Heating. Propane vs Electric vs Wood Pellet

[drivesitfar]

ALL: interesting thread title and i'm looking for a reasonable way to heat my 19x20 two car garage while i'm looking to move to get a bigger shop/garage.

burning corn? doesn't that make POPCORN?

 

[goeduck]

ALL: interesting thread title and i'm looking for a reasonable way to heat my 19x20 two car garage while i'm looking to move to get a bigger shop/garage.

burning corn? doesn't that make POPCORN?

You are in the PNW as am I and I do not have heat in my shop. It gets a lot of morning sun and everything stays dry inside it. With our moderate weather I can work out there most of the year. If I add heat it will be a pellet stove that will run for 3 days or so, enough for a weekend or during the brief cold snaps we get with a refill or two.

 

[chim]

I'm not really into wood so I have a question about "processors". Are we talking about machines like on Youtube where logs are fed into one end and split wood is dropped out the other? Or, are we re-naming what we previously knew as "splitters" to make it sound more dramatic? Something in between, like a splitter with semiauto magazine on the side?

 

[shooterdon]

First, there's no guarantee that the processor will process 1.25 cords per hour. It's just a machine. It's totally dependent on all circumstances surrounding the operation. So you cannot quote expected production. Too many variables to do that.

By your information if the processor does meet your expectations you can't keep up stacking the wood. So, there's the first hinderance to the processor's production. We have options that have already been considered as I saw stacking as the bottleneck. The first is having my neighbor help stack and we would help him when he uses the processor to do his wood. The other option is to let the processor mound the splits into huge piles, and stack them into totes from the pile. We need to do some of that anyway as I only have enough totes to hold 15-16 cords of wood.

You are indicating that all you have to do is run the tractor to meet these production goals? Who's doing the stacking? I can hire it out as in my post for $15/hr or do it myself

I have never said I can heat for less cost. I have always said wood heat is not efficient. Sir, you defintiely have said wood heat is not finacially vialbe

Let's say you are my neighbor. Let's say I stop by and talk to you about processing wood for me. Let's say I ask you what you would charge me to process a cord of wood. Standing tree to split pile. What would be your response? I am not dealing with standing trees. I am purchasing logs and processing them. Felling trees, delimbing them, dragging them out and buckiing them is too much work for me. I pay a premium for logs ready to process and still save money. Sorry if I did not make that clear.

That figure has to be added into the equation of what it costs me to burn wood. If that's included, my heating costs will be very, very competitive to burning wood. Still no numbers on your costs?

The wood burners always say "but I enjoy doing it and it's good exercise". Agreed. I'm not talking about that, I'm talking about how much you would charge me to process a cord of wood?

That cost figure is never, ever included in the wood burner's cost figures.

I'm not condemning burning wood. I did it for 40 years. I'm simply trying to put it all into perspective.....

Your way of processing wood may have not be cost effective. But there are ways to process wood easily and still net a saving for some of us. When I had NG, it was my primary heating fuel. I know people who cannot afford to rent a processor and must do it manually...they have no choice. The proof of the cost effectiveness of wood heat is simple to prove. Most of my neighbors are poor, and they use wood heat if they have access to wood. There are no $20/hr jobs here, so our time is not as valuable as yours may be.

 

[shooterdon]

I'm not really into wood so I have a question about "processors". Are we talking about machines like on Youtube where logs are fed into one end and split wood is dropped out the other? Or, are we re-naming what we previously knew as "splitters" to make it sound more dramatic? Something in between, like a splitter with semiauto magazine on the side?

The processors I am talking about take a log, cut it to whatever length you want, split it and have a conveyor to move the splits onto a mound or into a large bag on a frame. If using a bag, it can be lifted with forks (using loops at the top of the bag) or the bag rests on a pallet and the pallet is moved.

 

[shooterdon]

ALL: interesting thread title and i'm looking for a reasonable way to heat my 19x20 two car garage while i'm looking to move to get a bigger shop/garage.

burning corn? doesn't that make POPCORN?

Only you can decide.

I made up a spreadsheet with the cost of my fuel options, the efficiency of each type of heating equipment and the approximate BTU's I need for my home.

Local fuel costs can vary widely...bear that in mind when reading threads like this.

In my case, I also looked at the capital cost of each option.

For a shop, heat is not essential, but for a home in an region with cold winters, how you will heat during a power outage should be considered.

 

[chim]

The processors I am talking about take a log, cut it to whatever length you want, split it and have a conveyor to move the splits onto a mound or into a large bag on a frame. If using a bag, it can be lifted with forks (using loops at the top of the bag) or the bag rests on a pallet and the pallet is moved.

Thanks. That's what I would have in mind as a processor.

 

[Oaktree]

They have some maple they will sell and deliver to my place for $50/logger cord. I had twenty logger cords delivered this fall for $1300 so did not need more firewood, but $600 for 12 cords was too hard to resist.

Curiously, what is a logger cord? Never heard the term before.

When I was young, foolish and cutting back hedgerows and selling firewood this is how Maple worked.

Green, green, green, rotten.

You must have a different kind of maple than we do. Most of ours is sugar maple, and it's very good firewood. It'll go punky in 2 or 3 years if it's left exposed to the weather, but if it's covered it's fine.
Around here oak is about the only thing that's better, but we're right around the northern limit of where it grows.

 

[ovrszd]

Don, I don't have current heating cost figures to share because this is our first Winter in this house. I'm keeping good records and will gladly share that information when I have valid data. I don't do guesstimations.

I've never said wood heat is not financially viable. I've always said it's not efficient. That immediately gets attacked by wood burning folks.

I think all of us involved in this discussion would really enjoy a video of this wood processor.

 

[goeduck]

I've never said wood heat is not financially viable. I've always said it's not efficient. That immediately gets attacked by wood burning folks.

Agree burning wood is not efficient from an energy standpoint. As you indicate from an investment standpoint, for those of us that have the land and trees, it sure is. :thumbsup:

In my case, I just about never even need to even cut a tree down, more than enough come down in windstorms and need to be cleaned up anyway.