Actual cost of firewood

[2ndhalf]

I try to burn my poorer wood in the shoulder months where I don’t need as much heat. I toss it to the side during the fall and winter and then burn it in late winter and spring.

This is a good idea!

 

[goeduck]

Are you burning mostly Fir?

Fir, Maple and this year a fair amount of Hawthorne from fencerows. A little Alder as well. All of those are about the same, my poorer wood comes from wood that has aged too much or was just semi punk wood that ended up in the woodpile. Next year it will be almost all fir. Just depends what trees I cut 2 years ago.

 

[ultrarunner]

I'm mostly Fir with some Alder and Cedar...

Probably 95% Fir as had some large storm fall trees in WA

In Oakland CA you can probably guess it is all Oak.

 

[quicksandfarmer]

Well my neighbor just had a 'chimney fire'. He said that the wood was real dry but I know that it was all 'crap wood', like spruce or balsom.
Well he had so much creosote build up that the flue ignited and as a result the rafters caught fire and the damage is so extensive that I believe his house might be a total loss. All his exposed rafters are charred, the metal roofing was ripped up by the firefighters and the insulation totally soaked. Even the fireman's water ran down the walls and the siding is water bulged.
Naturally he never had the flue swept either.
The downside is as luck would have it the firefighters only took 20 mins to respond thus the building is still standing along with their carnage, (they love to chop and hack, don't they)
With winter totally set in and the fact that first thing they did was cut the hydro power his entire water system is now totally shot from plumbing to water tank and pumping system.
My comments to him was that hopefully the insurance would be able to declare it a total loss.
Sad as they really did a nice job to update a questionable DIY cottage.
(I know that cottage well as the previous owner asked me to do some additions which I refused to do as I honestly believed he would have thrown good $$ after a bad situation. (I could go on))

Moral is if you burn wood, know what you are doing. Sweep often or burn hot* but get rid of that creosote as it can cost you your house.

*occasional 'hot' can actually burn off creosote under controlled conditions. (been there done that LOL)

If the insurance company pays for it all then it doesn't increase the actual cost of the firewood at all...

 

[4570Man]

Gas furnaces have malfunctioned and poisoned people with carbon monoxide. Throwing in malfunctioning equipment usually caused by operator error isn’t a fair assessment.