Hey folks, I have been absent for a while, but still alive and kicking. We had a pretty major cold snap here like most folks, some days the high was only 8 f. I burned the Fisher Baby Bear normal and kept my place easily in the upper 70's. At work and around heard folks with natural gas and/or propane heat talking about how they set the thermostat at 56 f and were suffering in an effort to save money. At work a couple of people know I burn wood and were complaining about their expected $500-600 monthly propane bills coming and how 'good and lucky' I have it with a wood stove. These are the same people that 'mock' the idea of CSS, investing in a stove/chimney, and the mess of it all. I just smile as they stress and say, 'well, be happy you didn't lose power'. I have loosely figured that my stove/chimney set up expenses will be an easy pay back after 3-4 years (not to mention the independence) of it all...yeah I know I have a non-EPA stove and it was a let less expensive than a new one, but it does the job well and I have a small place, burning less that 2 full cord a year. What I love is that all my time and energy CSS gives me piece of mind, security and saves me from the fear of crazy expensive fuel bills.
Hi shack, nice to have you back! Your winter has been a lot tougher than ours, glad you are staying warm. Security is looking at your winter's heat in a big pile out back!
A 500$ per month propane bill is crazy! I figure even with an occasional outbreak of CAD, gas for the pickup, mix and bar oil for the saws and chains etc I'm heating my home for around 100$ a month.
I agree but you should take into account time, and put a hourly rate on our time.. I feel it's another way of looking at what you're really spending/saving. I know for myself, I enjoy it (and all of us here), so regardless if it costs me more or not I really don't mind. I like the feel (heat) of a woodstove. Since I have Natural gas backup, my savings can be a lot to very little. A few years back I was saving a lot, not so much now with the pricing. currently 3.72 @ mcf vs around $7 several years back. I'll still heat with wood though.
Not sure if I would make more money on OT at work vs what I save on my heat bill. I do know that I would take CSS and heating independence over work any day...plus the work is great exercise....keeps me at about the same weight I graduated High School!
That is exactly how I look at it. Staying active, good exercise and independence from energy monopoly. I'd rather be in the woods than at work but I do enjoy my work for the most part.
I'm a speaker so comparing an hourly rate to time spent in the woods would not be a fair comparison. I have a fair amount of free time compared to most. Also, I like cutting wood. My kids are learning some skills and we aren't paying huge bills to keep the house and basement warm. Last year I put off cranking up the outdoor woodstove about a month. "How much could it possibly cost to run the electric baseboard", I asked myself? Well, not heating it as warm as we normally do, for only one, relatively warm month, it jacked my bill by $400. This was only turning on the electric heat down in the basement for a few hours, a couple times during that period. Winter time is when we do a ton of reloading. A warm basement is very much appreciated. It's not uncommon to spontaneously go down and crank out a few hundred rounds of .357 or 38 special. Maybe load some shotgun slugs cast in a Lee mold. It was inconvenient going down and turning on heat in advance of a "spur of the moment" urge. I don't even want to think of keeping the basement warm with electric continuously. Warm floors are nice too. I guess what I'm saying is putting a cost on labor is about as intangible as the value of being able to comfortably engage in a secondary hobby. I'm sure most people using wood that have access and ability to supply their own use, keep the house warmer and heat more area than those who are paying for wood or other type of fuel/energy. I hear the same about reloading. Some say it's not worth the effort to reload for common calibers like 9mm or 5.56/.223. They are probably right most of the time. Having the ability however, kept us shooting during the last couple of panics when ammo was in short supply. Sometimes you can't or don't want to factor labor cost into everything. Sometimes you do it just for the enjoyment.
I disagree here. My time is mine, it cost me nothing. If I spend say 200hrs a year making firewood and burning it thats only 4 hours a week. I don't know about you but I think all of us waste over 4 hours a week doing unproductive stuff. Watching a movie on the boob tube, looking at your cell phone and even wasting time on line here! Lots of people pay money for gym memberships, exercise bikes and all sorts of stuff to stay in shape that produces nothing but sweat. Use that same time to work outside and actually produce something that saves you money is much more efficient use of time and money.
I have the dead trees, and would want to clean them up either way. I love the CSS process, it gives me exercise, it is a hobby, it saves big $$$, I warm the house to whatever I want, etc. Win all the way around. No need to calculate labor rates.
There’s some room for this statement, but at the end of a long work day sitting by a warm stove; maybe after a good stint in the woods making firewood and sharing that experience pictorially and chatting with like minded folks about it; perhaps trying to help other FHC members ID some wood to make more sound choices regarding better wood for the stacks.... These things are in no way a waste of time, IMO. Even visiting the “Funny pictures” thread or reading some of rottiman ’s off the wall comical thread offerings can bring a much needed laugh... sometimes that’s good medicine.
Meant to get down to my shop early today- but that darn stove was so inviting that I figuredI would just sack out for bit next to it that was at 5 am - next thing I know its 10am
I don't disagree completely but there is always a different perspective to looking at things. I have other hustles I do besides the 40 a week thing. So yes my time has value. And yes you can absolutely look at it that way, if you do nothing with your time than time doesn't have a value. What others consider unproductive may be much needed downtime to heal the body especially when you do 10-12 hr days. I'm goofing off now but I am about to head out to do some work. I enjoy my downtime but I also feel guilty about it when I always have something I should be doing.
Another thing people don't take into consideration is that when putting up firewood, if done right it is not a hard pressing issue. One can do it year around if he wants and just do a little every now and then. Or simply look at it as a hobby. After all, many of us do have hobbies and hobbies can get rather costly. But for sure times like last week when it gets super cold, it is so nice to be able to just sit down with the house being warm and not have to worry about some high heating bill. I think about last week when we were below zero day and night yet I sat in our house wearing a t-shirt on top and was always comfortable. When it came to shower time, I did not have to run a heater in the bathroom to warm it up nor did I have to hurry to get bundled up after taking the shower because it was warm in the whole house.
I don’t want to think about how much it would cost to heat the house to the temperature of the Wife’s liking... I figure the savings is 3 fold over the neighbors who probably have the thermostat set to the upper 60’s. While I am in shorts inside and it’s 20 outside. We get the power company chart of you versus your neighbors and our usage is always way below the energy efficient level.
You have to factor in all time if you are doing a cost analysis. There are certainly benefits outside of that cost analysis and even some of them should also be factored in. Time is not worth nothing. Even relaxation time has value, monetizing it can be the difficult part. I like to relax in Cabo San Lucas which costs a little more than Cabo San LaZy Boy.
