"Things to Ponder" , cutting firewood observations

With all the work involved , the heat
I get from it is special.

I notice the price here this year has gone
up about $100 per cord. Big jump.
$250 for a cord of rounds, $350 for a cord of splits.
Of course it's all seasoned,
Wondering how the rounds can be sold as seasoned ? ?

Not that the price is over the top, even
with a firewood processor, lots of work,
Add in fuel & equipment costs & maintenance

But at roughly $350 a cord per month for heat
they are above the cost for NG heat
And near the cost for oil heat .
May soon price themselves out of the market.

 

I've never met him
I think he's still selling wood.
He may have an ad on Anchorage CL .

 

I looked around on CL. Didn't see his ad.
He did get a processor, had a pic of it on the old CL ad.

Lots of competition out there, hard to make much of a profit.
$350 /cord just seems high priced for burning wood
if easier alternatives are = priced or cheaper.

I can get a cord in, CSS for about $40.
Of course my time is free

To pay $350, even though the work & equipment involved is worth it
I'd use NG and save $$ money , time, effort, & equipment costs.
That's 100 gallons of diesel, not sure how long that heats a home, but
Gotta be close to a month

 

I also process delivered log lengths. I like the quality control you have plus it saves money. As I saw again this afternoon, the cutting a log into rounds doesn't take near as long as the moving, splitting, stacking, moving, and restacking and moving and restacking. Did I mention moving?

I had the oil fired baseboard on a couple weeks ago and I have to say, it does have something going for it in terms of even heat. I love to do a wood boiler.... I think...

 

I agree but who is that?

That seems strange. Most have some form of hot water,
so of electric , propane or diesel, one would typically be an option.
$$ Cost would be the major deciding factor for me. Plus
you have to be home to heat with wood.

Even remote cabins here have diesel, typically hauled in during
winter when the river are our frozen highways.

I know I'd be spending some time & money on home energy upgrades
if I paid $350 /month for heat & probably re-coup my financial investment
in a short period (in my location anyway)

I think they are pricing themselves out if the market at $350.
Betting it goes back down below $300.

Lots of sellers & all trying to make bills & payments,
There will be fewer sellers soon & cheaper wood.
NG is expanding here, that'll bring wood prices down too.

But don't try to buy my wood for less than $500/cord LOL

 

Selling at $350 a cord, if a person could average a cord a day Mon-Fri they'd make $91,000 a year. Not too bad.
Here it's $120 a cord for oak.

 

Did you ever think you would see the day come in America where a large amount of people think it's better to vote for a living over working for a living?

 

Simple logic
Many will "Take the path of least resistance."
No blame, not lazy, just the easiest path Not being allowed to fail, rewards failure.
Failure is a great teacher & has been taken away.
Remove that easy path, allow failure, many more will take the path of success.

Enough if "Dave's logic"

Glad I followed a different path,
Hard work is rewarded. IMO.

I have over 20 cord of CSS firewood, touched every piece several times.
Glad I'm motivated & healthy enough to be able to make that happen.

 

Did some math
Not sure it's right.

NG here is $8.79/1,000 cubic feet (Oct 2113 price)
1,000 BTU per cubic foot. = $8.79 for 1,000,000 BTUs

Birch is 23.6 million BTU/cord
times $8.79
$207.44 for NG to heat my house, is the same BTU as a cord of birch.
Now play with efficiencies, an efficient furnace burning NG being more efficient.

Wood price now is $350 per cord. ? ?

May have to figure the cost of heating fuel (#1 diesel) to get a better comparison.
Can't fine the price here.
Did find 1 gallon of #1 diesel = 13,931 BTU
Guessing around $4
To tired to do the math.
later

 

"someone" will support you. - Whether we want to or not..

 

I have 3 years worth of wood c/s/s and ready to go in my back yard. When I'm cutting and it starts to feel like work....I quit.

My in-laws all burn wood and live "paycheck to paycheck" on firewood...one BIL literally cuts wood after he throws his last piece in the boiler. I've never seen him have more than 2-3 days worth on hand. For them...its work. For me...its fun.

 

Can you divorce just the in laws?

 

Why? Nothing wrong with what they're doing. They're good people...just don't see things the way I do. To each their own.

 

You're right, to each their own. Wasn't serious about the divorce either

 

I didn't take it personally. No worries.

 

At $350/cord for CSD for firewood.
In my area, NG is cheaper to use than buying firewood.

Plus you have to stack , store & dry the wood.
I understand why 99.9% of folks in my area don't burn wood.

The cost, time, storage & work , make NG the logical way to go here.
I'm going against the tide. Typical for me, not one to follow the herd.
Maybe to dumb & stubborn of a hillbilly to know any better.

But for now, $40 to $45 per cord, & my time is free, it's working out OK for my situation.

 

You burns what you gots. Some people have $, some people have time.

 

+1
Puts it in a good perspective.
I burn time