Wood Is Not Free

I too have an infinite supply of free firewood. Anybody on this board is welcome to come and hack away at it anytime. For security sake I need to know you came from this board so I have a pass phrase - "I'm an idiot" - you must use that phrase to get in. Some of it even cut into logs (kind of). Please come on a nice sunny day as I enjoy watching people sweat and curse in the hot summer evenings. It's far better entertainment than DirecTV. A tip - it aint worth it fella - hang onto your Harman. Gotta go, have to phone the coal man and shut down my wonderful coal stoves for the summer. If I get enough interest I might put in a tent for coal lovers to view and sell beers to the show - entry fee $5. I will advertise on this board stay tuned.

coalnewbie:

Maybe you could make your pass phrase "I'm an a-hole that has more money than brains". I went through 12 cord of firewood last year and paid for 4 of them at $45 a piece. That's $180, in case you can't add. Around here coal is running $250 bagged and $215 bulk, stove or nut. It would have taken me at least 2 ton to heat from October through the end of March. This year I'm sure coal will go up, and I have less than $50 invested, and 15 cord cut split and stacked. If you're NOT an idiot, you get it done before the hot, summer weather. Fuel supply is done.....I'm ready for drinkin' beer.

I agree, it is a wonderful stove. BUT it is a waste to be burning wood in it. It's a waste of a good COAL stove, and it wastes wood.

coalnewbie wrote:I need to know you came from this board so I have a pass phrase - "I'm an idiot"

coalnewbie, I think some of your comments are very rude and way out of line. 4570FAN is a member of the forum and deserves as much respect as any other member here. The post was to advertize the sale of a coal stove that he wants to sell due to the amount of free firewood available. Thats what this section of the forum is for. Many of the members here heat with coal as a way to cut down on costs and there are a few others here that do still burn wood. This firewood must be a better option for him at this point in time and it's not for us to critisize him for something that is his own choice.

I think you owe him an apology.

Jeff

First yr. for coal this yr.I loveed it after 50 yrs of blockin,splittin & totin half a dozen times--my wood ran out,oh that's a lie my ass ran out --anyway,w/ the kids all gone we shut the back of the house down for the winter--I for sure didn't sell or give away the beastly old BULLARD wood stove--I hooked it up to the back chimney--sooo,when friends or family show up--which is never because none of them like Momma or me! --but seriously when they do show up in the winter--I crank er up--it's like visitin an old friend--so I still split up 2 or 3 cord--that's real cords New Yorkers ----love the coal experience though --plus I would of never gotten to meet as many interesting people as I have------seeeee ya By the way,when I see a smiley w/ a party hay on,I'm pretty sure someone is just yankin my chain

I think that "free" beats "cheap" every time but I don't think that this wood is going to be "free" in the long run. A price will be paid in time and effort to keep the fire going. Coal gives you steady heat with no tending for around 12 hours; that means you can go to bed warm and in the morning the fire will still be going strong and the house warm. That's not so easy with wood. Coal doesn't have bugs, is cleaner to work with and doesn't produce creosote or smoke. It also takes up less room in your house per BTU produced so there will be fewer trips to the coal bin then to the stacked wood.

Obviously, I'm not making this decision but I know that I'm not the spring chicken I used to be; my back hurts, my knees hurt and my head hurts. I remember thinking as a teen how slowly time past but that was before 3 kids, a job and a house. Time is speeding by now and I personally don't want to spend it dealing with wood. The cost of 2 Tons at $430 bulks sounds reasonable to me; the $500 for bagged doesn't sound bad either. That's less then I pay in Northern VA and I'm next to NEPA. At this stage in my life I just want to be warm with the least amount of work - that's coal. That's why in my opinion the thing to do is sell the wood and buy coal. That way it still didn't cost you anything but time and effort needed to sell the wood yet you still have the "easy" heat that coal gives you. Just something to think about. Good luck which every way you go. Lisa

I think the point is 'free' is not really free...
It takes time, energy and tools to cut and split the wood then more time tending the wood fire...
Yes coal takes some tools too but they are multipurpose...
Heating with wood is a young persons job...
I have access to free wood also but...
The time it takes me to prep that wood is valuable to me...
So I burn coal...
My coal is 'free' too...
Suburban shallow pit mine, never more than 10 feet down
The mining is much more efficient...
It has been said before...
Sell the wood use the cash to buy coal

Firtly, let me apologize for any offense I may have caused.

The good news is that a neighbor has the Harman sale details and as he seems to have come to love coal he is researching buying the stove. So if you see a new posts from my neck of the woods it may be Steve, I think the old Harmans are great. I think he is serious as we have had discussions with him about coal sharing. Secondly, a farmer three blocks down the road burnt his house to the ground as a result of his log fire, so that induces a bias.Of course, the counter argument is that you can do the same with coal too.

