# Side Effects of Burning Wood



## trumpeterb (Nov 21, 2011)

I know there is a lot of talk on this forum about wood burning, wood heat, etc.  I too have made the switch over to an all-wood heating system.  I have been heating this way for 5 years now, and my house is nice and warm in the winter.  There are, however, some serious side effects of wood burning that I have experienced.  If you are not willing to deal with the following side effects, please, please, please, continue to burn fossil fuels or use expensive electricity to heat your house:

Here they are, not in any specific order:

1.  I have had to cancel my gym membership.  That's right, the exercise I get cutting, splitting, and stacking wood provides a great deal of exercise for me, and I have experience the side effect of actually feeling healthier.

2.  I have had to endure the purchase of a new refrigerator.  That's right, my old one went bad, and I happened to have enough money saved up to buy a new one since I wasn't having to pay such high heating bills during winter months.

3.  Isolation...you heard me....isolation.  I find that I spend an awful lot of time in the woods...with my sons....cutting and hauling wood, enjoying the outdoors, watching deer, and spending quality time together...how horrible.

4.  Cleaner woods.  I can actually walk through the woods around my house without tripping over limbs and other debris...because I have gasified it all.  How dare I do something like that.

5.  Jealous neighbors.  While they are paying $500 monthly electric bills, I am paying $100...for an all-electric house.  I have ruined my reputation in my neighborhood.

6.  A wood burning smell emanating from my house....especially when burning cherry wood.  Who actually likes that?

7.  Neglect.  I hate to admit it, but I have neglected my TV.  During burning season, I would rather watch the gasification chamber of my EKO than watch TV....unless football is on....

8.  I have also had the unfortunate experience of having the chance to teach my sons about various tree species, wildlife, etc.  They have actually learned something while working in the woods, and a good work ethic is at the top of that list.  Terrible.

9.  Hoarding.  I am a hoarder.  I stockpile wood all year long, and I refuse to get rid of any of it...it just keeps accumulating.  Maybe they will make a TV show about people like me....not that I would watch it anyway....I'll be starring at the gasification chamber.

10.  I get into hot water a lot.  Every day, actually.  The boiler heats my domestic water for free, and I use it at will and never run out.  

Again, these side effects are serious and may cause a change in your lifestyle.  If you cannot handle them, please do not heat with wood....


Feel free to add any other "side effects" that you may have experienced to this thread.


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## woodchip (Nov 21, 2011)

trumpeterb said:
			
		

> 7.  Neglect.  I hate to admit it, but I have neglected my TV.  During burning season, I would rather watch the gasification chamber of my EKO than watch TV....unless football is on....



During the Summer when the fire's not lit, I have sometimes found myself drawn towards Utube movies of other people's secondary burns, just to get a hit  ;-)


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## SolarAndWood (Nov 21, 2011)

You don't have a big screen and a recliner in the boiler room?


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## Badfish740 (Nov 21, 2011)

SolarAndWood said:
			
		

> You don't have a big screen and a recliner in the boiler room?



Well, not quite, but I do have an old 19" tube TV mounted up on the wall just out of the shot.  Life is pretty good sitting in that old chair watching the flames dance with a beer in hand...


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## Backwoods Savage (Nov 21, 2011)

You have things pretty much nailed down trumpeterb.


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## Ash_403 (Nov 21, 2011)

trumpeterb said:
			
		

> 3.  Isolation...you heard me....isolation.  I find that I spend an awful lot of time in the woods...with my sons....cutting and hauling wood, enjoying the outdoors, watching deer, and spending quality time together...how horrible.



I dont' think I'd call this isolation.  You are spending quality time with your children, in nature, doing something you enjoy.

May you continue to have these side effects.

Cheers


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## lukem (Nov 21, 2011)

You forgot to mention the tool accumulation...chainsaws, spliiters, atvs, trucks, trailers, chains, cables, etc.  I mean, what man in his right mind actually likes having those?


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## woodchip (Nov 21, 2011)

There is one side effect that some might find not so agreeable...........

