The True Cost of Heating With Wood
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- čas přidán 3. 12. 2019
- After a few years of heating entirely with wood I have discovered a few hidden costs that many don't think about. But is it still worth it?
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We live on 10 acres of mostly black oak. We also have access to my neighbors 8 acres. He does not burn wood and is glad for me to keep his land cleared. I have always heated with wood because I prefer the wonderful even heat. I am 75 now, I move a little slower than I once did. But with the help of my tractor and a great wood splitter I still supply both my house and my shop with my winters wood. We have propane in both places as a a back up, but rarely use it. There is enough dead and down each year that I rarely have to cut anything living. I enjoy doing the outside work and it is basically my exercise program.
wonderful to hear that you still enjoy this exercise. I get free wood from tree cutting places, they give me wood chips and firewood also for my outdoor fire place.
Good for you 👍
Living in Northern Alberta the winters get very cold, and we do all of our heating with wood. Can't beat it!
My husband is 74 yrs old and he's been cutting wood since 1985 when we installed our add on furnace by Monarch. We only use it when its in low 30s otherwise it will cook us out. We are lucky enough to a have farm friend with a generous timber of oak. Larry starts cutting wood after the hunting season to keep him busy during winter. Larry also built his own splitter. People bring over old saws and fixes them. We are fans!
I think for lots of people the cost isn't the problem its the fact that manual labor is involved that turns them away
That’s the problem with modern society, if work is involved, they are not!,
manual labor wasn't the issue when I was 30 - 40 years old. OTOH, one day I sat down to do the math and my time versus cost was in the area of a minimum wage job. Since I was making way more than that at my shop I began to change my tune. IOW, why not work a few extra minutes at my day job each day and have a more free time at home. Of course, heating oil was only 75 cents a gallon back then.
What I like most about heating with wood here in southeast Canada is that I don't have to count on anyone else for my heat... only me
There’s not a shortage of wood in Michigan, however there is a shortage of people (mostly young “men” under age of 40) willing to do this hard ass work.
You say you need to BE in shape, but one could easily also argue that doing all the work with wood KEEPS you IN shape. :-)
IF you don't get hurt doing it....
J. Chris Beck burned wood for over 25 years and ruined my back. Its ok for awhile,but if your not getting it free,its not worth it.
My dad always told me wood warms you twice. Once when you process it, and once when you burn it.
True, but I think it's like 4 or 5 times ! lol.
@@augustreil dont forget taking out the ash! Another job that will warm you up.
@@northdakotaham1752, True.
Oh yea
And 4 times in between!!!!🤣
You covered about everything, I heat with wood also and enjoy every minute of being out side processing the wood.
Great video man. I scrolled the comments to see if anyone already mentioned this and didn’t see anything so here goes...
When it comes to the discussion around whether or not it’s worth your time/effort to produce firewood you also need to consider that you aren’t paying income tax on the value generated by your efforts...your heating fuel is tax free. Whereas with propane or natural gas you are paying all kinds of tax. Here in Canada we pay about 30% income tax so I take home less than 70% of my gross income for every hour that I work. Plus we also pay and insane amount of tax on all fuel sources. Ain’t no tax on a cord of wood I cut hauled split and stacked myself. Cheers!
One of my top motivations for going around town with my trailer and harvesting my own wood is that I take my teenage sons with me and put them to work on the family project of heating our home. They help cut, load, unload, split, stack, and haul it in throughout the winter. I’m grateful my Dad made me learn to do all that work when I was a kid, and I know this is about the healthiest way for my sons to get exercise, learn some important skills, gain an appreciation of hard work, and contribute in a totally tangible way to the welfare of our family. It’s pretty common for them to enlist several friends to help (what a great form of laziness for my sons to exhibit, LOL - some of their friends enthusiastically return whenever they’re invited) when we go collect 2 cords of a fallen tree on our 20’ flatbed trailer, turning it into something of a community workout project. So long as God gives me children, grandchildren and great-grandchildren, I intend to regularly put them to work helping me process firewood.
