If money was no object...

[Stella]

I'm sure I'd have a small fireplace of some sort to burn olive wood in Kassiopi Corfu.

I hear Corfu can be perishing cold and wet in the winter! I am in the Southern Peloponnese and very glad of my wood burning stove. I reckon I get twice the heat from half the wood compared to when I had a large open fireplace. I burn olive, pine and mulberry.

 

[northwinds]

Heating with wood is one of a series of lifestyle choices I make in order to live a fuller, more healthy life. Saving money is a collateral benefit.

 

[Beer Belly]

If you were wealthy enough to be able to easily afford all the fuel oil, gas, or electric you could possibly consume-- would you still mess around with firewood?

Without a doubt.....just have better equiptment

 

[Jack Straw]

If I won the lottery I would possibly consider buying a splitter. Like in a NY minute!

 

[Seasoned Oak]

Why not just pay someone to deliver,cut, stack, and hell even load your stovem and clean out the ashes. In between they could get you a beer and wax the car. On the flip side we do need to get SOME kind of exercise.

 

[firefighterjake]

Yes and no . . .

I'll readily admit the main reason I started burning wood and continue to burn wood was to save money on heating . . . which allows me to use that money for other things . . . like taking a vacation in middle of the winter so I can sip rum drinks on a white, sandy beach.

However, if money were no object (which for a working stiff like me and my wife would just be a pipe dream) . . . I would heat more with "conventional" heating fuels simply because it would be easier, cleaner (try as I will it is still dustier and there are woodchips and ash near or on the hearth) and just more convenient to turn a dial . . . and unlike some with baseboard heating I actually felt pretty darn warm.

That said . . . even then I do not think I would give up my wood heat . . . mainly for the reason BrowningBar mentioned . . . in this area of the country we do tend to lose power in the winter and having back up heat is mighty nice . . . and then there are those cold nights when the winds are howling and the snow is blowing and it would be nice to have a fire roaring away in the woodstove (just for the visual effect) . . . and if the truth be told . . . working on the firewood is one of those few "jobs" that never seems like real work.

 

[ScotO]

I don't see myself ever wanting to quit this woodburning lifestyle.....its in my bones...
I was born and raised a country boy, and to me heating with wood is part of that lifestyle. Its woven in the fabric, actually. Nothing like having solid, constant heat all winter long......all while telling the oil and gas men to shove it!!
I could see myself installing the Esse Ironheart I've wanted for YEARS in a heartbeat......also a huge, natural stone, wood-fired oven INSIDE the house, in a heartbeat.....
And my dream of owning several hundred acres of woods in the hills, with a river and a waterwheel-powered sawmill......that's what I'm talkin' about!!

Hey, its good to have dreams......

 

[gerry100]

Not sure..

But one idea would be to hire fit supermodels to do all of the work

 

[Grisu]

If I would have all the money I would probably not live in a climate that would require any kind of heat. Nevertheless, if I would have some money but not enough to give up my day job, I would build a passive house around a nice masonry heater. I am dreaming having on of those for a few years now. Just an example:
(broken image removed)

 

[Scols]

I would keep burning, it satisfies my pyromania. And swinging a maul is a great aggravation reliever, although I would have a skidsteer and other stuff to help me move those heavy rounds.

 

[Motor7]

I'd still burn wood, although I'd be tempted to have the splits delivered...so I could just sit around ad stare at the flames. But then I'd eat and drink too much, then one day I'd waddle past a mirror and catch a glimpse of a big gelatinous blob of chewed bubble gum with two heavily lidded eyes. As it is now I can eat and drink too much while burning most of them off cutting, bucking, splitting and stacking firewood

Btw Grisu....whoever decorated that southwestern style house needs to be struck repeatedly with a large hickory stick Nice thermal fireplace though.........

 

[Nick Mystic]

I don't have unlimited wealth, but I could certainly heat full time with the propane furnace in our home and not have it impact our finances in any meaningful way. The furnace gives near instant heat requiring no more effort than setting the thermostat and cleaning the air filter periodically. The reason I heat exclusively with wood is for the satisfaction I get from making good use of the trees that come down from storms or disease on our eleven acres of forested land. I developed a frugal nature early in my life and dislike seeing things wasted. It is hard work harvesting many of the trees I cut due to the terrain here in western NC, which is all hills and valleys. I split all my wood by hand and move a lot of it a piece at a time in a sling on my shoulder, with a wheelbarrow, and if I'm lucky in a small trailer on the back of my garden tractor. I've learned to pace myself and only do an hour or two of the heavy lifting at a time and that has made such work much easier to manage. I think doing hard work from time to time gives me more of an appreciation of time I use to relax. I'm lucky in that I'm retired and don't have to fit my firewood chores in around a full time job. And finally, like many wood heaters here at the forum, I get a lot of enjoyment out of the whole "heating with wood" experience.