Visitors arrive, and practically take root, not wanting to leave a cosy warm house to go home to a squalid cold damp existance squatting round a lukewarm radiator.......  ;-)


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## firefighterjake (Nov 21, 2011)

woodchip said:
			
		

> There is one side effect that some might find not so agreeable...........
> 
> Visitors arrive, and practically take root, not wanting to leave a cosy warm house to go home to a squalid cold damp existance squatting round a lukewarm radiator.......  ;-)



Nah . . . that's when you take the leash off the beast and really get the place cooking . . . the excessive heat will drive them out of the house faster than the snakes left Ireland . . . and if the heat doesn't work you can start threatening to remove your clothing since it's so hot . . . usually the threat of me sitting there panting while wearing nothing but my boxer shorts works well enough to get them to leave.


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## golfandwoodnut (Nov 21, 2011)

Very good list.  One bad side effect I have found is that my friends think I have so much wood that they can come over anytime and take a trunk load.


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## itsanaddiction (Nov 21, 2011)

GolfandWoodNut said:
			
		

> Very good list.  One bad side effect I have found is that my friends think I have so much wood that they can come over anytime and take a trunk load.



I suffer from the same problem. And they always seem to take my oak. There's some perfectly good poplar sitting there they have to walk past to get to my oak!


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## Bspring (Nov 21, 2011)

Badfish that is a nice looking furnace! I don't have a window on mine so I often crack it open to peek inside. If I did have a window I guess I would be spending all my time in the basement also


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## Badfish740 (Nov 21, 2011)

Bspring said:
			
		

> Badfish that is a nice looking furnace! I don't have a window on mine so I often crack it open to peek inside. If I did have a window I guess I would be spending all my time in the basement also



Thanks-I always liked the Englander because of the window.  I had looked at the US Stove furnaces which are very similar but am glad I went with the Englander.  One day I might put a small parlor stove either in the living room or the kitchen, but having the window in the furnace is the next best thing.


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## schlot (Nov 21, 2011)

Love the list. The TV is on much less because of the stove. Kicking back with maybe a book just watching the flames then losing my place in the book, is pretty common these last few weeks.

I would add that the smell of two cycle on my clothes after a day of sawing wood is a bonus for me.


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## trumpeterb (Nov 22, 2011)

Ah yes....two cycle.  The cologne of champions!!


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## gmule (Nov 22, 2011)

mmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm 2 cycle


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## trumpeterb (Nov 22, 2011)

I have seen dvd's that make your tv look like a fireplace before.  I wonder if they make a DVD that makes your tv look lime a gasification chamber?


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## kbrown (Nov 22, 2011)

lukem said:
			
		

> You forgot to mention the tool accumulation...chainsaws, spliiters, atvs, trucks, trailers, chains, cables, etc.  I mean, what man in his right mind actually likes having those?



To take this a step further, another side effect is supporting your local economy...think about how many people are affected in a positive way by all the tools we have to sustain our habit! Just writing a check each month to the gas man doesn't have that same impact.


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## Larry in OK (Nov 22, 2011)

I get my NG from a municipal gas company, my old inefficient furnace and my old drafty house combined to make a few chest grabber gas bills in some really bad months. The local gas company may have to lay off some one this year.


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## trumpeterb (Nov 22, 2011)

11.  Much better relations with my wife.  I am not in the house nearly long enough for her to get mad at me and start yelling  many days.


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## Wingman (Nov 22, 2011)

I eat more ice cream and drink less hot chocolate...I think that is a good side effect.


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## River19 (Nov 22, 2011)

One of the biggest side effects I've noticed is how my wife tends to wear less clothes around the cabin in the winter......she's wearing less and less.....she's even comfy in pretty much nothing.......speaking of...."I got wood"....



Just sayin'........

Oh and that exercise thing, plus the tool accumulation, smell, being outdoors, etc.........


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## gerry100 (Nov 23, 2011)

A few  years ago, when my career as an executive was in peril I was walking out of an industrial trade show after 8 hours of trading BS under artificial light, I asked myself - if this was my last day would I want to spend it this way?

Career gone , a few months later I was in my wood lot dropping,cutting and splitting when I asked myself the same question.

Yup.