My grandparents heated with firewood most their lives. They had about 100 acres so usually plenty of dead/dying and fallen trees. Grandad split with ax, wedges and maul until he was probably in his 80's then a neighbor loaned him an old rusty homemade hydraulic wood splitter. Right at the end of his life my Aunt and Uncle added a propane heater. He was afraid of propane most his life...I think he had witnessed some explosions/fires back in the day??? He also burnt bulk coal when I was a kid along with wood. They had an old pot belly coal stove in their old house. It all was a lot of work...but I think that is what kept him alive for so long. He really enjoyed it.
Mike Woods
The key is to keep moving so as to not get rusty,
That’s the key to life, keep moving, the heat is in the tools, before you find it in the wood!
We were paying between $400.00-$500.00 per month( 7 months out of the year) to heat our 2800sqft house with propane. I was lucky enough to have a friend in the tree service industry that gave me all of the free wood we could handle. I spent a little money and A LOT OF TIME to get rid of the big pig in the front yard. The money we saved was incredible but man it was almost a second job.
Nice Job !!! Good Video !!! At Times I Wonder Why I Do It ,But It Feels Good To Have 12 Cords In The Wood Shed !!! Self Reliance !!!
Here in CT I get arborists to drop off already cut logs for free because they get charged to dump it. Win win for them. Charge customer for taking it away then dump for free.
Oaks, Hickory, Cherry, Maples, Ash
I have a different approach out here in California. It could be different where you live. I have been burning full time for 20 years. Handle the wood the LEAST amount possible. 1) Tree companies will bring you rounds for free. Delivered. They avoid the dump fees this way, plus they don't have to pay their guys to chip it. 2) I split the wood right where they drop it (with a log splitter.) 3) Let it dry exactly where you throw it from splitting. 4) move to woodpile and stack. My log splitter ($1200) has payed for itself many times over with oak at $500/cord here in CA. So with this method, you avoid handling the wood risking injury, saving time. I rarely chainsaw anything either. Maybe 30 minutes of chainsaw work per year.
Thanks! You make my pellet stove look like a good plan for an old goat! Viewing from Westcoast Canada! CHEERS
While my neighbors are spending $1000s on heating oil, that $1000 is staying in my pocket. Cant beat firewood
WeatherNut27 nothing is free. There’s a cost for everything. Wood is very very labor intensive and requires constant work. Not to mention the extreme wear on your back.
@@charlesprince1435 Didnt say it was free but I sure like keeping money in my pocket while others complain about heating costs. You don't have to split yourself. Even buying cords still saves you $$.
It is almost free lot of times
Even when you pay for it it's still cheaper. I buy 10-12 cords @1500$ and that heats my house for 3 years. I was paying 800$ in electricity just for the month of January.
Dude, you nailed it. Love all the SSL Family videos. Living the dream you are.
Awesome video it brought back memories - Massachusetts 1970's: Dad would drop me off with a chainsaw a trailer & bottle of water at Cumberland Farms where trees were bulldozed into piles and tell me that trailer better be full when I get back. I loved it, while working all I could think of was how warm my mom and sisters would be & how hot the sauna (Finnish) would get from the wood I was gathering. With child labor wood is FREE. Heating with wood was awesome during the Jimmy Carter years when oil was $10/gallon. We had 2 woodstoves 1 for cooking the other just for heat, in my opinion all the hard work made me a better football player in high school & the act of splitting wood with an axe gave me a wicked swing with the baseball bat.
I enjoyed the video. My friends say why do I heat with wood. Answer for the same reasons you mentioned in this video. I can only add the cost of pain. I have missed with the axe a couple times. Once hurting my ankle for a couple months. Eye protection, and gloves are a must. Snake boots also.
Always love the wood collection videos !
Wait till the power goes out all those people will wish they had a pile of wood. Ina emergency I like to know I can heat my house with no electricity.
good video.. the only thing u missed was the increased cost of home insurance due to a woodstove.. not big but it does count. Mine went up about $50 a year.. still so worth it.. and nothing is as rewarding as sitting in front of a woodstove on a cold winter day!!
Self sufficiency is an important one.
