reduce heating bill with Wood Stove

[Midniteoyl]

The numbers in the article come from this chart: Fuel Prices | Energy Division | NH Office of Energy and Planning

They are current, and only applicable to NH, and surely represent a state-wide average there.

As to wood species, firewood dealers around this area sell mixed hardwoods (maple, ash, oak and beech primarily). I suppose you could order a load of 100% oak, but that would cost more I think.

Ok, so mixed, they avg around 20MBTU.. close enough

 

[dave1949]

Ok, so mixed, they avg around 20MBTU.. close enough

The $250/cord is a bit high for here. If you buy green and hold it for the next year, $180/cord is typical. Dry seasoned can be $220/cord.

Southeast New Hampshire, where much of the state's population is found, is a bedroom community to the jobs around Boston. Anything around Boston will cost more.

 

[300UGUY]

The numbers in the article come from this chart: Fuel Prices | Energy Division | NH Office of Energy and Planning

They are current, and only applicable to NH, and surely represent a state-wide average there.

As to wood species, firewood dealers around this area sell mixed hardwoods (maple, ash, oak and beech primarily). I suppose you could order a load of 100% oak, but that would cost more I think.

Our electric and fuel oil cost is about the same as yours. Our natural gas is much lower, at 8.62 per Million btu. Our propane is a little less, $2.69 per gallon. I don't have access to natural gas. Propane varies weekly if not daily. My neighbor has a older house with electric heat, his heating bills can exceed $800 per month, in a cold month. He could probably winterize the place and head off to florida, and save money. A lot of the cost for electric seems to have come from 2 sources - one, deregulation, in which big industrial user's could negotiate there terms, basically giving industry a subsidy at the expense of homeowner's, and the cost of nuclear plants - one was abandoned here, during construction, it almost drove one utility into bankruptcy, and the shutdown and cleanup costs of older nukes. For some reason, nobody wants a nuke in their backyard?

I think the ng cost may be because ng has been produced here for a long time. In fact, some of my neighbor's have had problems with gas in water wells, they can turn the faucet on, and light the gas that comes out. One guy runs a glass of water, and can light the bubbles that come off. It is sparkling water, but it tastes terrible. They are doing some fracking tests a few miles away, locals were surprised that townships and couties have zero say in fracking. If Lansing ok's it, you have no say at all. And they really don't have much input, with the laws as they are.

 

[Midniteoyl]

Whats really nuts is that you can find would around here for $50-65 a truck load ($150-$195 a cord - I 'know a guy' for the $90 a cord ), split in the spring and mostly seasoned, but if you drive 40 miles west, it starts to go to $275 a cord and goes up the farther toward Chicago you drive. I saw $550 a cord once. Talk about 'rip off'..

 

[dave1949]

Our electric and fuel oil cost is about the same as yours. Our natural gas is much lower, at 8.62 per Million btu. Our propane is a little less, $2.69 per gallon. I don't have access to natural gas. Propane varies weekly if not daily. My neighbor has a older house with electric heat, his heating bills can exceed $800 per month, in a cold month. He could probably winterize the place and head off to florida, and save money. A lot of the cost for electric seems to have come from 2 sources - one, deregulation, in which big industrial user's could negotiate there terms, basically giving industry a subsidy at the expense of homeowner's, and the cost of nuclear plants - one was abandoned here, during construction, it almost drove one utility into bankruptcy, and the shutdown and cleanup costs of older nukes. For some reason, nobody wants a nuke in their backyard?

I think the ng cost may be because ng has been produced here for a long time. In fact, some of my neighbor's have had problems with gas in water wells, they can turn the faucet on, and light the gas that comes out. One guy runs a glass of water, and can light the bubbles that come off. It is sparkling water, but it tastes terrible. They are doing some fracking tests a few miles away, locals were surprised that townships and couties have zero say in fracking. If Lansing ok's it, you have no say at all. And they really don't have much input, with the laws as they are.

Yep, when I worked in Toledo and lived east of there, I would look at the skyline toward Lake Erie on my commute to see if the Davis-Besse plant was running, or broken, judging by steam or the lack of it coming out of the cooling tower.

There is no way that nuke plant ever pushed rates down that I can see. You pay to build them, pay a surcharge when they are offline, pay to fix them, and finally pay to mothball them.

Natural gas is expanding into some of the towns in this area, if the town has a couple of big anchor customers like a paper mill, manufacturing, the state offices in Augusta, etc. I don't ever expect to see a gas line running down my road.

Personally, I try to continue shifting to wood and solar for home energy but the returns are diminishing as I get closer to fossil fuel free home energy. My next step would be to replace the little bit of propane (~150 gal/year) we use for radiant heat, to solar hot water supplied.

 

[Scott85]

I could care less about the cost or wood I love the heat that a wood stove puts off and the smell.

 

[DarkBlack]

Some related wood burning news; your wood stove fuel competitors (maybe):
New wood-to-power plant expected to fire up soon in N.H. | The Portland Press Herald / Maine Sunday Telegram

"The plant will produce 75 megawatts of electricity, enough to power about 75,000 homes. It will use about 750,000 tons of 澱iomass a year, burning just about every part of a tree that can稚 be turned into a board."

At ~50 tons (of chips) per load, 750,000 tons per year is 15,000 tractor trailer loads per year. Assuming a six day per week delivery plan, that's 48 truck loads per day.

For context, it took the loggers about two weeks to produce 28 truck loads from my chip harvest this past July. I think they could have worked faster/longer hours if they had to, and the weather was not cooperating some of that time.

That's good news for Berlin NH they have had houses selling for 50K.


"Catherine Corkery, chapter director of the New Hampshire Sierra Club, said the environmental advocacy group is still concerned about the plant’s effect on air quality, the amount of carbon produced by burning the wood and the number of vehicle miles traveled to transport the raw materials. “If it’s coming from Canada, or upstate New York or Maine, it sort of defeats the purpose,” she said."

Maybe her 'concerns' would be quelled with a tar sands setup behind her house, or a windmill farm, or nuke plant.
I'm "concerned" with her lack of reasoning.

 

[dave1949]

That's good news for Berlin NH they have had houses selling for 50K.


"Catherine Corkery, chapter director of the New Hampshire Sierra Club, said the environmental advocacy group is still concerned about the plant’s effect on air quality, the amount of carbon produced by burning the wood and the number of vehicle miles traveled to transport the raw materials. “If it’s coming from Canada, or upstate New York or Maine, it sort of defeats the purpose,” she said."

Maybe her 'concerns' would be quelled with a tar sands setup behind her house, or a windmill farm, or nuke plant.
I'm "concerned" with her lack of reasoning.

The other day I read an NRDC blurb regarding the rapidly increasing wood pellet production in the mid-south. Apparently the S. Carolina region is the largest supplier of wood pellets to Europe. Of course, this involves a lot of whole tree wood harvesting, and perhaps largely plantation style forests. None of that is good if done poorly, but the statement was made that it was worse than burning coal. Uh, no it's not, or even close.

The NRDC gets behind some good causes, but they need to educate, not sensationalize an issue.

 

[CanuckPT]

I could care less about the cost or wood I love the heat that a wood stove puts off and the smell.

I totally agree! I do my own wood from our land. I love seeing what I've accomplished when that wood is all cut, split & stacked. Then it feels so great when it's burned!!!

Sent from my iPhone using TractorByNet

 

[WilliamBos]

I totally agree! I do my own wood from our land. I love seeing what I've accomplished when that wood is all cut, split & stacked. Then it feels so great when it's burned!!! Sent from my iPhone using TractorByNet

Agreed! Also heat with corn.