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## Woody Stover (Nov 23, 2011)

trumpeterb said:
			
		

> 2.  I have had to endure the purchase of a new refrigerator.  That's right, my old one went bad


If you didn't keep it so warm in the house, your refrigerator wouldn't have worked itself to death.  :cheese:


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## firecracker_77 (Nov 24, 2011)

That was pretty funny.  Heh!


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## billjustbill (Nov 24, 2011)

The two more side effects.  The first I found myself doing has to do with looking, finding, and adapting other things that help you burn wood.... Then, at the end of the season comes the physical and mental effects of "Withdrawal"...

After living two years with my Lopi fireplace insert, I love that full feel of its heat from the variable speed blowers.  So, I bought a "Killl-a-Watt" meter to find out what amount of electricity the two blower motors draw.  Then I bought a 400 watt, 12v to 110v inverter.....  Then, I traded some boat seats I rebuilt for several golf cart deep cycle batteries.  Now, when the ice and snow keeps me inside with the power out, I can still stay warm and comfortable.

The real killer is when the burning season ends.  After living with a live, fire breathing, yet comforting enity for months of cold temps, I keep wanting to bring in wood and watch the flames dance in the secondary combustion zone....  As the shoulder season give way to warm temps, it takes another month to get over "Stoking the Fire" compulsion, and then feeling you've lost a friend when you touch of the lifeless stove's cold steel....


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## Woody Stover (Nov 24, 2011)

billjustbill said:
			
		

> I bought a 400 watt, 12v to 110v inverter.....  Then, I traded some boat seats I rebuilt for several golf cart deep cycle batteries.  Now, when the ice and snow keeps me inside with the power out, I can still stay warm and comfortable.


Sweet setup!  :coolsmile:


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## Gark (Nov 24, 2011)

One more side effect is how many people that see your stacks ask if you sell firewood. "Um, no, that's what we will burn this year, and the next and then in 2013 & 14". Then you decide whether to go into the merits of 20% MC wood, efficiency of modern stoves, carbon footprint, etc, etc etc. (That glazed, faraway look in their eyes as you go on and on....) Heheh.


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## trumpeterb (Nov 24, 2011)

Gark said:
			
		

> One more side effect is how many people that see your stacks ask if you sell firewood. "Um, no, that's what we will burn this year, and the next and then in 2013 & 14". Then you decide whether to go into the merits of 20% MC wood, efficiency of modern stoves, carbon footprint, etc, etc etc. (That glazed, faraway look in their eyes as you go on and on....) Heheh.



+1


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## Jack22 (Nov 25, 2011)

trumpeterb said:
			
		

> I know there is a lot of talk on this forum about wood burning, wood heat, etc.  I too have made the switch over to an all-wood heating system.  I have been heating this way for 5 years now, and my house is nice and warm in the winter.  There are, however, some serious side effects of wood burning that I have experienced.  If you are not willing to deal with the following side effects, please, please, please, continue to burn fossil fuels or use expensive electricity to heat your house:
> 
> Here they are, not in any specific order:
> 
> ...



6.  A wood burning smell emanating from my houseâ€¦.especially when burning cherry wood.  Who actually likes that?

This is one of my favorites you have listed. I love having that smell coming from my house. I have 3 neighbors that burn wood and I always loved walking out my door and smelling wood burning in the air. Gave me a warm feeling on the inside knowing these neighbors had a nice fire going to keep them warm on a cold day. I smelled burning cherry wood for the first time the other day and it was amazing. I guy I was buying wood from was burning it in his fire pit and I could not beleive how good it smelled. He was selling cords of just cherry for 50$ more than the regular cords, for people who use it for smoking. I was very tempted but I know it is not the highest btu firewood so I laid off.

Great list!


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## seeyal8r (Nov 26, 2011)

Jack22 said:
			
		

> trumpeterb said:
> 
> 
> 
> ...




Took me 5 minutes to write a reply. I had to walk outside and smell the burn.


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## HeatsTwice (Nov 27, 2011)

Here is another funny side effect: Telling your neighbors "What kind of a person are you - really?"

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3BTEBBbHI-8&feature=related


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