Why spend time watching sports and movies when you can use time to ensure your comfort and survival. People waste tremendous amounts of time and then justify why they don't need to do something. Splitting (manual or with splitter) is good time to meditate on God's word. To each his own.
Good video. I just put in our wood stove back in October and I am learning about all the stuff it takes to process firewood. Since it’s our first year I’ve been pretty busy lately but I enjoy being outside and the workout from moving logs and splitting.
A good tool I’d recommend if you don’t already have one is called a log ox. They are about $180 on amazon but makes picking up logs, rolling over fallen timber and propping it up for cutting wayyyy easier
We heated with wood for over 20 years using an inefficient small franklin fireplace. Fuel oil costs were $800/season. All the wood was cut/split by hand. Dismantled wood crates were kindling. The best wood to burn is the tree roots, they always burned almost 20 hours plus. If and when you become tired processing wood then you make the decision about what is best for your family. Until then keep up the wood splitting it is the best exercise, just be careful.
Hello to all,
Marc and Paulette
Marc B- Be careful burning dismantled wood crates. Chances are the wood has been treated. This can be very dangerous once set on fire. If you are only burning them outside, you should be okay but inside can be very dangerous.
I’ll share my story. I’m 71 and I heat pretty much 100% with wood and I have for over 40 years. Grew up burning wood. I don’t have central heat. Took out the gas furnace completely. I have a little propane space heater with a thermostat. It keeps the water from freezing when I leave home for a long period of time.
A couple of years ago I bought a battery chain saw. A Makita with 16” bar. I’ve cut the equivalent of 20 full cords with it so far. I insulated my old farm house to the point that I call it “super insulated” I have to cut wood in 9” lengths and split it fairly small because I can easily have too big of a fire with 18” pieces. I only need about 1.3 cords per year here in northern WV, so I think I may have enough wood cut ahead for a lifetime, but I’m still cutting because I enjoy it. I take my battery saw and my RZR buggy and small wagon and cut wood for fun and exercise. Three sets of 6Ah batteries (Makita uses 2 hand tool sized batteries) will cut the equivalent of a pickup load. Perhaps, not quite enough to load that big trailer of yours, but pretty close.
Excellent video!! Very well said. Greetings from Wisconsin. Karen
I love my rancher 455! I’ve had it over 7 years, I typically cut between 5-7 cord of hardwood yearly and this saw religiously starts First pull every time!👍🏼 never had a single problem with it!
Loved the video. God bless an keep up the good work.
You should put a "log Ox" on your wish list it's an amazing tool. I saw it on the channell Off grid with Doug and Stacy.
Agree with the way you think. BTW, I think you could count the cost of one saw against the property as you did with the trailer. On a rural property in your part of the world you need at least one saw, even if you were not heating with wood.
We live on 5 acres, much of it wooded. CFS has recently tried to sink us in terms of costs and fees for propane delivery. Now we're looking into wood heating, we have plenty of it.
Another huge cost that you didn't mention is if you don't have a wood stove / chimney to start with. That can run 8-15k where I live. You're also gonna want a chimney sweep to keep it clean, fireplace tools and some kind of shop vac to clean it out (not required if you can sweep ash out). Just more things that add up. Not against this at all and long term you will save if the wood is free... but, bottom line is... there is nothing like a wood burning fireplace on a cold winter day and you can walk around in shorts! Burn on...
Excellent video as usual, thanks again!
The one aspect that I did not hear you address is the fact that wood heat is the most environmentally friendly heat source. With the exception of fuel to move and process firewood, it is carbon neutral.
Good clear analysis that ties in exactly with my own methods and thoughts on the game - only difference is I have to pay for the wood, which adds in about $200 each year and I think I have to spend another $150 a year in truck fuel hauling the lengths in from the forest.
We hear our home with wood as well. Nothing better than throwing an extra log on to be comfortable when it is below zero outside. Just cutting dead trees and windfalls on our 190 acres is way more than enough. We get our kids to help with parts of it and they love it, especially watching the big pieces split in two.
One additional cost you haven't mentioned - higher home insurance premium because of heating with a wood stove exclusively. Also, while I used to clean our chimney three times per year when on the farm on Quadra Island, BC - a number of recent chimney fires on the Island, in one case causing the entire house to burn down, have drawn the attention of insurance agents who now ask for a proper chimney sweep cleaning at least once per year.
