Why we burn

I can think of lots of good reasons why heating with firewood beats oil, propane, etc. So I'm compiling a list. I'll start off with the more obvious ones, and please add as you see fit.

1) Saves money
2) Keeps your money local if you buy log loads/wood by the cord that might otherwise be going to countries that aren't exactly friendly
3) Helps keep you fit
4) Good excuse to get outside
5) Good example for your kids that it's worth time and effort to save $$
6) Visible fire = good (for us pyromaniacs)
7) Radiant heat beats heat from baseboard any day
8) Beer goes great with wood.
9) $10 for wood chunks at the local hardware store for cooking? Not if you have cherry, apple, etc. in your stacks
10) Chainsaws. Need I say more?
11) If you join FHC, you get to meet a bunch of like-minded, friendly folks from all over

There are always a good number of people checking the site out who haven't joined yet, and maybe are on the fence about getting a wood stove. Have I missed anything?

 

Fulfilling my pre historic urge to hunt, gather and cook...............

 

Make lye with ashes.
Fulfills need for hobby.

 

In so many facets of our lives we feel like we don't have much control or say, ie taxes, the weather, the high price of things we buy, etc.... Burning wood is a great way combat that. You can scrounge free wood and you can get many years ahead with your stacks. You can process wood when you feel like it.
You can tell that piece of dog $hit oil man to KMA.

 

Never thought about lye from the ashes, but just watched a youtube vid on it. Doesn't look too difficult. A good project for our homeschooled kids! And +1 on the need for a hobby. Combined with a purpose for getting up often to check on stove temps, load, etc. I have a hard time sitting down for long.

 

6, 8, and 1, in that order.

 

All of the above...

 

All of the above reasons. I love wood heat and the hobby that goes along with managing the heating season.

 

I enjoy all of the things listed. WS added the one that I always think of first. If we lose power when it's really cold/windy... we'll always be fine because we'll have a woodstove keeping us toasty. It's a major confidence builder, and it always has been...

 

I burn wood because the propane and natural gas company ticked me off big time!

I have weighed my options carefully many times as it would probably be more practical timewise for me to do a couple of side jobs and earmark the money for heating costs.......that being said I love chainsaws and I like my wood stove so I keep cutting and burning. I did break down and buy a truckload of logs this year since it takes me tons of time to get the logs out of the woods vs doing one side job in the evening that pays for the whole truckload.

 

That's my top reason. It's quite comforting being self reliant in this aspect. With only a handful of homes on our power line, we can always count on being one of the last to have power restored after a storm outage. We stay warm and have a hot meal for as long as the power is out and we have wood.

 

I actually like it when we lose power. I'll admit, I wouldn't want to lose it for weeks or more, but it's nice having the house so quiet.

 

I do too. If you saw my video from last winter, we were having a blast.

 

- The ability to heat in a power outage, without the drone of a generator is a big one.

- Its a traditional method our forefathers used ofr generations (goes well with this creaky old house).

- Its a renewable heat. Cut a tree and burn it for heat, use hte ash to fertilize a new tree and in your lifetime it too can be cut for heat. I doubt many of us can wait around millions of years for the earth to make new oil

 

I think you have most of them covered.. I like the fact we can have the heat at any temp we want versus always keeping your house cool to save $$$.

I can't think of a better way to enjoy the day or evening with friends and family over when you have a fire going....