Financially does burning wood even make sense now or future?
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Caw
Minister of Fire
Caw
Minister of Fire
I got the County Line 25 ton from Tractor Supply, very happy with it.
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Grinnell
Member
In Colorado we are doing fire mitigation which has yielded a plethora of wood 
My choices are electric baseboard or propane. Rented a splitter for a day from HomeDespot for $150 and split a ton of wood in 8 hours. Otherwise a trusty splitting axe. Yes my stove was around $2000 plus $1000 for liner but on the whole wood is cheaper
My choices are electric baseboard or propane. Rented a splitter for a day from HomeDespot for $150 and split a ton of wood in 8 hours. Otherwise a trusty splitting axe. Yes my stove was around $2000 plus $1000 for liner but on the whole wood is cheaperIf you look at it from a strictly financial way it doesn't make any sense at all if you have any marketable skills. Most can make enough money working at their job/profession to stay warm if that is the reason for burning wood.
Caw
Minister of Fire
Sure I make way more money hourly at my job than processing wood but I can't just go work more on my days off. It's not that kind of job, I have a set schedule.
People trying to make some sort of point always exaggerate these prices. My 800$ brand new englander stove scoffs at the 5000$ stove price too!
I agree. Many of us work full time and then have a pot of money to spend. If you always blew money on the most expensive way of doing everything then you would run your pot empty quickly. Optimizing expenditures means you get the most happiness possible. In the case of wood heat, I could either spend my non working hours watching TV on the couch, or I could keep busy processing wood and building fires for way less money so I can buy more happiness with the difference.
I bought my first stove (Fisher Grandpa Bear) somewhere around 1980 and I think but won't swear that the price was in the neighborhood of $400. I built the house that I'm in now and moved in 1988 and it has a propane furnace. I didn't use the stove until about 11 years later. I got more serious about things and bought some good saws and a splitter. I didn't spend anything other than gas for the saws and splitter until about two years ago when I replaced my chimney with some double wall pipe. I bought a Drolet HT-3000 late last year. I feel like until I bought the new chimney, my investment had paid for itself many times over. I didn't keep an accurate account so I can't be sure of all the costs vs savings.
I really like the warmth of a wood stove and will use it as long as I'm able to cut and split wood. If it makes sense I still might buy wood if I'm no longer able to cut and split it myself. I'm thinking about buying a good pellet stove but if I do the wood stove will still stay right where it is. Just in case.
I have a big oak on my place that forked about 6 ft. from the ground. It was starting to rot where it forked and half of it fell over during a windstorm last year. The part that fell over is probably about 30" at the widest point. I'll have to quarter the biggest pieces in order to handle them.
I really like the warmth of a wood stove and will use it as long as I'm able to cut and split wood. If it makes sense I still might buy wood if I'm no longer able to cut and split it myself. I'm thinking about buying a good pellet stove but if I do the wood stove will still stay right where it is. Just in case.
I have a big oak on my place that forked about 6 ft. from the ground. It was starting to rot where it forked and half of it fell over during a windstorm last year. The part that fell over is probably about 30" at the widest point. I'll have to quarter the biggest pieces in order to handle them.
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Caw
Minister of Fire
So working on my days off to pay for oil heat is smarter than enjoying my time with wood because the financial ROI might be slightly higher? Yikes. I mean that's obviously true but I'll take my quality of life thank you.
osagebow
Minister of Fire
My VG, (Sold close to cost) and current Ideal Steel stove installed with liner and pipe (CL score) was about $3,500 all in. (If you have the momma and kids bear model, I helped design that!) Say another $4,000 for saws and all other equipment including a $1,000 huskee splitter. 12 years in, I have easily covered that $7,500 and gas etc. Some of that gear money was wasted on crap saws and equipment, also. Buy good stuff.
More importantly, I'm pretty damn healthy at 52 and my 2 boys are as well. I hate gyms, so I rarely use the splitter now that we are always 3+ years stocked. I don't care about winter power outages that occasionally affect us. I get to spend tons of time outdoors doing something I really dig with the kids and dog. everyone loves the fire, house is usually 70-74 F, with the heat pump I froze everyone at 66. No contest!
