Winter storms wipe out firewood supplies For woodstove users, it's harder to keep home fires burning By Jim Hook [email protected] @JimHookPO on Twitter Mike Jones of Gish Logging in Fort Loudon has just a few sticks of firewood in his warehouse. (Jim Hook — Public Opinion) Seasoned firewood is in short supply, just one month into what is turning out to be a harsh winter. "We usually have 100,000 to 300,000 bundles to carryover in a mild winter," said Ernie Gish, co-owner of Gish Logging in Fort Loudon. "We've cleaned house. We don't have a stick." Located five miles north of the wood-scented village of Fort Loudon, Gish Logging is not the typical chainsaw-pickup-truck operation. It's one of the nation's largest suppliers of packaged firewood, 1.2 million packages a year. Gish's kiln-dried Hotsticks are found in convenience, hardware and grocery stores. The company is meeting its contracts, but extra supplies are limited, according to Gish. Air-dried firewood in bulk is all but gone. The company has some less seasoned wood available. "Usually we would be the last company to run short because we inventory so much," he said. "I'm getting calls from all over the country wondering if we have anything to spare." Using wood as the primary heat source for a home in the United States has grown nearly 40 percent since 2004, according to the Department of Energy. Burning wood and wood pellets has become more and more popular in recent years as the prices of traditional heating fuels increase, according to Ron Bunting, owner of Bunting's Fireplace and Stove, Chambersburg. "It's been a steady uptick," Bunting said. "I've seen the largest growth in pellet stoves in the past five years. It was phenomenal in 2013." Wood pellet stoves are easy to install, and the fuel is abundant, he said. About 6 percent of homes in Franklin County are heated mainly with wood, according to the most recent American Community Survey estimates by the Census Bureau. In Fulton County 22 percent are heated with wood. In the more populous counties of Cumberland and York, just 3 percent of homes are heated with wood. More than 3,600 homes in Franklin County burn wood as their primary source of heat. That's more than twice the number who rely on bottled gas. About 45 percent in the county rely on electricity, 25 percent on fuel oil and 19 percent on utility natural gas. Jeff Sheffler, left, and his son, Isaac, fill their outdoor woodstove Thursday in Waynesboro. (Markell DeLoatch — Public Opinion) Wood-burning stoves are generally less efficient than other heat sources, according to the Department of Energy, but the fuel costs less. Customers are burning more wood this season because of the colder temperatures and wind, according to smaller firewood operators. "We have a little bit of seasoned," said third-year operator Sherri Jarrett of Willow Hill. "We're getting low too. It's hard to find. Loggers aren't going out. Vendors haul it to us and we split it." Starting up frozen logging equipment on the mountain can take most of a short winter day. Late summer and fall are the prime seasons for firewood harvesting. "Winter came early for us this year," Bunting said. "It drove people to think about winter early." November had about 17 percent more heating days than a normal November, according to data from Hagerstown, Md., weather observer Greg Keefer. There were fewer than normal heating days in December, and so far, the number of heating days in January is about normal. But the number should soar with forecasted arctic temperatures to the end of the month. "This would be the highest demand year we've seen," Gish said. "2010 was a very good year with those three back-to-back storms." Gish Logging has been packaging firewood 15 years and selling loose firewood since 1984. The company has found a niche in providing wood for what Gish calls "ambiance fires." About 8 percent of U.S. homes supplement their primary heat source by burning wood, according to the Department of Energy. Gish Logging has found its bagged firewood to be popular outside the U.S. Demand has increased from Saudi Arabia where the wood is used for cooking fires and warmth on cool desert nights, according to Gish.
Interesting a brief mention about seasoned wood , then say loggers aren't going out to log due to cold temps to replenish supplies. Logged wood now , well they'd sell it, but being seasoned ? With the world largest supply of natural gas, I'm amazed gas & oil companies aren't aggressively laying in pipelines. Maybe held up due to regulations. Save the trees , burn NG . Burning wood is a lifestyle change, lots of work. Glad most here have an ample wood supply. No mention of price increases either, wonder if prices are going up ? Any one notice the price $$ of firewood increasing?
Around here it has been going up over the last several years. From the big suppliers, $175 used to be a good deal. Now anything under $250 is a deal. No discount for large quantities. But, the little guys still charge less. The right little guy will reduce prices for larger quantities since they realize the save time dumping 10-15 cord at one location rather than dealing with 5-7 different customers equalling the same cord amount.