I’ve been collecting enough wood to keep two wood burners going through winter for about 12 seasons so far. I have a Ryobi 18” 2 stroke that has proved amazingly reliable even though it’s not a premium brand. The key is to keep the chain sharp with round files and try to avoid ever touching the ground, dirt etc., otherwise it takes about 15 mins to resharpen. One or two chains a year, 5 litres of chainsaw oil and the occasional bar and plug (all Oregon) is about all I need, plus petrol and 2 stroke oil. £200 for the saw, plus about £60/year in consumables, plus a huge amount of time and effort! Plus welding up my battered old Haemerlin wheelbarrow from time to time. Oh, and a big axe that cost about £20 and needs sharpening on my grinder occasionally.
Oak pallets.
Cost? Free.
No tractor or wood splitter needed.
Free to pry apart.
Pennies to cut dozens with an electric circular saw.
Stacks like a dream.
I spend about $200/heating ***SEASON*** for some K-1 for backup heat and a 1/2 cord of firewood.
been heating with wood my whole life
wouldn't have it any other way!
Patrick Wagz me too pal !!!!!!
Just getting back to it, Neighbors and government issues with not being like them!
I still call heat from firewood: free heat. I feel like I'm beating someone when I burn wood. I don't care if I had to buy a stove, a chain saw, a splitter, or a tractor. I can sell all those at the end of the day for at least 50% of what I paid for them as long as I take care of them.
The rush of euphoria I get when I see wood at the side of the road is unreal. It's like finding hard cash.
Good video. Good info. Thanks. 😊😊😊
great video and message
The only extra thing I’d add in would be getting the chimney cleaned. Either buying the sweep to do it yourself or paying a pro to do it. But even then it’s still cheap to heat with wood vs other materials
Wish I had those huge ones for seating around the campfire!
Nice job on the video keep it up
When you have your chain hanging off your saw's bar, bad things can happen. For filing you might like Granberg's file guide- enables precision/consistent results. I bought a refurb 455R 8 yrs back from VMInnovations for $325; bud has it for 5 yrs now- his heavy artillery. Runs like new. He's delighted to have sold his stihl 250, happy with PP4218 & PP5020. All about what works.
Great video,Loved it! 😁
always go with the pro model saws they are well worth the extra $ and usually lighter weight
Keeping busy keeps the doctor away and keeps you in shape to go out camping, fishing, hunting, and I live at the end of a electrical run where power outages are common. No electricity converts into alternative heat and that ain't cheap. I'm 72 and its nice to be able to move around a bit. Setting leads to heart disease and bad legs and a host of other hidden costs. Wood hands down is the good chance of living longer and cheaper too.
2:45 LOL, if that guy on the loader were there 20 minutes earlier, you wouldn’t have killed your back loading it up.
Been doing this for 10 years n will til I can't. Then I'll buy 10 cords a year n have it delivered. Once home the work can b done casually n why does a lot of people going by u can almost read their minds n feel the jealousy. I luv the what I call free heat !! -25 with a 15 mph north wind n no problem.
Need a cart for the big rounds buddy…Hernia awaiting trust me.I admire all your hard work stay safe.👌
My next place will have a woodstove.we are renting at the moment and dont have one.
But years ago we did have a water circulating typ of woodstove.i miss it.
Its the same feeling as to dumping frying oil in my old benz and drive around for free.
Isnt it less hard work to split it right there and just move the split logs around?
One day i get an old schoolbus,run it on veggyoil and use it as an woodshelter.fill it up with wood where you prozess it in the forrest.drive home with a day permit and park it close to the house.
Couldnt have said it better my friend. All bases covered.