Am I really so hard nosed? Well my traumatized neighbor stayed with me for three nights until his family could join him and I dragged out his Allis Chalmers tractor and helped repair the damage. So perhaps my bark is worse than my bite.

Another bias against wood as with careful record keeping I was dismayed at the invisable overheads. Chimney sweeping costs - every sweep seemed to find a problem with my stacks! Log spliters premataurely failing (reminds me of my GM cars - whoops am I offending again ). Chain saws need gas and maintenance etc.etc. However, the main problem is that I can barely keep up with life as it is and the time needed was prohibitive. So my final thought is, cost out your time very carefully. Would there be better uses for your time, Sometimes, that is invisable too. Like more time with the kids etc. How do you put a monetary value on such things.

In conclusion, I wish ALL other energy choices well and there is a case for almost all of them. Geothermal, however, confuses me. try as I might I can't see a case for it.

coalnewbie wrote:Firtly, let me apologize for any offense I may have caused.

Not a problem.

coalnewbie wrote:So my final thought is, cost out your time very carefully. Would there be better uses for your time

I do agree there to a point. I have cut and split a bit of wood in my time and I don't care for it myself. That is one of the reasons I went with coal. I do know some peope who enjoy cutting and splitting and they don't think of it as added cost. Some think of it as "killing two birds with one stone". They get good exercise and fuel to heat with at the same time. Avoids having to go to the gym.

I myself will never burn wood to heat with unless someone gives me a free stove AND gives me the wood already cut and split. I don't think thats likely to happen.

ceccil wrote:I myself will never burn wood to heat with unless someone gives me a free stove AND gives me the wood already cut and split.

Don't forget the part about getting up at 3:30 am to feed the wood stove so it will make it through the night. Get 'em to do that part, too.

rberq wrote:Don't forget the part about getting up at 3:30 am to feed the wood stove so it will make it through the night.

Someone's going to have to because I'm sure not going to unless someone can figure out a way to hook up an auger.

I think were getting a bit off topic here now though.

coalnewbie wrote:Firtly, let me apologize for any offense I may have caused.

The good news is that a neighbor has the Harman sale details and as he seems to have come to love coal he is researching buying the stove. So if you see a new posts from my neck of the woods it may be Steve, I think the old Harmans are great. I think he is serious as we have had discussions with him about coal sharing. Secondly, a farmer three blocks down the road burnt his house to the ground as a result of his log fire, so that induces a bias.Of course, the counter argument is that you can do the same with coal too.

Am I really so hard nosed? Well my traumatized neighbor stayed with me for three nights until his family could join him and I dragged out his Allis Chalmers tractor and helped repair the damage. So perhaps my bark is worse than my bite.

Another bias against wood as with careful record keeping I was dismayed at the invisable overheads. Chimney sweeping costs - every sweep seemed to find a problem with my stacks! Log spliters premataurely failing (reminds me of my GM cars - whoops am I offending again ). Chain saws need gas and maintenance etc.etc. However, the main problem is that I can barely keep up with life as it is and the time needed was prohibitive. So my final thought is, cost out your time very carefully. Would there be better uses for your time, Sometimes, that is invisable too. Like more time with the kids etc. How do you put a monetary value on such things.

In conclusion, I wish ALL other energy choices well and there is a case for almost all of them. Geothermal, however, confuses me. try as I might I can't see a case for it.

I have some Geothermal for over 20 years now we love it, I also love a little coal heat in the winter also.....

coalnewbie wrote:Geothermal, however, confuses me. try as I might I can't see a case for it.

If you live in a warm-enough climate, geothermal can be great. For us Northerners, it is not economical for most people. Groundwater is cold, ground is cold, air is cold, and electricity to run the compressors is expensive. I work with a guy from North Carolina, and he says heat pump systems are very common there.

My ideal heat would be, if somebody would put a computer server farm in my cellar and I would provide the cooling by channeling the excess heat into my house! Of course they would have to shut down for the summer.... So far I have found no takers for my offer.

rberq wrote:My ideal heat would be, if somebody would put a computer server farm in my cellar and I would provide the cooling by channeling the excess heat into my house! Of course they would have to shut down for the summer.... So far I have found no takers for my offer.

A major consideration, if not the number one consideration, on where a new Internet server farm gets located is the cost of electricity. Most new installations are being located near cheap hydroelectric power sources.

My mother's husband works for National Refrigeration and they are putting geothermal into a new hotel they are building here in RI. Maybe the economy of scale works for them?

don't confuse air source heat pumps with geothermal heat pumps. the difference in ground temp between Maine and N/C is not significant with a heat pump