Save $$$ - Heat with Wood

[plowhog]

It's official... Burn Ban ... First violation $100 fine ....

I own a residence in California that is also subjected to similar regulation. The bureaucrats there approved hiring "smoke police" to drive around on ban days, looking for fireplace smoke and issuing citations ....

 

[ultrarunner]

I own a residence in California that is also subjected to similar regulation. The bureaucrats there approved hiring "smoke police" to drive around on ban days, looking for fireplace smoke and issuing citations ....

Yes... sounds like we are neighbors?

It starts out small and reasonable and incrementally increases...

I attended hearings for all the good it did... even was told those with High Efficiency EPA stoves are not the problem... rather it is too hard to enforce those in compliance and those not.

The ban on new installs and the forced registration of existing sole source heat just brings more into the fold...

As a property manager there was pending legislation that would require rental property owners to remove or otherwise eliminate functioning chimneys when the current tenant vacated... the goal was to remove or render inoperable as many fireplaces or "Sources" as possible... also tried a buy back of wood stoves and incentives to install Natural Gas for those unwilling to a total ban.

There will come a time when most of the population will have no memory of the Hearth in my region...

I think one of the reasons Mom likes to visit the farm so much is when the sun goes down I build a fire in the family room stove... it really is pleasant and relaxing and since she split and stack almost all of the wood over the past summers there is no feeling guilty.

 

[plowhog]

Yes... sounds like we are neighbors? ... when the sun goes down I build a fire in the family room stove... it really is pleasant and relaxing.

Agreed on the irreplacable nice feeling about a wood stove or fireplace. I'm not too far from you, but only get to the SF Bay area for Giants games.

btw, a condition of closing our Washoe County residence (Reno) was the wood stove had to be removed prior to close of escrow. Reno sits in a bowl, ringed by mountains, and has a smoke problem in the winter. There is an exemption if you are on more than one acre (I am) so you can keep a wood burning fireplace. Being able to do that is also grandfathered in if you remodel, but only on 1 acre plus.

 

[ultrarunner]

I do think it will continue as population expands... there was a time when Nevada, Oregon and Washington were quite distinct from California...

One thing to remember is what starts in California does not stay in California... with a population approaching 40 million, California is a force onto it's own.

Anyone that doubts this only need to look at auto emissions... (Smog Control)

 

[not2old]

So one thing I did not see in this thread is the opportunity cost. If it takes you x hrs to produce that cord of wood what else could you have done to earn income during that time?

If it took you 10 hrs to produce a cord worth $160 and you could earn (net) $20/hr bush hoging for profit you would be better off doing that and buying wood. You would have $40 left over and a cord of wood.

Before I retired, I would consider that the government would confiscate $60.00 as income tax so frequently took time from work to get personal stuff done.

 

[FTG-05]

If you want to really save money: Make sure your house is well insulated. I had the typical R-19 fiber-crap batts between the attic joists. Probably ok and met standards when it was built in 1994.

So this last summer I had 8-10" of blown-in cellulose added to my attic, including our garage. We felt an immediate drop in temps in our garage, which made my wife happy since that's where she parks her car.

This winter, thus far, I'd say we've used half the firewood from previous years. Not only does the house stay warmer longer, it feels warmer, so I'm not having to load the firebox up so often. It's supposed to get into the 20's this upcoming week, so we'll see how it feels when it's really really cold outside!

 

[SouthparkMark]

I have burned wood for heat in my home since my first house purchase a few decades ago. Even though the earlier wood stoves were very inefficient I was able to locate free wood to burn usually in bulk. It helped with the heating costs.
Presently I have a home with an outdoor wood boiler that is my primary heat. The heat is in floor radiant heat. I usually load the boiler in the morning and that will last through the night. I have a propane boiler in the same loop as backup in case the wood boiler goes out (doesn't happen very often).
The wood boiler is easy to load and the dirt and smoke all stay outdoors. I purchase wood by semi load or barter with the local logger for space on my property to store some of his equipment or logs. I also advertise to take away unwanted logs/trees. I have seen local arborist/tree trimmers advertise cheep or free wood. I haven't yet gone that rout but If I need to I will.
With the boiler you don't spit wood unless it is simply too large to lift. I just block the logs into lengths (5 foot or less) that I can lift and throw 5 or 6 blocks into the boiler.
After the annual ashing out of the boiler in the summer, it may go out since the burning frequency is greatly extended and there is little ash/embers left in the burn box but leaving some ash/charcoal embers in the bed can help in that case.
My boiler has no auto ignition it just reignites/burns from existing, smoldering embers. I love it.
For the most part, the only propane I burn is the pilot on the backup propane boiler.
My boiler also provides my hot water and plenty of it.
It is a Central Boiler CL 6048. They have newer, more efficient models now but I'm happy with what I have.
I don't think a boiler like mine would be a good idea in the city or a heavily populated area because it can smoke quite a bit when it opens the air supply and starts to heat up.
There are new models that produce little smoke but require more maintenance.
Here at 9500' altitude in the high rockies, many people use wood boilers and most burn wood.
My neighbor heats with wood only and a high end wood stove. He's done so for years and it works well for him.
My motto is work smarter not harder.
I do run a chimney brush through my 15' chimney twice a year. Again it is out doors with easy access. Takes 10 minutes tops.
I can't think of a better way to heat with wood.

 

[goeduck]

If you want to really save money: Make sure your house is well insulated. I had the typical R-19 fiber-crap batts between the attic joists. Probably ok and met standards when it was built in 1994.

So this last summer I had 8-10" of blown-in cellulose added to my attic, including our garage. We felt an immediate drop in temps in our garage, which made my wife happy since that's where she parks her car.

This winter, thus far, I'd say we've used half the firewood from previous years. Not only does the house stay warmer longer, it feels warmer, so I'm not having to load the firebox up so often. It's supposed to get into the 20's this upcoming week, so we'll see how it feels when it's really really cold outside!

Did you have it blown in on top of your fiberglass batts? I have just batts which makes it conveinient for working up there when I run new wires, add a can light or whatever. But I lose a lot of heat.

 

[Industrial Toys]

My Dilemma EXACTLY!

I had some leak on my new steel roof last week and had to crawl around up there. Difficult. If I had the stuff already blown in, next to impossible.

 

[FTG-05]

Did you have it blown in on top of your fiberglass batts? I have just batts which makes it conveinient for working up there when I run new wires, add a can light or whatever. But I lose a lot of heat.

Yep, right over the batts.

And that's the downside to any blown-in insulation, it makes working in the attic a PITA.