 

[Hawkeye]

If you were wealthy enough to be able to easily afford all the fuel oil, gas, or electric you could possibly consume-- would you still mess around with firewood?

Yes. We save money burning wood, but that is not my primary motivation. Nice benefit though!

 

[begreen]

Says the guy posting pictures of flowers blooming on March 3rd.

Tough call, but it would be hard to justify all these saws and a splitter to the wife if I was burning wood "recreationally".

LOL. We are chillier than our friends in Greece, Sicily and Hawaii, but they still have stoves, especially when they live at a higher altitude. Still getting frosty mornings here. It was 33F today, now 38F. We're shoulder season burning, two fires a day. Thank goodness for SuperCedars.

 

[drifter1170]

After buying the equipment to cut and burn wood I don't think you save money not to mention the money you could make with the time it takes to cut,split ,stack,carry and lode I will always burn

 

[begreen]

Speaking of Hawaii, I was thinking of you drifter. Fortunately in our area splitters keep their value pretty well if you keep them in good condition. One can often sell a splitter for close to what they paid for it. It takes time to split and stack wood, but so do hiking, jogging and other outdoor exercises. I used to rent splitters, but finally got a decent one used for $400. It has more than paid for itself by now.

 

[MasterMech]

After buying the equipment to cut and burn wood I don't think you save money not to mention the money you could make with the time it takes to cut,split ,stack,carry and lode I will always burn

Three seasons of wood burning has already paid what I have invested in the stove, chimney, splitter and all 4 saws. Just in oil savings. And that doesn't take the present value of the equipment into account.

 

[Ashful]

Three seasons of wood burning has already paid what I have invested in the stove, chimney, splitter and all 4 saws. Just in oil savings. And that doesn't take the present value of the equipment into account.

What? No tractor for hauling the wood?

I don't have unlimited wealth, but I could certainly heat full time with the propane furnace in our home and not have it impact our finances in any meaningful way. The furnace gives near instant heat requiring no more effort than setting the thermostat and cleaning the air filter periodically. The reason I heat exclusively with wood is for the satisfaction I get from making good use of the trees that come down from storms or disease on our eleven acres of forested land. I developed a frugal nature early in my life and dislike seeing things wasted. It is hard work harvesting many of the trees I cut due to the terrain here in western NC, which is all hills and valleys. I split all my wood by hand and move a lot of it a piece at a time in a sling on my shoulder, with a wheelbarrow, and if I'm lucky in a small trailer on the back of my garden tractor. I've learned to pace myself and only do an hour or two of the heavy lifting at a time and that has made such work much easier to manage. I think doing hard work from time to time gives me more of an appreciation of time I use to relax. I'm lucky in that I'm retired and don't have to fit my firewood chores in around a full time job. And finally, like many wood heaters here at the forum, I get a lot of enjoyment out of the whole "heating with wood" experience.

Nicely said, or better'n I could've done it... so I'm just quoting it.

 

[Nick Mystic]

My garden tractor has a 23 HP Kohler engine and can pull my small utility trailer up my steep driveway with a 700 - 800 lb. load. The reason I don't have any heavier equipment is due to the steep terrain on our property. I harvested a 2' diameter oak tree that was down a 200' slope off my driveway and believe me I tried to think of every possible scenario to get the wood out to avoid carrying it all up the hill by hand to my tractor/trailer. I can't even drag logs out with a cable and truck because of the dense forest I have to go through. In the end it took me about six weeks of hand carrying every stick of wood out! I could only do about one trailer load a day, which is about 8 or 9 sling carried loads (approximately 75 - 100 lbs. per sling) a session before my legs started getting rubbery!

 

[mellow]

Nope, I would be in a geothermal very well insulated house, I might make a part of the house a museum to wood burning so the kids would know what it is.

I would have a wood fired pizza oven and a stone fire pit out back so I could get the pyro out of my system every once in a while. I would have the kiln dried wood delivered and stacked.

 

[Adios Pantalones]

yes.

 

[Backwoods Savage]

If you were wealthy enough to be able to easily afford all the fuel oil, gas, or electric you could possibly consume-- would you still mess around with firewood?

For sure we've been there but still choose to burn wood. I've never been in a home heated with electric, fuel oil, natural gas or propane and been comfortable. As far as that, I've never been in a home heated with an OWB and been comfortable. I like it warm in the house during the winter. I enjoy putting up the wood. I see no need to discontinue unless we moved to a climate that did not require heat in winter.

So as for me and my house, we'll heat with wood and stay nice and warm.

 

[Defiant]

I would patent and find a way to make beer out of pellets

 

[Jack Straw]

I would patent and find a way to make beer out of pellets

It's called Budweiser!

 

[Hiram Maxim]

I'd still have a stove, but with the house I build with in floor radiant heat and 2' thick walls with closed cell foam, demand would be low.

Plus I'd be in the tropics on my own Island called "Hot Chick Island" most of the time