Can Wood Stoves Be a Cost-Effective Alternative to High Heating Prices?

[turbo]

With fuel oil running about $4.50/gal here and kerosene over $5.00/gal, I'm glad I've got an efficient wood stove. I just finished splitting and throwing next year's wood, and it is now tarped for drying. This winter's wood is already tightly stacked in my attached woodshed - almost 5-1/2 cords - plenty for winter with lots left over unless we get a really brutal winter this year. I paid $160/cord cut, split, and delivered, and then split most of the wood at least one more time because our stove has a small fire-box. Lots of folks here in Maine are looking at closing off some parts of their houses for the winter (a time-honored tradition years back) and are still facing $3000+ for heat. Wood is more work, for sure, but stacking away 5 cords of prime hardwood for $800 beats calling the fuel company for another delivery. Most of the smaller fuel companies demand cash up front before they will start pumping fuel into the tank - they're getting burned.

BTW, this pile is over 6' high and it is twice as deep as the width of the front face shown in the picture. There's a lot of wood in that heap.

 

[WarPhalange]

Tree murderer!

 

[humanino]

Good work ! Reminds me of long days in summer when I had to help with that.
You need to make a nice pile

 

[turbo]

Good work ! Reminds me of long days in summer when I had to help with that.
You need to make a nice pile

I DID make a nice pile! Last year, I stacked the wood tightly, criss-crossing the sticks, etc. It dried very slowly, so this year, I'm using a very loose piling method. The Germans did something similar with holzhaufen - tall circular piles around central poles.

 

[turbo]

Tree murderer!

I did not murder the trees. I merely helped with the butchering. I must confess that I have murdered my share of trees over the years. Funny thing though, the wood-land that I selective-cut for firewood supplied trees for year after year after year. It seems the trees grow back. Who knew?

 

[mgb_phys]

I just got back from Nova Scotia where everybody has piles of wood that big outside their house.
Do you have a central heating furnace that burns the wood and then heats radiators?
How completely does the wood burn, or do you have a similair size pile of ashes in sping?

I only have experience of burning wood on campfires - for the heat you get out it never seems worth the effort.

 

[humanino]

I DID make a nice pile! Last year, I stacked the wood tightly, criss-crossing the sticks, etc. It dried very slowly, so this year, I'm using a very loose piling method. The Germans did something similar with holzhaufen - tall circular piles around central poles.

When I read "I DID make a nice pile", I was thinking (oh no, that's the other thread) I was thinking "But then it's not going to dry properly". No I realize you must know so much more than myself about wood piling.

 

[humanino]

Tree murderer!

Na, those threes are darn hippie property squatters anyway.

 

[Evo]

I have 5 peat ready to light firelogs for my fireplace.

Considering my average monthly electric bill last winter (my place is ALL electric) was only $25 a month, I'm not worried.

 

[turbo]

I just got back from Nova Scotia where everybody has piles of wood that big outside their house.
Do you have a central heating furnace that burns the wood and then heats radiators?
How completely does the wood burn, or do you have a similair size pile of ashes in sping?

I only have experience of burning wood on campfires - for the heat you get out it never seems worth the effort.

I have a very small, hot-burning efficient wood stove with a fire-box lined with fire-brick for heat retention. When you burn well-dried wood in hot fires, there is very little ash. I clean the ash out of the stove every couple of weeks or so.

 

[turbo]

When I read "I DID make a nice pile", I was thinking (oh no, that's the other thread) I was thinking "But then it's not going to dry properly". No I realize you must know so much more than myself about wood piling.

I don't know about that, but I know that my carefully-crafted pile last year dried WAY too slowly. I have tarped the pile with a shallow overlap, back and front, hoping that the loose piling and open ends will result in nice dry wood before I need it next year.

 

[turbo]

For people who are contemplating moving to wood or expanding their use of wood for heating:

Last year, I bought some extra wood and stacked it very tightly (mistake) and I also let some parts on the edges of the pile be higher than other parts. This allowed the tarp to sag, and as the wood was drying (and the water was collecting under the tarp) there were some areas over which the tarp dripped the sweated water, giving me some pretty wet wood. This year, I'm stacking very loosely (just a throw-pile, essentially) with the center higher than the edges, and some open spaces on the ends. Water that does not evaporate should collect on the underside of the tarp and run to the outer edges of the pile, giving me a dryer wood-pile and cleaner burns (if possible!) this winter.

 

[Integral]

Many of the valleys in Southern Oregon have nearly outlawed wood stoves. To many people do not have good efficient stoves, the tendency to let the fire smoulder produced to much smoke. Southern Oregon suffers from a temperature inversions in the winter and the valleys would fill with smoke creating a bad air pollution problem.


Speaking of which, I noticed on the way to work today that Ivan Seekings little valley appears to be filled with smoke from a field burn... Hope he and Tsu ares not suffering from the smoke to much.