000+
FOR FIRST YEAR OF USE
 Cecelia
ce's farm
"Curiosity is one of the forms of feminine bravery" Victor Hugo |
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MeadowLark
True Blue Farmgirl
2206 Posts
USA
2206 Posts |
Posted - Jan 07 2005 : 11:39:28 AM
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Thanks Cecelia for the chuckle on the joys of heating with wood... Our wood burner which I dubbed "The Beast" has been a pain in the ...for 20 years. My hubby is always gone traveling and I got stuck feeding the Beast day and night in severe cold. He however would cut the wood and stack it ( so gallant of him) while I would wrestle with the logs. He used to drive an ancient state extension cast off pick up that was army green he picked up for a few bucks to go cut wood with his friend in relative's pasture. This truck was in such bad shape the floor was rusted out and they rigged a plastic jug to hold a gallon or two of gas ( NO GAS TANK!!!) and a hose to the engine. I prayed everytime he left in it. My husband takes frugality to a new level... And he is a airline pilot, that makes it even scarier! He would return with the truck loaded down with wood. This was in the 80's... now he has a different truck and uses a homemade trailer. Our house almost burned down twice...when he is gone I use the gas furnace. So much for saving money using the wood. What a nightmare!
"Out beyond ideas of wrongdoing and rightdoing, there is a field. I'll meet you there." Rumi, 13th century. |
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BamaSuzy
True Blue Farmgirl
138 Posts
Alabama
USA
138 Posts |
Posted - May 31 2005 : 9:43:07 PM
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That sounds like something my husband would get into, with the eventually cost of using the wood burning heater or stove being that high! (and it also sounds like a lot of my homesteading projects that get out of hand!)
We keep our wood on the screened in back porch (enough to burn in one day's time) and so don't have it stacked in the house to save on the mess. The door to the porch is right beside the wood heater!
We do buy a lot of our wood now but I'd rather pay some guy making money from the hard work of chopping wood than to give it to the utility companies!
It is time-consuming at times to keep the fire going but if you know how to build a good fire and then turn it down according to the directions on your wood burning heater, you don't have to be babying it all the time---IF you bought a fairly good heater and have learned how to use it!
And oh---there's nothing like sitting by a crackling cozy wood fire in the winter while you sit and knit, read, crochet, spin, or simply just SIT.
We have no air conditioning either, even tho we live in the heart of the hot muggy humid south....But I like the way we live with a better observance of nature than most....
Most folks go to work in AC buildings in their AC cars and come home and drive into their carports or garages and go back into their AC homes....
We have to monitor the weather closely to see IF it's o.k. to hang the clothes on the line or do we need to hang them in the pantry room (or in the winter in the living room overnight so the wood heater will dry them....but not CLOSE to the heater!)....
In the summer ALL windows are open so I can hear if a chicken, goat, or even a bunny is in distress or needs help....AND I can hear the birds singing, goats baaaaaaaaing, wind rustling, so much more....that folks miss inside their air-tight, AC or forced-air heated homes....
You can bury a lot of troubles digging in the dirt! |
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MeadowLark
True Blue Farmgirl
2206 Posts
USA
2206 Posts |
Posted - Jun 01 2005 : 06:43:24 AM
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I do use our wood burner, and my husband still finds the time to cut and stack our own wood in the fall. But something to think about...with everyone using wood to heat can the wood supply and trees produce enough?
"Out beyond ideas of wrongdoing and rightdoing, there is a field. I'll meet you there." Rumi, 13th century. |
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MeadowLark
True Blue Farmgirl
2206 Posts
USA
2206 Posts |
Posted - Jun 01 2005 : 09:20:32 AM
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We use something called Osaze Orange Hedge to heat with. Many pioneers planted this tree for windbreaks and wood supply in the 1800's here in Kansas. They are called "hedgerows" and line many fields and can be a nusiance to a farmer working the land now. DH has cleared out many hedge this way to the delight of the landowner, and the wood burns hot and slow. Perfect for wood furnaces. It can have thorns so its rough to handle. They produce their seeds in a green ball the size of an orange in the fall. We have tried to start a new row of hedge this way but have not had any luck. The tree is a slow grower too. So, they are a hard tree to renew.
"Out beyond ideas of wrongdoing and rightdoing, there is a field. I'll meet you there." Rumi, 13th century. |
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Eileen
True Blue Farmgirl
1199 Posts
Eileen
USA
1199 Posts |
Posted - Jun 01 2005 : 09:26:29 AM
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Check at your local nursery and see if they need some special treatment to get started. Sounds like something worth starting as they last so long and create such nice slow heat. Maybe the seed balls need to be heated to germinate or something. I would like to see one of those seed balls. Can they be dried for decorations?
