Wood vs Pellet heat ???

[Dutch445]

Curiously, where is coal sold these days?



Wood permits on national forest land seems to be on a district-by-district basis. Here in N.H. they offer permits allowing you to take wood from the White Mountain NF, but it must be dead and down. No felling of trees.
I used to go in after there'd been a logging operation and get the slash. Some pretty good sized stuff there sometimes. Hasn't been much logging operation near enough to make it worthwhile in the last 5-6 years though...most loggers now chip all the slash. There are 3 wood-chip power plants within 20 miles of here so there's a constant market for them. Good for them, not so good for those of us who used to get cheap firewood.

i bet we have a dozen or more coal distributors within a 20 mile radius here, quite common, many pellet dealers handle coal also.
some TSC stores carry coal now, can be purchased by the bag or pallet

i have a local distributor bring my seasons worth in Nov, usually 3 pallets, they unload with the fork truck(just like Lowes)
and put a couple pallets in my garage and another one by my basement door where i stack a ton for immediate usage,
i pay extra for delivery, and the pre poly bagged stuff, approx 275 per ton.
in my previous house, i went and bagged my own in this cold barn, loaded a truck and trailer
with bags, then took them home and unloaded them (2 ton or so at a time). guess i'm getting old!

 

[Creamer]

i bet we have a dozen or more coal distributors within a 20 mile radius here, quite common, many pellet dealers handle coal also.
some TSC stores carry coal now, can be purchased by the bag or pallet

i have a local distributor bring my seasons worth in Nov, usually 3 pallets, they unload with the fork truck(just like Lowes)
and put a couple pallets in my garage and another one by my basement door where i stack a ton for immediate usage,
i pay extra for delivery, and the pre poly bagged stuff, approx 275 per ton.
in my previous house, i went and bagged my own in this cold barn, loaded a truck and trailer
with bags, then took them home and unloaded them (2 ton or so at a time). guess i'm getting old!

Not around my area. Nobody sells it unless I get up into the Amish area and then I know of one place that does - I imagine if there is one there is more.

 

[goeduck]

Some folks burn cherry pits too, they actually burn quite well...

SR

I do not think I could eat enough cherries

 

[ruffdog]

Many things like nut hulls, corn cobs, dried dung....about anything can be burned.

 

[sixdogs]

[ cob.QUOTE=ruffdog;4958677]Many things like nut hulls, corn cobs, dried dung....about anything can be burned.[/QUOTE]

A few years ago I read that you can burn dried sweet corn right on the cob. I tried some and it burned just like firewood.

 

[90cummins]

I started with Wood the late 70s lot of work but we were warm.
Moved to another house & brought our wood hot air furnace with us.
Logistics of getting wood in were better (easier).
Jumped on coal stove bandwagon because the coal could be delivered bulk into the cellar.
Major pain lots of dust & frequent cleanings.
Sold and bought a pellet stove worked ok & pellets were reasonable for the first few years but price went up considerably and still required frequent cleaning & 40lb bags felt like 55lbs after 10 years.
Had back surgery 2 years ago at 60 years old & couldn稚 lift bags for that winter.
A Vermont Castings reliance stove was given to us so we sold the pellet stove and still use the wood furnace as our primary heat. We have Oil hot air as backup.
My current opinion is this.
After many years I finally developed a good system for handling the wood minimizing handling.
Wife & I can throw in & stack 5 cord in 3 hours and we use the gas stove on occasion.
Key to cost effective heating with propane is to own your own tank which allows considerable savings in cost/gallon.
Example if renting a 100 gallon tank cost per gallon is $4.00 plus if you own you tank it is $2.49.
If you gave a 500 gallon tank the cost is $1.75 gallon.
Bottom line wood beats pellets.
Would burn more gas if I had a larger tank b
90cummins

 

[Thomas]

Again thanks for imput. :thumbsup:

 

[buckeyefarmer]

Wood doesnt beat pellets if you have to buy wood.

Last year i burned just over a ton of pellets, $250. A cord of split wood delivered cost that much here. Pellets so much easier to store and handle, take up much less space, cleaner, less time. Even my wife can carry 40# bag. Or, you open a bag and carry it in smaller buckets.
I have done both wood and pellets. I would use wood IF i had my own supply of wood. (and a chimney for my woodstove).

 

[ruffdog]

Like we said before....everybody's situation is different. What works for one is too expensive or unobtainable for others.

 

[Ken45101]

We have a Harmon pellet stove. Absolutely flawless and maintenance is easy. No more wood stoves for us.

I think my dog also approves

View attachment 534444

SOME Harman stoves are easy to clean (I've been told). Others are a bear. I have heard of one person that replaced his Harman Advance with a different model Harman just because of the difficult cleaning.

Also, Harman's warranty depends totally on your local dealer. If your dealer doesn't want to be bothered, you have zero warranty. Calling Harman only results in being told to talk to your dealer.