Thoughts on a cold winter's morn: Why I heat with wood.

[cali]

It's grey and cold in northern Vermont this morning. I don't know how many degrees below zero it is; the thermometer is encrusted with snow. I woke around 5 this morning and went downstairs to throw another piece of wood on the bed of coals in the stove. Seasoned 2 years, it burns with ease. I loaded the stove last night around 10. It was no where near to going out this morning: I could have stayed in bed another 2 hours.

I get a lot of satisfaction from not supporting big oil, but that's not the main reason I heat with wood. It certainly was instrumental in making that decision 12 years ago, but I love the radiant heat of my stove. I appreciate knowing exactly what it takes to keep warm. I like standing by the stove on a really cold night. Once in a while, I like cooking on it.

Granted, my house is small, really well insulated, and with a lot of passive solar. On a 20 degree sunny day I let the fire die and clean out the stove. (OK, I could do this on a cold day, because I have a little gas stove for back up).

Heating with wood makes me grateful to be warm. It makes me recognize that creature comforts aren't just a matter of turning a dial. It makes me conscious of the effort it takes. I love that.

[pooja]

1. That's all my parents ever used in their house. I think the electric

heaters have been turned on a couple of times (just to see if they are still working). But on really cold days, I used to dress over a heater vent... wood stove in cellar--vents all over the house. I can't believe I got a hair up my butt to go up there in a few days... oh well, I did it for 18yrs... but I've been in the south for too long becoming comfortable.

[mc jazz]

2. me too

I live in UK in old part of a city where many old houses still have chimneys
Interestingly the coal merchant says demand has skyrocketed recently, it looks like more people are actually using coal and wood to heat their houses
I use less gas, sold the tumble dryer and use the fire to dry washing

For me I love the way a fire is the centre of attention in the room

[TangoCharlie]

30. Coke - it's not just for getting high ...

When I lived in UK, we had a fireplace in each room (no central furnace) and burned coke. Tough to start, but burns clean and hot. Some mornings we moved real fast and used words like "brrr" as a greeting until the fires warmed the place.

If I remember right, coal was illegal, had to use coke.

Regards.

[Hutchewon]

3. Some thoughts from the southland on wood heat.

I too am baking in the warmth of my wood stove this morning. The low here last night was 20.5 F.I live in a fairly large house and my little blue Defiant Encore keeps the entire house warm at this temp. I have 2 heat pumps for backup, that only function when I am late getting home and the fire has died or if we are out of town.

It is alway a big event in my household when we have the first fire of the winter. We also enjoy the "gloat factor" when the power goes out in an ice storm. In that case, we are still warm and can cook on top of the stove.

It does take some work though to acquire the wood and maintain the stove. I spent three weeks this summer replacing all the gaskets, the catalytic converter and some other heat damaged parts.

One thing I really like about heating with wood, is that it keeps the media room/kitchen area of the house toasty warm (~80) while the bedrooms stay cool (~66).

[Pab Sungenis]

4. Wood is nice, and it's romantic,

...but it can never be a large scale answer. We're already tearing through our forests too fast, and trees take so long to grow back that it can't really be seen as a renewable resource.

But for individuals, there's very little better.

[AngryAmish]

29. There are more forests now then before 1492

Look it up. That said, you are right about wood not being a complete answer. But warming my tootsies by a fire is nice.

[Pab Sungenis]

34. I don't mean to deny you that pleasure.

But we can't all do it just to cut down on using oil.

[H2O Man]

5. My house

was built in the 1790s. It used to be one of the first stagecoach stations west of the Ft Stanwix Treaty line. The downstairs is open, with a central chimney that has three fireplaces and a Dutch bread oven. Before my accident, we heated primarily with wood. My boys weren't always as fond of my grandfather's two man saw as I was, though they found it resulted in their being a heck of a lot stronger and enjoying greater endurance that other high school athletes they competed with. My younger son can use an ax to take apart fallen trees in our woods as fast as anyone I've ever seen. I miss doing those things.

[madokie]

17. Two man cross cut was what I was raised on. Cut many a rick of wood with one

then chainsaws became popular and the old crosscut saw is now hanging over my brothers hearth with a picture painted on it. He uses wood pellet also as we do. We still have the first chainsaw our dad purchased way back in the late '50, early '60, somewhere back then. I could split wood with an axe faster and with less effort than anyone with a log splitter too, might still could.