Eileen
songbird; singing joy to the earth |
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MeadowLark
True Blue Farmgirl
2206 Posts
USA
2206 Posts |
Posted - Jun 01 2005 : 09:32:14 AM
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Eileen I have never seen them dried but I suppose one could try...We use them here as a natural detourant to Crickets. The crickets seem to detest the smell. They look just like a big orange with thick dimpled green skin and are full of seeds. We split them and planted them along the fence line. Maybe I need to germinate the seeds first...I'll try that this fall! The seed balls do have a different smell, but not unpleasant unless you are a cricket!
"Out beyond ideas of wrongdoing and rightdoing, there is a field. I'll meet you there." Rumi, 13th century. |
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dfjett
Farmgirl at Heart
3 Posts
Deborah Jett
Bloomsbury
New Jersey
USA
3 Posts |
Posted - Jun 27 2005 : 12:18:49 PM
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Ah yes, the woodstove. It's a love, hate relationship. However, in this house, we have oil heat. So, this year, I am insisting on the installation of a woodstove. I know who will feed it during the day and who will carry out the ashes, etc. But, I know I can keep the house warm with it, no matter what goes on in the Middle East. The next house will have a solar assist system or perhaps a more involved system along with a woodstove. I expect the cost of utilities will rise quite high before extensive research and development is done for alternative options.
Deborah
NJ |
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BamaSuzy
True Blue Farmgirl
138 Posts
Alabama
USA
138 Posts |
Posted - Jul 12 2005 : 11:46:59 AM
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Even when we have to buy the wood instead of having time to cut it out of our woods, to me it's more environmentally friendly than paying out my money to a big utility company....
Also, in the winter there's just nothing as comforting and cozy as a wood-burning fire!
We're heated primarily with wood for about 24 years.....and I cook on the wood heater in the winter a great deal as well!
You can bury a lot of troubles digging in the dirt! |
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grammy-o
Farmgirl in Training
25 Posts
Lisa
Greenville
WI
USA
25 Posts |
Posted - Jul 28 2005 : 2:29:21 PM
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I love to burn wood. You can cut and stack when the weather is tolerable. I tell my daughters every year when they complain about stacking wood....remember these complaints when it's -20 outside and it's +85 in the living room.:) I also remind them how much they hate stacking hay, and how much they love riding horse. Unfortunately, hay has to be done when it's 100+ degrees!! at least it feel sthat way and the last few weeks it's actually been close.
Let's keep FARM LAND as FARM LAND! |
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FloralSaucer
True Blue Farmgirl
156 Posts
Australia
156 Posts |
Posted - Jul 28 2005 : 9:13:26 PM
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| We are collecting our last (hopefully) load for the season. It is winter here in Australia. We have been in a wood heated house for about 2 1/2 years. We did always have a chainsaw. The kids are learning how to split it, so it is a good independence skill to pick up. I think they enjoy their day out. |
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Aunt Jenny
True Blue Farmgirl
11381 Posts
Jenny
middle of
Utah
USA
11381 Posts |
Posted - Jul 28 2005 : 9:22:11 PM
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We have a gas furnace, but use our wood stove in the family room as much as possible when it is cold out..I love it! I have lived entirely with wood heat for many years...in Minnesota and in Idaho as well as Calif and wood do it again. We have quite a bit of wood stacked up and ready to split now...husband has been hauling firewood and we had such a mild winter last year that we had some left..which amazed me!! That will sure be well dried to use this fall!!!
Jenny in Utah
The best things in life arn't things! |
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Fabulous Farm Femmes
True Blue Farmgirl
792 Posts
Diane
Lakebay, Tacoma
WA
792 Posts |
Posted - Jul 29 2005 : 12:04:47 AM
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| To add my two cents, we learned the need for a woodstove when a freak ice storm arrived and the power was out and wwe were snowed in for 8 days with no heat.We were new to country/rural living then.......by the next winter, we had a lovely new woodstove, a wood shed, and a chainsaw. |
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Lazycreek
Farmgirl in Training
39 Posts
Charlee
Mt Ida
AR
USA
39 Posts |
Posted - Aug 17 2005 : 8:57:21 PM
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There is just nothing like heating with wood. The whole house is warm and cozy with no "cold" spots.
