Save $$$ - Heat with Wood

[4570Man]

Not to ask a stupid question, but what is a rick? Never heard the term before. Everyone I know uses cords, a cord being defined as 4x4x8 feet.

32 square feet on the face with no specifications on length.

 

[4570Man]

It all depends on species too.

Wet and green, elm.....that stuff can still have a high moisture content even after being split and seasoning for 2 years or more.

Nothing fancy to measure, but when you throw it on a fire, and it boils/steams water out the ends, it's too wet. And elm does that even after a few years.

Ash on the other hand, cut, split, stack in summer. Burn that winter and have no issues at all.

Been cutting tops from a logged woods that was logged 3 years ago. Summer cutting and splitting is winter's wood. So it had 3 years to season prior to splitting, and a good 6 months after.

Maple....maple is wet. If you don't cut it within the first few years it rots before it drys. Red oak good for a little longer even though the outer white ring gets a bit soft, the red inner wood stays nice.

Ash....Ash is about the best firewood for a seller IMO. Splits nice. Low moisture even when green, means it don't rot fast, and it dries quick. Not as dense as some others like oaks and hickories....but best all around IMO.

So moisture and seasoning time all depends. So there is no easy answer. Some wood dries faster or starts drier. Drying time depend on if left as logs (standing or down), or if split. How small/large are the splits? Etc etc.

I have NEVER had any complaints about wood I sell. Only praise for quantity and quality.

Have had many customers state that "this is the most wood anyone has ever brought, you sure that's only a cord" (yea....many scammers out there that think a tossed on pickup load is a cord....and advertises as such of $95 as opposed to my "true" cord for $160) it just amazes customers. Hard to believe that so many people are that ignorant to what an actual cord is, and just take the deliverers word for it. Have also had customers say they have turned away many loads claiming to me seasoned, when clearly they weren't. Never a complaint.

I only wish I had time to cut hundreds of cords a year, because I have no doubt I'd be able to sell all of them and have happy customers. And run the wannabes selling green junk by the pickup load claiming it's a cord a packing. Just don't have the time or equipment to do more than 20-30 cord a season

I sell most of my wood green but it's not advertised as seasoned. I see a bunch of wood advertised as seasoned that's clearly not. I've never bought any wood to see what the amounts are. I've had a lot of complements on my wood. I've loosed quality control way up after I released what my competition was. My wood is still the best on the local market. I've had people complement my "seasoned" wood that wasn't seasoned or advertised as such. The wood in question had laid in the sun for about a week and the edges looked dry.

 

[Larry Caldwell]

You have to compare to the cost of a conventional heating system:

- Hotel bills because your house became uninhabitable during power outages. $2600
- Triple bypass surgery because you didn't get any exercise, $36,000
- Wheelchair accessible bathroom because you didn't stay on your feet. $15,000
- Loss of income because your SS and pensions stopped when you died. $85,000

 

[Industrial Toys]

I bought the hose too! Why do we do what we do?

 

[4570Man]

You have to compare to the cost of a conventional heating system:

- Hotel bills because your house became uninhabitable during power outages. $2600
- Triple bypass surgery because you didn't get any exercise, $36,000
- Wheelchair accessible bathroom because you didn't stay on your feet. $15,000
- Loss of income because your SS and pensions stopped when you died. $85,000

I've got a guy that helps me split wood just for the exercise and won't take any money.

 

[TnAndy]

Each to their own. I enjoy it, and will continue to do it as long as I'm physically able. Great excuse to get outside in the fresh and get some exercise.

One nice thing about wood heat no one's mentioned so far is somewhat intangible, but the house just feels warmer. A thermometer can read the same temperature when we run the oil furnace, but the house doesn't feel the same.
The woodstove hearth is a great place to dry boots, gloves, etc...nice & warm when you put them on. :thumbsup: I love it, wouldn't dream of heating any other way.

Amen. Come in from the cold and back up to a vent of heat pump air at 85 degrees and freeze your backside off for an hour, or back up to a rip roaring fire in the stove and be warm in a minute.....no comparison in my book.

As I told my wife, when it comes time to go to 'the home', if they ain't got a wood stove, keep looking !

 

[4570Man]

Amen. Come in from the cold and back up to a vent of heat pump air at 85 degrees and freeze your backside off for an hour, or back up to a rip roaring fire in the stove and be warm in a minute.....no comparison in my book.

As I told my wife, when it comes time to go to 'the home', if they ain't got a wood stove, keep looking !

Agree 100 percent. And while most people dislike the uneven heat of the wood stove it fits our family well. Cold? Go sit on the couch by the wood stove. It'll be 85-105 degrees depending on which end if the fire is rolling. Not up for that, go sit on the other couch that's probably 70 degrees.

 

[ultrarunner]

Exactly ^^^

Plus no guilt tossing another piece of wood on the fire...

 

[4570Man]

Exactly ^^^

Plus no guilt tossing another piece of wood on the fire...

And while in most cases another heat source would be capable of maintaining higher temperatures few people are actually going to pay for it. If I was paying for natural gas heat I'd settle for using more blankets. Burning wood doesn't directly cost me money so I can toss more in.

 

[goeduck]

We built our house in 93. The plans had a fireplace. I had the architect remove it and replace with more closet space. I like my switch on the wall. And now I have a generator that allows me to use that switch no matter what.

No fireplace? How does Santa get in the house?