With what we saved new chainsaw and chains next year bought a used Oliver tractor next year used trailer, next year old dump truck . Cost a very good work out
You forgot the price of the wood stove or wood furnace. I grew up with wood and used wood up until about 4 years ago. Your right its a time thing more than anything. As an electrician, working one of my own jobs, a 2 day job will pay for my oil for the entire year.
i heat my small cottage on wood , i cook on wood , my hot water comes from the boiler in the Rayburn stove , i run a few water water raditors from the boiler in the Rayburn and have i have a log burner too ....All on wood ....
i'm disabled so i buy logs in as well as recycled sawdust compressed fuel blocks, made locally ...its still way cheaper than running on propane or fuel oil or electric heating
Living on a fixed income i can control my finaces using wood as fuel much better than waiting for a big ulitity bill at the end of winter.......
so i can buy some wood in summer when its cheaper and i'm using less and store for the cold months when prices and availablity alter ....
another advantage of using wood as fuel .
Cassie , North Yorkshire UK
People who cry 😭 about my firewood prices I tell them to work with me sometime. If they ever did I am sure they’d say I’m not charging enough.
Firewood is so labor intense. Yes, I heat with wood.
I went to propane and have never looked back.
Hey there, SSLFamilyDad! Do you use an app to track and budget your yearly expenses or you do keep it old school and manually tally and track expenses? Also, if you use an app, what is a good tracking and budgeting app that you recommend?
Nice vid. I burn wood in my insert because I like it. It helps with propane bills. Heats home nicely. Mostly I heat with wood in case propane stops, gets cut off, too expensive, truckers strike, company can't get out to make delivery of propane, propane furnace dies. Wood burning insert is a nice back up.
Also I have a 2nd propane pig for extra propane. I have over 20 acres of woods for heat if needed. I have a whole house generator that runs on propane as a back up. I don't want to use up expensive propane that is used for my Generac in case of power outage which will kill my propane furnace working.
Nice Job!! Wood shed or some way to store it ready to burn, would be an added cost, but “stihl” cheaper than Gas or electric!!
You don't need a woodshed just some free pallets
Yup, the drier you can keep it the better
Do use recreation fuel from a gas station, or the pre canned ethanol free fuel?
From the gas station. It is normally over $3 per gallon
One cost you left out is the cost of buying and maintaining your heating system. Outdoor boilers are expensive and every installation seems to be custom made. Other than that...its mostly about where you want to spend your time. I have heated with wood, wood pellets, corn and barley but am now back to buying LP gas during the summer price drop and banking it for winter use. It definitely costs more than burning wood but I have more free time and for me, it is also a safety issue. Heating about 6000 square feet so it was taking a considerable pile of wood every year.
I've had my Rancher since about 2007. Cut about 6 full cords per year. Mostly oak and pine (about 75% oak). Zero issues.
Raven Feather- Pine or Cedar are soft woods great for starting the fire. Oak being hardwood to keep the fire burning!
I can do either, work a little extra “at work” and pay for the fuel, or go out and cut it myself. I ENJOY harvesting my own heat, I don’t enjoy the extra “work” at work. I wish you were my neighbor, we would kill it in the wood harvesting as a team.
Whew what a workout !!!
A forgotten hidden cost is not able to walk which means do anything when older, from improper lifting. My dad could do it all when younger, now he is a mess and racked with pain in his back.
He did it wrong then. My dad is 84 and we cut and split 6 hours last Saturday and will do it again this saturday. We stopped 1 time for drinks and sandwich 🤣
I’m 45 been burning wood my whole life, hopefully I never get too old to cut my wood..
I'm 50 and been doing the same thing, and also said the same thing. Got to thinking one day about never getting to old to cut wood. If I don't get to old that must mean I'm going to die young. Let's hope we both get to old to cut wood. Who knows- maybe some young guy will keep us supplied
I burned wood for years, then sat down to do the math. As a part time job, it was roughly minimum wage when you figure the hours in versus what you might save on fuel. Yes, it taught the kids to lend a hand, teamwork, responsibility, etc. but at some point you have to wonder if there's another way. No wood equals no clutter, no cleaning, no dirty clothes, none of the extra tools in the garage that need maintenance, and nobody asking to borrow them. Still in all, it might be nice to have the option to putter with that stuff in my retirement.... at least for a few more years.
I'm curious. With the size logs you cut, would a longer saw blade work better?