[H2O Man]

18. My younger son

has taken up the family tradition of boxing. The fellows that he is training with now are impressed -- very, very impressed -- with his punching power. I've never thought that modern gym equipment can improve on a two-man saw, and ax, a rock hammer, and a shovel.

[madokie]

19. I'm impressed to, he is a fine looking young man, one to make his Dad proud

[dbt]

24. A BEAUTIFUL Son, old man!

Looks like He fears nothing. Well done!

Your Fan,
dbt
Remember New Orleans

[ThomWV]

6. I heat with wood, and its a dam good thing my neighbors don't

We have wood heat, supplemented by oil-fired hot water baseboard heat.

When we first bought this old house it went through about 1,000 gallons of oil a winter to heat. Then I built a chimney and put in a big old Earthstove (airtight woodburner). Last year we bought 100 gallons and had fuel left over in the spring.

So why don't I want my neighbors to burn wood, as I do? Simple. If we all did it the air would be unbreathable in short order. Back when the country had a population equal to a good sized ant-hill we could get away with everyone burning all they wanted. Try that now and the air would look like mud. No one could breath.

So I love the fact that I do it and I'm dam glad others don't.

[cali]

8. I know.

I did think of that as I wrote this. I gotta say, I love looking out at the village from my hilltop on a frigid sunny morning and watching the smoke curl up, but I always think of the pollution. Nevertheless, in a small state like Vermont, it's a viable way to heat, and our air quality is pretty good.

[ThomWV]

11. Agreed

My closest neighbor is 3/4 mile away. We can get away with it here in West Virginia, at least where I live, because there are so few people here - and one hell of a lot of trees.

Just a factoid (probably a fact, but who knows?) that I recall from an old forrestry class I took in college so many years ago its frightening: In an area that receives about 40 inches of rain per year the forrest will replenish itself at a rate of about 2.5 cords of wood per acre per year.

What that means is that I could not possibly cut firewood from the trees on our 100 acres as fast as it grows.

[smirkymonkey]

31. I also love the smell!

I know what you mean about the satisfaction of being self sufficient (well, with a lot of help from Mother Nature, that is.) I feel the same way about food. I grew up in a village in upstate New York and we had a lot of land and my Dad always had a huge garden.

There was something so wonderful - even spiritual - about growing the food, harvesting it, bringing it into the kitchen and preparing a meal from it. There is something about being involved in the cycle of seed to nourishment that comforted me and made me feel closer to the land.

[WyLoochka]

9. Pellet stoves solve a large

part of the pollution problem.

[rambler_american]

7. Thoughts on wood heat

I've used wood to heat our home in NH for half a lifetime. Like you I thoroughly enjoy the radiant heat given off by the stove. For many years I cut,split, carried and stacked my own firewood. I buy it now, but still carry and stack it. It is immensely satisfying to see a couple of well stacked cords of wood on the porch, proof against the impending winter. And the satisfaction goes beyond the fact that I'm not tied to the fuel barons, though clearly that is part of it. It just feels good to know that I have taken some degree of responsibility for our comfort. Rarely does a winter pass that we have not had a power failure of at least several hours if not a day or more. Being able to stay warm in those conditions is priceless. Now if I could just find a way to flush the toilet when the pump isn't working (other than melting snow to fill the tank)....

[NEOhiodemocrat]

10. I just put a log on also!

We have heated our 150 year old house with wood since we have lived here. My husband is 61 and we call him squirrel, he is all over the trees, cutting back branch by branch. There is nothing like standing next to the insert baking one side! Our five children grew up gathering up any fallen branches for kindling, and sleeping in feather beds to keep warm in the far reaches of the house. And they all made it. Since we are older now, and leave home some to visit the kids we have a little oil heater to put on to save the pipes. At least in a house this old all the plumbing was added latter to the "new" addition, so only have to worry about that area of the house when we are away. I wouldn't want it any other way.