Believe in the power of your dreams |
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ThymeForEweFarm
True Blue Farmgirl
705 Posts
Robin
An organic farm in the forest in
Maine
USA
705 Posts |
Posted - Aug 18 2005 : 04:09:13 AM
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We had eight cords delivered last week. It's been cut for a year but is still tree length. We'll start cutting four cords into stove sized pieces, splitting and stacking it. We do have an oil furnace in the basement but seldom use it. If we're going to be away longer than the wood will last in the stove the furnace kicks on at 55°. It won't be long before we have a small fire in the morning and again in the evening to take the chill out of the house.
Robin
www.thymeforewe.com |
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bramble
True Blue Farmgirl
2044 Posts
2044 Posts |
Posted - Aug 18 2005 : 06:46:28 AM
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We have a soapstone woodstove out in dh's workshop and boy does it get nice and toasty. Sometimes the kids like to do "hearth" cooking out there and we make all sorts of stuff with the dutch oven, etc... it's really nice for Fall parties.The scout troop had a firewood stand at our house that did pretty well, so I suspect we will have a ready supply all winter along with what my husband cuts on his own.He is fortunate that alot of people give him storm damaged trees and he has a friend who tips him off to any trees that can be milled for lumber so he gets a supply for heat and projects. If we ever build our family room addition, I want a big walk in fireplace that's like the old stone houses in Bucks County. I bought the tramel and some old tools at an auction years ago so I am ready to go! I love the smell of a wood fire!
with a happy heart |
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Annab
True Blue Farmgirl
2900 Posts
Anna
Seagrove
NC
USA
2900 Posts |
Posted - Jan 09 2006 : 03:54:30 AM
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For any of you who subscribe to Countryside, flip though the back few pages and look for Woodmaster Waterstoves. You can also google search Taylor, Harvey and Hicks.
These run on the same principal as your car radiator. Heated water circulates through pipes and by forced air, through duct work, heats the home. Only instead of electricity or car battery, the energy source comes from wood. We also use any scrap paper/junk mail and basically anything that will burn cleanly. We still live away from people, so the pollution factor is not as issue, and is no more stink than your basic camp fire.
We heat with one of these AND it also provides HOT water through a second set of pipes for domestic water needs! The wood and ash mess is kept outside. And with the newer models, they are self insulated, so you don't really need another out building (but they are good fer keeping weather off your wood piles and you)
High end models run for close to 3-5,000. We got ours second hand and have had the water heater off for 3 years now!
We are surrounded by woods, have a friend who is a professional arborist, and relatives who run pallet shops and saw mills...all of whom deal with large quantites of scrap wood.
Might want to check it out MOST of what you see advertised, the company will deliver. :) |
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MullersLaneFarm
True Blue Farmgirl
596 Posts
Rock Falls
IL
596 Posts |
Posted - Jan 30 2006 : 5:33:13 PM
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We've heated with wood the past 4 winters and I wouldn't trade old 'Grace' for the world. There is plenty of windfalls and the county pays us to go in and get them out. We like it best when we can use the draft team.
Nothing like cooking on a wood stove (only the winter please!!) Mine isnt' set up but every time I'm at my SIL's place, we cook up a storm on hers!
Cyndi
Joshua 24:15
Ol 'MacDonald has nothing on us!
http://www.mullerslanefarm.com |
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greyghost
True Blue Farmgirl
650 Posts
Lynn
Summerville
Georgia
USA
650 Posts |
Posted - Jan 30 2006 : 6:10:28 PM
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Where do you find a good woodstove? DH and I are planning on putting one into the house as we remodel. Being from Florida, we know NOTHING about them - so, for you gals with woodstoves:
What's the best place to put one (we haven't a basement)?
Is there ductwork that can be used to warm the rest of the house?
Our house is wood frame - we thought we should tile the floor and walls around it - is that right?
We have a spot in the dining room that would plenty well accommodate it space-wise, and it central to the house... would it work right there? |
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Horseyrider
True Blue Farmgirl
1045 Posts
Mary Ann
Illinois
1045 Posts |
Posted - Jan 31 2006 : 04:54:09 AM
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Lynn, you wouldn't want to put a wood burning furnace in your dining room; they need blowers to move the warm air throughout the house, so they can be noisy. If you don't have a basement, do you have a laundryroom? And some people have been known to build wood houses off the side of their house, and pipe the heat in from there. Some feel it's safer, as the chimney and heat source aren't even in the house, but they pipe the warmed air in.
We had a wood burning furnace in our last house. We loved it! It was the type to tie into the duct work and it kept our two story, four bedroom house an even 72 degrees because it hooked up to the regular thermostat, and had a damper that would work automatically. We had to feed it twice a day, but that was okay. Wood was plentiful and cheap in southern Indiana where we lived. We had our wood custom cut and stacked, all hickory and oak, and we never paid more than $300 a heating season.
