Now that I heat with wood, firewood has a totally different "value". Back when we sold it, a load (1+ cord) was about $110 profit. It gave me a little cash in my pocket. Now, to me, a (seasoned) load is worth the same as one tank of heating oil, or about $500. In 2013 that load was worth $700 I'm now in my 5th year of heating with wood. The first year (2013) I invested $2600 on a stove, flue liner and 2+ years worth of wood. I feel I broke even in the first year due to the high price of oil. Of coarse, there are other benefits with wood cutting and burning. Like keeping the house a couple degrees warmer and not having to feel guilty about it. I sit in front of the stove and get warmed up...(i can say that I never enjoyed sitting in front of my oil furnace!) I get out on the mountain with the dog, ID trees, get to run saws, fell trees, run the splitter, drag logs with the atv and log arch. All while saving money and having fun and getting a little exercise. I think that is like winning the lottery! ....(but I would have to win the lottery to be able to make a fair comparison) And, like all that isn't enough, there is my new favorite entertainment, FHC! It's gonna be a good year, Hoarders!
started in new home of 5 yrs heating with wood in 2005. that was after using almost 1400 gal. in '04. that was cut down to ave of 600-800 gal/yr with buying 1 cord($250.00) and using roughly 2 cord of pallet wood. today we burn pressed brick at $550-625/year. jotul f100 was $ 800.00 at that time ,another $1200.00 for liner and install. those days oil was about $3.00 and rose to almost $4.00 in years after. needless to say, a lot of $$$$$$$$$ saved. stove payback really about wiped out in one year. not as quick a payback these days, still probably worth it though
To myself also, I have had 2 people who asked me this summer 'why do you have so much wood?' If they could buy some because with this cold snap they are going to run out. However, they don't seem to value it as much as I or you do. 200 dollars a cord for 2.5 seasoned wood, No. not from me. However, got a single mom who oldest son is deployed ( Army) and she is running low as he was not home to assist, in the next few days after work a few boys are going to show up stack a few pickup loads bring to her house and re- stack it on her porch. Waiting on 10 degrees above instead of below temps. Now that cord or 2 I am getting some pizza and a drink after its stacked. But that has value to me
To that, I'd say, let them run out! (not the lady you mentioned above) Not to be mean, but so they learn..."why you have so much?!" These are the same people that will be standing in line to buy food and water when the next natural disaster hits. There are only a few basic things needed to survive; Food, water, shelter, heat. Why not store them up? Now, I'm not going all underground, off the grid, guns-and-money prepper here! I'm saying, if a storm washes your driveway or little bridge at the end of your street out, you should have enough ramen noodles and bottled water to live the rest of the weekend in the house. lol
I've said it before and I'll say it again, I tend to cringe when people ask me if they can buy firewood off me. I just got my stove last year, and as of right now I'm close to being 2 years ahead on wood. Sure, I enjoy processing wood, and talking about it with fellow wood burning geeks , but as the OP said we definitely begin to value it more, we all can appreciate the time and hard work that goes into it, and now a fair $75/face cord just isn't worth it for me to sell. When I'm asked, I always tell people my wood isn't seasoned enough (it's technically not) and if they are willing to pay ME standard prices for a face cord of wood, then they should go check out so and so down the street where their money would be MUCH better spent. As this is my first full year of burning, I'm going through a lot more than I anticipated. This will make the idea of selling wood to anyone that much harder. All I can say is I'm not interested in selling any. If I were 4 years ahead it'd be a different story.
For me it’s like working so hard to put a few bucks away in the bank & then taking it out for something. I look long & hard at that number in the bank book & thinking how much I went through to get to that number & how much it will grieve me to see it go down. A full supply or surplus of wood feels like a paid up insurance policy for me.
They claim a wood stove in a persons home is about the best investment a homeowner can make. The cost of installing a stove is pretty low, especially if a used stove is bought and other frugal methods are employed. I installed one last year mid-winter in an emergency for $100 bucks or so. Granted I had a lot of stove stuff kicking around, but the point is, what it saves in oil/propane really pays off quick. Myself, I like coal, but only because it is in between the extremes of firewood and that of propane/oil. It is not as convenient as filling up a tank and staying warm, but has a lot more heat and a lot less work than that of firewood.