[theHandpuppet]

12. My father had a Buckeye pot-bellied stove

Used it to heat his carpentry workshop, which sat at the woods' edge. Boy, that thing kept his shop nice and toasty and the fire would last for hours on just scraps. Some of my fondest memories are of the sight and smell of the old Buckeye; on a cold winter morning I knew Dad had gotten up before the sun to busy himself with his latest creation -- a cherry wood grandfather clock, an intricate dollhouse with cedar shingles, a new cabinet made with the seasoned wood of a huge poplar lost to a bolt of lightning.

The Buckeye still sits in Dad's workshop and even though he passed away a couple of years ago, that stove brings back such warm memories of him.

[Vinca]

13. We used to heat with traditional wood, but after the second

chimney fire . . . well . . . we decided to try wood pellets. I love them. We bought a Harman pellet stove and it's been trouble free. The pellets can be cut with dried corn from a local farm to save even more money. We have a generator so it will keep going during power outages. And, best of all, it leaves nothing in the chimney.

[madokie]

16. We are going to upgrade to a Harmon next year and pass our Whitfield

down to our son and he will be passing our first pellet stove down to the first to come by with the cash. Did I mention we love our pellet stove too.

[sendero]

14. I live in Dallas..

.... and have 30 acres of wooded land up in the Texoma area. We have a "mobile home" up there, and spend every weekend/holiday we can up there.

I put in a small wood stove last winter and we love it. It will heat the whole trailer, except when it is REALLY cold, which isn't that often fortunately.

I used mostly trees that were cut down for another reason, but I could get by on just 'fallen wood' if I needed to.

I love the physical labor for moving and splitting the wood. It's a lot more interesting than lifting weights :)

And yes, if the electricity/gas went off tomorrow, I'd still be able to heat my place :)

[madokie]

15. we use wood pellets to heat with as we have since the winter of '92

We have electric for backup or as our insurance company says that is our primary source, we know better. We use roughly a ton of pellet for the whole winter at this years cost of $210 including the tax for a ton. Our other option is propane which is way too expensive for us. The wood heat is different for some reason not sure what but it is different. We passed our first pellet stove down to our son and his wife last winter and bought a new one, thermostat controled, self lighting, the who shebang. This winter here is promising to be a little colder than usual so we may have to buy another ton of pellets but it we do the remaining ones will still be good next winter. Two minutes after the thermostat calls for heat the stove is hot and 10 minutes after the thermostat quits calling for heat the stove is cool to the touch. If our winters turned off cold an stayed cold I would probably still be using a conventional wood stove but we have nice days then cold days, might drop down to the teens over night just to warm up to the 50's during the day so it makes a conventional stove hard to regulate, thats where the pellet stove comes in. I will be safe in saying we will heat this whole winter and I mean staying warm, 72+ degrees for less than 400 dollars.

[Spider Jerusalem]

20. Unfortunately we can't all do that.

Not enough trees. Not enough forests. Too many people.

It'd be nice if people everywhere were able to get through a winter without burning natural gas, or heating oil, or kerosene, or coal...but there are three to four times too many humans on the planet for anything like sustainability on renewable resources. Nature has a way of ironing out these imbalances, though; that time is probably coming fairly soon for humanity, whether we're ready for it or not.

[madokie]

21. I read that there is enough sawdust going to waste to heat every house

in this country no problems. A waste that normally has but few uses. Wood Pellet for me

[danalytical]

22. Sawdust is used

FOr a whole bunch of things. Wood Pellets, particle board, absorbant for spills, stuffing for craft items, paper, and I'm sure others can think of some more.

I live in an apartment, and grew up in an apartment. But for about a year I lived in a massive house (wifes parents) on the biggest hill in the area, they had a huge stone fireplace that I just loved. If it was cold out, and I was home, you bet there would be a fire. I liked to stack the wood, and I love tending to the fire. My daughter was just a few months old back then and we used to all gather in the fireplace room and I would play songs on the guitar. They sold that house, but I'm looking to buy a house now and a fireplace is mandatory for me. If I have to I'll put in a wood stove if there isn't any fireplace. Something about a wood burning fire just makes a house into a home.

[madokie]

23. Oh yeah thats true but much is wasted.

check out the Wood Pellet burning inserts at least when you do have your new place. Our pellet stove produces no smoke and very little ash, Last winter after burning a little over a ton of pellet I emptied our about a 5 gallon and a half of ashes which I put on our garden which loves it. If you were into making your own soap or even hominy you could use the ashes yourself but thats another story.

