On Sep 17, 6:56 pm, trainfan1 wrote:
wrote:
How many hours a year do you spewnd cutting hauling stacking splitting
the wood for your stove? add bought firewood if you do that.
Don't forget maintenance & chain sharpening(+ materials for this), which
I do on my ~11 chain saws, & purchase of saws, & a 20 ton wood
splitter(same issues), fuel, repairs, all on top of your time.
Makes a windmill look better all the time...
Rob
Now compare your cost of work to the cost of fuel for your regular
boiler.
even with free firewood every person I EVER asked isnt really saving
much money.
So please supply your numbers
Tell me about it. It does take a lot of time, but we always do tell
ourselves that the wood thing is our gym membership. We've been
scavenging the wood so far, so the wood we burn just costs us our
labor. I'd love a windmill, but our lot wouldn't work - too many
trees, plus our kids can't curl up in front of the windmill on a cold
night. They love the wood stove, and it usually usurps the TV which
is almost worth all the work. The only reason I'm able to do this is
because my wife helps me split, stack, and scavenge. If she wasn't
into it, it never would have happened.
This spring she got a tree company to dump about 4 to 5 cords of red
oak on our front lawn, big heavy 36 inch diameter stuff which we
finally just finished. Good stuff, but hard to work with. Last week
she got another company to dump 2 cords of sugar maple on the same
spot, so we should be all set for next winter. Just have to get out
there and start bucking it up and splitting it. We went in on a Troy
bilt 27 ton splitter with a neighbor last spring and have been very
happy with it.
I ordered a watt-hour meter that I'll install on the boiler. By
running it either way (on all the time vs. on the timer) and comparing
the electrical usage, I should be able to tell which is cheaper. I
agree that if I'm not using the boiler, then a stand alone water
heater would be better. The unit is three years old and I can't
justify the $$$ for a new heater.
Jay