A bigger bar/ chain is great up to a point. Ultimately you're limited by the power of your saw... A 36 inch bar takes a very big saw to run properly... like 90+cc... that's a damned expensive saw... a 20 inch bar, you can typically run on a 50-60cc saw and they're a much more affordable... $1000+ for a 90+cc saw or ~$400 for a 50-60cc saw...
Wood pellets will cost you around $15.57 per million BTUs and oil will cost $23.60 per million BTU's. (Before delivering fees and maintenance..) If you can buy a cord of firewood for around $200, that's only $6.87 per million BTUs.. I recently purchased a house and we purchased two cord to see how much wood we will be burning in a winter. After this winter I'll be finding and splitting and seasoning my own fire wood. I'll probably pay for a other 2 cord to let the new stuff season.
I have been looking at a lot of videos with wood cooking and wood warming the home I really enjoy watching it because I feel like this is something I want to be doing, but my only concern which maybe you guys can answer is I feel bad about cutting the trees how do you deal with that knowing the trees takes a very long time to grow?
I harvest almost solely trees that are dead or blown down or trees that people want taken down because they are dying or in the way of some construction etc. I very rarely just go cut down trees that are healthy and living for firewood. Also, when harvesting off my land I take out the trees that are weak, thin, or not varieties I want or have too many of. So this practice leaves room for smaller trees to grow faster for later harvest and a healthier forest. Hope that helps!
@@SSLFamilyDad wow I appreciate such fast response
I will also watch the guy is from the UK he lives off the grid
He said what he does when he's cutting his trees this that he cuts the branch above the roots in a way where we leave room for it to grow again sometime extending other branches on that same tree, and that way we always have history is growing stronger and also harder and in more abundance, isn't that a great idea?
Burning wood for many years . Burn24/7 in cold WVA winter . I live in a small town so I need to find wood wherever . I worked and play at a small local golf course. It has probably 80 old Chinese elm trees that provides most of my fire wood FREE . There is local tree guy down the street that gives me crap he can’t sale . My stove don’t care it eat all kind of wood . I just turned 80 and getting a little harder ,but love wood heat .in the cold snowy winter . Big snow ,big fire . Wood stove saved my butt in last years ice storm .stay safe ,stay warm.
Best advice ever: Never buy a big box store chainsaw, even if it's labeled a Husky or Stihl, they have cheap knock off parts in them. Always buy them at an authorized dealer.
It's true if you were to work at your job for the same amount of hours doing all your wood processing, it's cheaper to just buy the wood, but it's just not the same. Also some jobs may not offer the extra hours, overtime and who really WANTS to spend that extra amount of hours at their jobs compared to being out in the fresh air and the feeling of accomplishment of doing it yourself ? Great video and thumbs up.
It is alot about where you want to spend your time and what other time constraints you might have. I definitely understand the part about not wanting to work for somebody else.
august right bigger saw heavier but more power sharp chain make all the difference don’t it?!!
@@richstrong5257, Big power, a sharp chain and look out !
august yeah that’s true too I grew up around em but if there was ever something so handy but so damn dangerous all in one breath it’s a chainsaw
@@richstrong5257, So true.
One thing to consider, that is not junk wood necessarily. They were nice wide logs, short but wide. I mill these into 4x and 6x material to make raised beds, outdoor furniture, etc. If those logs were half the size, then yes I would have called them junk wood.
BTW, I thought you abandoned the outdoor wood burner?
Hi! Haven't seen one of your videos for awhile.
Well said 😎
He who cuts his own wood
Warms himself twice
How much was your outdoor stove and to get plumbed into all the buildings???
My outdoor boiler was here when we moved in and it is just heating the greenhouse. We have a wood stove in the house for heat
I could heat my home for two years on just the dead trees I have on my property, dead from storms and occasional beaver flooding, etc., if I just had the means to cut it up and bring it back to the house. I can split it up by hand and I enjoy doing that part, even the really stubborn chunks that resist splitting.
Even if you don't want to do the manual labor to process the wood, you can still buy full cords far cheaper per usable BTU than propane. We've got a high efficiency propane furnace and it still 3-4 times more expensive what it would be to get cord wood dropped off for me to stack. Plus if you live in a heavily wooded area its renewable, local, and basically carbon neutral over the long term.