[Bluerthanblue]

25. maybe not all, but with energy saving

upgrading, like better insulation, weatherstripping, insulated window covers etc, we can reduce our 'needs' by a surprising degree.

I came of age during the fuel crisis of the 70's and although we had always relied on wood heat, the progress in efficient stoves, the plethora of wood fired furnaces, "green-minded" technology that resulted from the high cost of fuel, was really amazing in retrospect. (along with, the birth of the popularity of small fuel efficient foreign cars) Then came the 'Reagan years"-

We had one of the only 'on-demand'(tankless) gas fired water heaters in NH as a child- My Dad had been so impressed with the conservation and efficient use of natural resources that he was introduced to during his time in europe in WWII- that he said even if he had to have someone from overseas send it, he was going to bring back the same technology to his home- And he did.

We were on a GREAT start back during the "fuel crisis"- People actually thought about 'consumption'- because it hit us in the wallet, and petroleum products were seen as the FINITE resource they are- Businesses built around energy savings, efficiency, safety and innovation were thriving.

Seabrook (and other nuclear powered plants ) was touted as 'electricity too cheap to meter'- :crazy: Ha, ha... I've seen the way 'we' can change- when push comes to shove- and maybe it is going to take a much harder shove- but we will ALL benefit by learning to appreciate the simple, basic, life-sustaining things, "food- shelter-health" when they become less of a 'given'.

If we invested a fraction of the money spent on "defense" on the interests of "life"- healthy food production and distribution, adequate shelter, health care and education, - for ourselves and the world as a whole- I believe we could help make 'war' obsolete.

[EvolveOrConvolve]

26. Two problems

1) burning wood for heat causes an inordinate amount of pollution
2) the decimation of our forests that would occur if everyone used wood for heat would be an ecological disaster

I also love the fact that you aren't using fossil fuels, but in the long run we need to look for more environmentally sound ways to produce energy.

[LWolf]

27. Why I heat with wood:

These days, the # 1 reason is because I can't afford the propane to run the heater, and the wood is inexpensive and plentiful in my area.

Still, I've been heating with wood for almost 20 years now. In the late 80s, I moved into an old homestead shack out in the middle of nowhere. It had buckled concrete floors, was NOT well-insulated, and the only heat source was a drafty fireplace. After a winter sleeping in front of the fireplace with my sons, waking up to water frozen in my drinking glass on the kitchen counter, I put in a wood stove. A great wood stove, with a catalytic converter to reduce emissions, and an easy-to-clean ash pan. We kept that stove running 24-7 all winter long. I could load it up before I left for work, and there would be coals left when I got home. Load it before bed, still a good bed of coals when I got up.

I loved curling up with hot tea and a book in my chair by the stove. I've really missed that stove; I've lived in 2 places since, and the stoves they came with are inferior models. I no longer curl up next to the stove; it's in the wrong room. I do keep it loaded though. It has a smaller firebox and is less efficient than my original, so I have to start a fresh fire every work day. Still, they are more economical than the heater, as I discovered during my first winter here in this beat-up, under-insulated old mobile home.

[AngryAmish]

28. hehehe...you said wood....

[B Calm]

32. I been heating my house for 30 years with wood. Warm to the bone

heat.. nothing beats it. We have a lot of hardwoods in Indiana, but my favorite wood is ash, easy to split and nice coals. Hickory and hedge are great but spark alot when you open the door to the wood stove.

[ms liberty]

33. I used to heat with wood...

In the house I bought when I moved here to NC, I had a wood stove. I had someone cut down trees from my woods, and section them, then I split and chopped the wood. I enjoyed it, but for a woman alone it's a lot of work. I love the smell of wood smoke, and I liked the exercise, and especially the lack of a huge heating bill!
I learned pretty quickly though that I couldn't live in a house with wood heat. Every year I got horrific nose bleeds, headaches, and allergic symptoms. It got worse every year. After about three years of it I had to change to another type of heat. It's been about 15 years since I lived in that house and it's not gotten any better. A lot of people heat with wood around here, and I can smell it from miles away. Just having wood smoke in the air from the neighbors houses sets my allergies off, and I have a terrible time in the winter, particularly at the beginning when all the wood stoves are first fired up for the year.