More importantly, I'm pretty damn healthy at 52 and my 2 boys are as well. I hate gyms, so I rarely use the splitter now that we are always 3+ years stocked. I don't care about winter power outages that occasionally affect us. I get to spend tons of time outdoors doing something I really dig with the kids and dog. everyone loves the fire, house is usually 70-74 F, with the heat pump I froze everyone at 66. No contest!
I have a successful career and could spend whatever it takes to burn gas to heat my house. I still opt to spend about 1/3 the heating cost by using wood, and enjoy a much warmer house in the process. The handful of hours I spend stacking wood on the weekends was not time I would have been earning. I also consider it a mental break from work, which I don’t desire to do more of. Then there are side benefits, like we are likely about to have our sixth lengthy power outage of this heating season, and heating the house is not a concern.
Every situation is going to be different, but I will happily save a couple of grand each winter and enjoy the benefits of wood heat so long as I am fit and healthy enough to carry wood into the house.
EbS-P
Minister of Fire
Given all the infrastructure has a lifetime of more than 10 years ignoring long term fuel cost changes doesn’t make much sense to me. Yeah we really don’t have a good idea what costs will be in 10 years but one can guess.
Fuel oil will go UP. using less gasoline means less heavier distillates.
Gas lp or ng will be highly dependent on geopolitical factors but i imagine something that keeps place with inflation or a bit higher.
Electricity. Long term projections are for nearly steady prices. Short term there will be increases think 25-75%.
I think pellets will out price inflation. Increased transportation costs will be a driving factor.
Given tax credits that are available and taking increasing summer heat wave probabilities a heatpump AC makes sense almost everywhere. Pair that with a wood stove it is a good combination. Adding a third gas option I don’t think you would ever see any ROI but is a convenience that many will find worth the cost.
Last point I do think in the next decade there is a better than 50% chance hat we see some tax on fossil fuels in he US.
Fuel oil will go UP. using less gasoline means less heavier distillates.
Gas lp or ng will be highly dependent on geopolitical factors but i imagine something that keeps place with inflation or a bit higher.
Electricity. Long term projections are for nearly steady prices. Short term there will be increases think 25-75%.
I think pellets will out price inflation. Increased transportation costs will be a driving factor.
Given tax credits that are available and taking increasing summer heat wave probabilities a heatpump AC makes sense almost everywhere. Pair that with a wood stove it is a good combination. Adding a third gas option I don’t think you would ever see any ROI but is a convenience that many will find worth the cost.
Last point I do think in the next decade there is a better than 50% chance hat we see some tax on fossil fuels in he US.
Caw
Minister of Fire
Add solar and you've got the perfect heating solution for most places outside of the extremes.
EbS-P
Minister of Fire
Generation costs have peaked and will continue to decrease. For Many people it’s a regulated utility. Fluctuations will occur. Greedy corporations will prioritize stock holders over ratepayers. But.. regressive policies focused on fossil fuels will lead to increased costs
EbS-P
Minister of Fire
Caw
Minister of Fire
Even without SMRT credits or a tax rebate I'd still come out ahead given my house is 100% electric. It would just take more like 10 years to break even instead of 5. Massachusetts has favorable net metering and I got the 26% tax rebate on install (I think it's 30% now). We also have the 3rd highest average electricity cost in the country, I pay around $0.28 per kWh only RI and HI are higher, further incentivising solar. If I lived in the Midwest and got those nice $0.13 per kWh bills I'd definitely think differently. So for the average user I agree, all factors need to be considered.
In a vacuum tho taking out cost solar, heat pump, and wood is a nice efficient way to live.
I've got the same splitter but without the motor, run it off of my tractor's hydraulics. Only thing I don't like is how the beam is made with the rolled edges for the wedge guide. Wood gets caught in there and makes it hard to position pieces at times. I've had mine for a few years and it works great.
I can easily believe $4000 for a splitter, that is how much the more upscale splitters start at. Of course you can use the box store splitters. I have one myself from Lowes that's been humming along for several years. It's kind of like are you going to get your stove at Lowes or do you want something a bit nicer?
If certain people get their way in Ohio and shut down one of the cleanest coal plants in the world, I would expect our electricity to become pricey and unreliable.
If certain people get their way in Ohio and shut down one of the cleanest coal plants in the world, I would expect our electricity to become pricey and unreliable.
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