Is It Me or Are More People Returning to Wood?

 
stokersmoker
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Post by stokersmoker » Thu. Sep. 22, 2011 3:35 pm

MURDOC1 wrote:I totally agree, I've noticed much the same around here, lots of people with piles of firewood in the drive... And I also agree that it does seem like more than usual!!! Whats up with all that nonsense? I've been trying to convert a few close friends to coal over the past year or more and I haven't been able to convince even a single person to "make the switch" even after showing my receipts for coal purchased over the last 2 years and explained how it costs twice as much to heat my place 10 degrees less with oil!!! Some people just won't give coal a chance I suppose!!! Oh well, their loss...
That's OK! More for us! Higher demand means higher prices so SSHHHHHH! (it's our little secret!)

 
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Rob R.
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Post by Rob R. » Fri. Sep. 23, 2011 11:31 am

watkinsdr wrote:I've also noticed several large wood piles appearing at houses this year...
Same here. My neighbor cuts and sells hundreds of cords of firewood per year, and his dump truck has been going by the house non-stop. I am noticing stacks of firewood behind some homes for the first time, and some new stainless steel chimneys.
freetown fred wrote:I'm with ya on that one. If someone asks, I'm real willing to share my coal knowledge with them. If they don't ask, I know nothing.---SUPPLY & DEMAND = PRICING ;)
I look at it the same way, but word about anthracite heating is slowly spreading, especially these new age things called "stokers". In just the last week I have gotten emails/messages from three different people in NY looking for advice on how to hook up an EFM stoker boiler. Some found me on this site, others found the videos of my boiler on youtube. A few others have called me at home looking for a coal source. I try and keep a low profile, but they keep finding me.

I do enjoy meeting others that burn coal...but they are few and far between in these parts. Maybe I should get a 2-3 ton piece of anthracite to put out by the mailbox, I could put a sign on it that says "If you know what this is stop in for a beer". :D

 
jim d
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Post by jim d » Fri. Sep. 23, 2011 10:17 pm

pellets @240. per ton is more like coal@410.

 
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DennisH
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Post by DennisH » Tue. Sep. 27, 2011 12:01 pm

I put in a Yukon-Eagle Klondike IV in my house in Michigan's Upper Peninsula last year. That place will become my retirement home in a year or so, and while I'm only 56, I wasn't about to be wed to a propane tank and propane @ $2.20 gal. I burn both wood and coal in the Klondike. My wife and daughter are more the wood burners when I'm not there, and I'm the coal burner when I am. Either way it's a great addition, and it throws out a lot of heat. The only time we use propane is in those transition periods where it's chilly at night but warms up into the 50s & 60s during the day. Once the daytime highs stay in the 40s, then we make the switch to exclusive wood & coal. I'll get a better feel for how much wood & coal we'll use this winter, since the installation wasn't complete until Feb of last winter, and half the heating season was over. :D :D


 
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ValterBorges
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Post by ValterBorges » Wed. Sep. 28, 2011 11:12 pm

DennisH wrote:I wasn't about to be wed to a propane tank and propane @ $2.20 gal.
.

2.20 I wish, I was getting gauged last year at 3.80. I don't think you can even get ng here for less than 2.5

 
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Post by wsherrick » Wed. Sep. 28, 2011 11:54 pm

I was at Home Depot today and looked at what they were passing off as stoves. People were all around there looking and asking questions. I just took a quick glance and kept my mouth shut. A big victory for me at least.

 
laynes69
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Post by laynes69 » Sat. Oct. 01, 2011 3:05 pm

Around here coal is very expensive. Last time I checked, which was a few years ago anthracite was around 250 a ton. There are wood stoves that can easily achieve the burns of a coal stove. Blaze king is one of them. The modern wood stoves and furnaces have a much better burn time and burn very clean. I tried burning coal in my old woodfurnace with no luck, but the furnace wasn't a proper design for it. My furnace now is EPA certified and will only burn wood.

 
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I'm On Fire
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Post by I'm On Fire » Sun. Oct. 23, 2011 9:58 pm

My neighbor always has a lot of wood. One year I ran out of wood so, I asked if I could buy some off of him until my wood guy could get to my boundary my delivery. His reply, "No, its my wood."

The other day, he was outside, log splitter going, surrounded by 24" logs and a huge pile of split wood. I asked if head tired. He said yes, but it was worth it to keep his family warm this season. I pointed to his pile and commented on how much wood he had and how long it'd last him. He said he had enough on his property to last 3 years. I laughed and said no, it looked like it'd get through through the season. I then told him that I was ready for the season in July and that I have to only put the coal in, light a match and walk away from my stove.


 
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CoalHeat
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Post by CoalHeat » Sun. Oct. 23, 2011 10:12 pm

now that I'm installing a coal fired boiler the consensus around these parts is that I've gone insane.
Indeed!!
I asked if I could buy some off of him until my wood guy could get to my boundary my delivery. His reply, "No, its my wood."
You'll have the last laugh when it's -5 degrees outside and he's trudging through a foot of snow to get more firewood as you're watching the "dancing blue ladies".

 
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Post by whistlenut » Sun. Oct. 23, 2011 10:19 pm

Wood stacked behind every house here also. A few new outdoor boilers, but the wood guys are working 7 days a week and have been since June. Much more than I've ever seen.

Remember, you can lead them to water, but you can't make them drink......... :oops: :lol: :shock: :idea:

 
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Post by CoaledWinter » Thu. Oct. 27, 2011 5:40 pm

I'm looking for a wood boiler or fireplace insert also. I wouldn't mind having coal, wood, and oil all together. Oil just as a fully automated last resort.

I like burning wood because I have literally hundreds of oak on my property, and probably have enough come down naturally each year to last all heating season. I got about a cord out of two small trees that came down in a storm, and I still have a monster 2' and a half dozen 8-10" laying out there to buck and split. Plus, I have a shipping/receiving place near one of my job sites that constantly throws out pallets. I can burn the pallets and eventually have enough steel nails and staples to make money at the scrap yard, too. :lol: :lol:

Two key appeals to me for wood is that it's easy for my wife to keep filling if the coal boiler has a problem while I'm at work or out of town, and it's abundant. I know coal is cheap compared to oil, but free is even cheaper...

But, I haven't put my coal boiler in yet... If I can heat all season on $300 of coal, I'll be very, very happy with that.

 
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I'm On Fire
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Post by I'm On Fire » Thu. Oct. 27, 2011 6:57 pm

Wood'nCoal wrote:
now that I'm installing a coal fired boiler the consensus around these parts is that I've gone insane.
Indeed!!
I asked if I could buy some off of him until my wood guy could get to my boundary my delivery. His reply, "No, its my wood."
You'll have the last laugh when it's -5 degrees outside and he's trudging through a foot of snow to get more firewood as you're watching the "dancing blue ladies".
He split all that wood a week ago and its not stacked or covered. Its raining. My stove has been going since last Saturday, much three ton of coal has been stacked know the driveway since July and its covered. But if it wasn't covered, I wouldn't care because the stove doesn't. I'm sure he'll have a lot of fun this winter.

 
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I'm On Fire
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Post by I'm On Fire » Fri. Oct. 28, 2011 11:23 am

Wood'nCoal wrote:Well he would be off my list of neighbors to help out if the need ever arises. :D Even if the wood was covered it still isn't seasoned if he just split it.
Nope, I think his plan is to burn it towards the end of the season. I say this because he's got the newly split unstacked wood piled up next to his stacked, seasoned wood. He claims to have enough on property for three seasons. I don't believe him. I had four face cords on my property one year and went through it in 2 months; but then I was over-firing my wood stove and running it hard.

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