I just got a bill for my most recent fill of gas here. It was more than $1300. My house is well insulated, too. I live out on the prairie now, and wood isn't plentiful. I wish it was; I miss my furnace.
Anna, we don't like air conditioning, either. Out here on the prairie, the winds blow constantly. My house was built right after the Civil War, so it was built in a time when people used windows. I love it! We rarely run a fan. And you're right; you can hear your animals, and feel much closer to the natural world. |
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akcowgirl
True Blue Farmgirl
296 Posts
Valerie
Homer
Alaska
USA
296 Posts |
Posted - Mar 20 2006 : 2:41:55 PM
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As I sat reading you post last night laughing, i looked up and said to my self " i must go get more wood it is starting to snow" this made me laugh even harder. We have had our wood stove for almost 5 years now and i would not trade the nice warm cozy heat it put off for anything. What i would trade is the hassel of getting the wood in from the lot, bucking it up, splitting it, stacking it, then hauling it inside and making a big mess.
Lynn: if you are getting just a woodstove and not a wood furnace then in your dinning room would be a great spot for it. I have a little fan next to mine to move the heat around but it you have a ceiling fan that is fine to.
To all you wood burners out there "May your wood stay plentifull, your stove stay hot and you hearth stay clean"
Alaska Girl all the Way |
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LJRphoto
True Blue Farmgirl
760 Posts
Laura
Hickory Corners
MI
USA
760 Posts |
Posted - Apr 22 2006 : 8:46:14 PM
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i have noticed that a family down the road from us uses wood to heat their home and they always have a big lot of logs seasoning. i always wondered where they got all of the wood they have as they don't have a particularly wooded piece of land. Well, recently Davey Tree came through and cut branches away from all the power lines and left a whole lot of wood too big for my husband and i to move without cutting it down more and it dawned on me that they probably get calls from people who don't want the wood and just want someone to clean it up for them. Who knows, they might even get paid to pick up the wood. Then they split a mountain of it and cover it with a tarp to keep it dry.
Our house used to have a woodburning stove. The chimney is still right here in the ceiling with a metal cap. My husband wants to put another one in and after this winter's heating bills i can't really argue with him on that one. i figured we could even use our furnace's blower to move it around the house. Does anyone else do that?
"I would feel more optimistic about a bright future for man if he spent less time proving that he can outwit Nature and more time tasting her sweetness and respecting her seniority." -E. B. White
http://www.betweenthecities.com/blog/ljr/
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bboopster
True Blue Farmgirl
1140 Posts
Betty Jo
West Bend
Wisconsin
USA
1140 Posts |
Posted - Apr 23 2006 : 1:24:57 PM
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Hello Ladies,
We have a outside wood burning boiler that we have installed in our new house. It only needs to be filled twice a day and uses up to 4 foot logs and up to 70% green wood. We do have a wooded lot but also pick up wood from along the road side after tree trimming companies have gone through. We also get calls from friends and others that know we use wood for heating to come and get there downed wood. Our burner is an Empire wood burner. It also heats our hot water on demand and soon our hot tub. We also have a new swiss made boiler (97% efficent) in our house which during building only ran 4 times. We use old cast iron radiators so no blowing soot around. Our builder and his subs where not on our side when we installed this system but in the end they would load the burner for us if we where not there at the house. The heating is very constant through out the house, even the loft is the same temp. We also did not put in air conditioning which lead them all to think we where truly nuts. But we did install a whole house fan that exchanges the air every 3 minutes and on those very hot day we just turn it on exchange the air and instant cool air. Our propane company has decided that we must rent our tank as we use so little gas. This is a bummer but we might just buy it and be done with it.
Pray for our troops to come home safe and soon.
Enjoying the road to the simple life :>) |
Edited by - bboopster on Apr 23 2006 1:27:19 PM |
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Alaska farm girl
True Blue Farmgirl
123 Posts
dorothy
skagway
Alaska
USA
123 Posts |
Posted - Apr 23 2006 : 4:35:52 PM
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Hi,I love the 1st topic list!! That about sums it up with wood stove issues! Wood here costs about $135 a cord. Last year a friend brought it from across the border and we weren't home when he dropped it off.With a dumptruck,5 cords,right there,next to the front door.I hired the basketball team to come stack it.That was good planning as it was a BIG pile.
We have a Blaze King.Actually the Princess size.When I moved into this house with my new hubby,we had a froo froo stove and so I made my brother fly me back to my old cabin and get my blaze princess cause I like it soo much.It has alot of room inside and a flat top for heating soups and water.I have had a few different types in my day and this is my favorite for stoves!! |
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Make It Easy: Heating with Wood |
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Heating with Wood