I don't remember you mentioning the cost of transport, ie a strong enough pickup and trailer to cart the heavy wood too and fro. Wood heat is also a better heat, totally different than all other heat options.
he talked about the truck and trailer
@@PatrickWagz Thanks, I guess I missed that.
@@GrizzlyGroundswell no problem :-) and, i agree.... wood heat is the best !!
Good morning/ good afternoon got a question are you using any of that energy generated to power maybe Battery powered chainsaws that are pre powered using electricity that you can generate from your wood burning furnace. Also are using any steam-powered or hydroelectric the power your electricity for your house. Also are you pumping any of that CO2 into your Greenhouse to feed your plants. Love your videos hope to hear from you soon
That's what we pick up too. The city drop off wood!
Your furnace will last a lot longer if you are supplying 75 or 80% of your heat with wood. What does a new furnace cost?
I heat with wood, but man the time is a killer. I'm about to switch to pellets because I can grab two pallets of pellets in less than an hour.
I heat with wood, I buy it cut and split and stack it in the basement and the best part of it is splitting the too big pieces. I have a bad ass maul at the end of the three-foot handle, perfect tool for a good workout, I feel so refreshed once it is all done. And they say that at 85, we must be old farts. Yeah sure!
I live in New England, so there really are very few areas to get free wood... other than your own land. However, like you I burn exclusively with wood. It does take more energy to process it, but it is definitely warmer. The other issue if your electricity goes out... well I'm still nice and warm. So as you said, it is a choice all of us make ,,, thanks for making this point so others can see what their options are.
You're only talking about the cash outlays. There is a lot of 'expense' in the labor you exert to get the wood to your home and in the furnace. How would that affect the picture?
I think 2 big cost your overlooking is the cost of the heating system, 1 A good outdoor boiler system is very expensive, and if you have a woodburner in the house, your homeowners insurance is very expensive (they hate them ) i priced both here in mn and i would have to burn propane for 15 years to offset the cost , that doesn't include labor,
I have looked at those outdoor boilers also. I had one in the attached garage and keeping the garage clean is nearly impossible. If I had an outdoor boiler i would have it installed inside a storage building along with the fuel.
I suppose but I wouldn't include the cost of the ducting and furnace with heating with propane. Also homeowners insurance was not higher with the indoor woodstove
SSLFamilyDad depends on the state. In some they won't insure you if heat with wood at all.
Here in south east Michigan hooked up to natural gas I'm losing money cutting wood unless I sell it. Seems very strange this could be true but that's what I'm discovering. Burning wood saves about a dollar a day if it's very cold but costs me more than that to cut. New to this area and such a thing is very confusing to me. Never imagined anything could possibly be cheaper than wood that I cut myself!
Nat gas is super cheap to heat here, if I had it I would probably only use the wood burner to supplement through the coldest times
oOne thing you didn't touch on is the wood burner. No knocking you cause the constant heat from wood is nice, but outdoor woodstove don't last as long as a furnace.
Don't buy a chainsaw from Amazon. Buy it from a dealer who can service it after the sale.
Or learn how to DIY. In some areas all saw dealers value their services very highly. Rather than Amazon, go for factory refurbs from VMInnovations (Husqy)or BigSkyTool (Hitachi), new or refurb PPro, or new Dolmar/Makita or Echo. Not rocket surgery to care for them. "It's your money."
@@jacquesblaque7728 A full service dealer has parts in stock so you can get back to work quickly. That's enough reason to buy from him even if you do your own repairs. When he closes his business you'll have to order repair parts on line and wait for delivery. Down time is more expensive than the few dollars you save by buying on line.
May be so for you, but not for me. Where I live, dealers stock little and perform cashectomies. Best dealers for Husqy/Dolkita are 1.5/3 hrs away. Some stihls (e.g. 441) are a real PITA to work on- won't go there again. Really not so with down-time expense. You CAN save big-time online on refurbs. Relax.
Best heat ever, especially hard wood. i am surrounded with wood, electric for backup only, average hydro bills are 2$ a day,