What "little guy" has a truck that can hold 10-15 cords of firewood?! Would need a semi truck sized dump bed. That Gish firewood outfit seemed like an outfit really setup well... But stop spreading misinformation! http://www.hotsticks.net/facts.html "Softwood should only be burned outside"
That's crazy but it doesn't surprise me at all. There are lots of people around here scrambling for firewood right now.
Hey, the moral of the story is, join FHC, get three years ahead, bask in the glory of your rows and rows of wood.
2 cord at a time is delivered. Making several trips to the same customer is a lot easier than delivering 2 cord to 5-7 different customers.
If everyone knew pine burned well, next thing you know suppliers will be selling pine at ridiculous prices.
I think there firewood operation is enviable !! BUT.............The reason my family all burns firwood is for 2 reasons . The first one being that we have an abundant wood supply on the family farm . The second being to be able to be self-sufficient . That means relying on NO ONE for services . Im glad I watched what my honey bees did this year . There activity was very aggressive in the late summer early fall . We took it as a sign of a bad winter....so quite a few extra cords were processed . Lucky we did that.....we are digging into the "extra" now !!
Hey, when you're selling hardwood firewood that's not misinformation, that's just creative marketing.
I think some of the news is exaggerated a bit. Low temperature records are not being broken every day. It's been cold in the winter before this, & there have been colder winters. News media sensationalize the cold temps, but it is "winter " . Preparation for winter is the bigger issue. (or lack of preparation) Some folks work hard, save by DIY & prepare , Some prepare by paying what ever it cost , Some have "life events" that catch them off guard, Some expect to be bailed out. Most here are the work hard, DIY & prepare types. Just look at the proud pictures of our wood stacks ! $$$
Has anyone noticed that this year they are really stressing the danger! Dangerous cold! Dangerous storm! Why just yesterday look at the danger that hit Atlanta. A couple inches of snow paralyzed the whole city. That got me to thinking today and I found an article that I had saved a few years ago: notice that they received an inch of snow. CNN News, Thursday, January 20, 1995 RALEIGH, North Carolina (AP) -- A surprise 1-inch snow that turned to ice on frigid roads stunned North Carolina's capital, trapping motorists in epic traffic jams and stranding some 3,000 pupils overnight at schools. The governor urged people to stay home Thursday while crews clean things up. Highways were clogged with desperate drivers whose commutes Wednesday stretched to as long as eight hours. Law officers tallied about 1,000 accidents in the Raleigh-Durham area, but there were no reports of fatalities. "You'd move a little bit, then you sat ... then you moved a little bit, then you sat," said salesman Brian Baldelli, who took seven hours to go nine miles on one highway. Gov. Mike Easley declared a state of emergency, allowing him to open two state government buildings in downtown Raleigh as shelters. Department of Transportation crews "have been out all night scraping the roads and spreading salt, but their work is not yet complete," Easley said early Thursday. "If people can stay home, especially this morning, I am encouraging them to do so." Some 3,000 students spent the night at Wake County schools after bus operations were suspended and parents were unable to come get them. With Thursday classes canceled, school officials planned to have the stranded youngsters bused home during the morning. Such a mess from a mild snowfall stunned even the forecasters. "In the 24 years I've lived here, I have never encountered the traffic situation I saw today," WRAL-TV chief meteorologist Greg Fishel said. He apologized on the air for what the station's "embarrassing" forecast -- a few flurries. National Weather Service forecaster Brandon Locklear said very dry snow packed onto roads that were frigid after two days of below-freezing temperatures. "You had some melting from the compression of people driving on the roads, followed rapidly by refreezing," he said. Road crews were forced to try applying melting agents to jammed roads. Lisa Sun of Raleigh resigned herself to spending the night inside a 24-hour grocery store when police closed an ice-covered bridge, cutting her off from her home. She had already spent four hours covering a distance that usually takes half an hour and saw "a slew of accidents." Almost two dozen people at the grocery early Thursday, watching TV or sprawling on air mattresses."They have food and a restroom," Sun said. "We're pretty happy."
The weather is being so sensationalized anymore. When they start naming rain, and snow "storms" it's gotten way out of control.
They have plenty up there, just not kiln dried yet. Still 145/ 6 scoops in town. But the mi is much more green vs last year. This pic is from about two weeks ago. One of three piles.
+1 Wonder what the agenda is, got to have money as a big part of their formula . The global warming agenda, now climate change agenda, Move the US energy to wind mills & solar panels using the scare technique ?