Just loaded an 8 foot and 6.5 foot truck bed by my calculations 2/3 of a cord.. I asked her about her appliance, it's a free standing so 17% Mc wood should set her up fine. Certainly not enough for winter but a few weeks worth anyway. Because I got on the Backwoods Savage 3 year planI can help her out. The boys that showed up, started loading the wrong stuff 6 month old not stacked yet, (the house fire got me a little behind) ah no, so she got mostly ash 2 years stacked. Apparently she was out and her backup electric heat pump doesn't handle 20 below temperature. It got to a balmy 12 degrees today so was a good day to do it and buy some time for warmer temps.
A cord of oak supposedly has the equivalent BTU as 160 gallons of HHO. A cord of red maple supposedly has the equivalent BTU as 140 gallons of HHO Today a gallon of HHO is $2.52 here so that cord of oak is worth $400.00 and a cord of red maple is worth about $365. A cord of "mixed" or God knows what's in it is $250 here today even though the price of HHO has gone up about a buck in 6 months. I always figured a full tank of oil (275 gallons) was worth about 1.5 cords of wood ( you can't get much more than 250 gallons in a 275 gallon tank unless you blow by the whistle stop). Given the current market for firewood and oil I would not sell any of my wood. But that's how I value firewood. Replacement equivalency value.
I really don't have people ask me about selling because you cannot really see most of it from the road in front of the house. Also there are 2 guys, both within a couple of miles that sell. I don't have a desire to sell any but have given some away several times. I had an old couple at church that I supplied a lot for, for 2 winters. They sent me some gift cards the first year but after that I told them please do not do that , God will bless me so don't you be stealing my blessings . I may need to haul some more to them this winter as he is having health issues again. I know they are good for a good part of the winter as I was there in the fall and cut some logs up for them.
Love this thread because I think about this a lot (sorry for the full geek out here ). I was always a supplementing wood burner until this year. When you do the cost benefit analysis in totality it's really a no brainer. We used about $1800.00 in LP for heating last year which just made me sick. I made the decision to go full time so I bought about $1000.00 in equipment so going full time more than pays for itself in the first year and it really starts to rack up the savings every year after that. Plus I work at a desk so I need to exercise. This is a biggie for me because I get 2 really important things done at once. I don't have to carve out time to exercise, I just go gather and process wood (you know "the work" ). So with all things considered I'm saving about $300.00 a month for 6-7 months out of the year while pretty much insulating my family from rising energy costs. I plan on using this savings for my little ones college savings account. Now with that said this just highlights the importance of getting 3+ years ahead. I was fortunate enough to take advantage of some land clearing we did which was required for our overall plans for the property so I probably have 4+ years off the bat. I know that's not everyone's situation and I thank the Lord for the help! If I was under the gun every year to get enough wood to keep my wife and kids warm I probably wouldn't do it because I'd grow to hate it. All the pressure every year would wear me out.
Nah, my buddy down street is a supply sargeant, he advised me of situation, this summer he and some boys (20s) will show up we will put up a 4 cord on a weekend, have some drinks and a bonfire. I just got a text from dear lady, my wood burns great throws great heat, yeah it's dry. she embedded a text from her son saying thanks. Man is protecting my freedoms, he doesn't need to worry about mom.
I burn the much hated poplar, and even then, it makes good financial sense. Every time I burn a cord of the stuff, that's 450-500 liters of heating oil I don't buy. Plus, the place is much warmer for the most part. My break even point (stove/chimney/dinky chainsaw) was at the end of the first winter, basically what I put into buying wood burning stuff would have went up the oil burners chimney. The price of heating oil doesn't bother me too much these days as long as I have wood.
Here's what I am in for on money this summer: Used Fisher Baby Bear $225, Chimney $1,475 installed, raised hearth $100 for material that I didn't already have on hand, heavy gauge interior/welded seam stove pipe $250... pretty much at $2,050. So, I know there is a pay back on the heat bill, doesn't matter a lot to me since my heat bill was low to begin with. The value to me is that I can heat my home and cook regardless of how bad the winter is or when the power goes out! My Fisher doesn't have a computer chip that goes bad...my Fisher is reliable and simple (like most of us here!). This is all about independence and peace of mind for me. ...when it comes to my wood pile it's about my independence and peace of mind...some times I'll find a split that stands out when I am fueling up the stove and I remember that day I cut it or split it, that is a good feeling...ain't no way a neighbor can pay me enough to raid my wood pile.
