another bloody yank

Unless I'm clearing ground, I only cut dead stuff. I look for standing dead trees in the summer when everything else has leaves and they're easy to spot. The ones that have lost big patches of bark and all the little limbs are the best. They still have a little moisture in them but once it's split and stacked it dries out quickly. Anything that I do cut live is split and seasoned for a year at least.

Adnams

if it dont spit and hiss and steam its sesaoned I suppose. Right? Me old dad used to season his oak for at least a couple of years but that was in damp Devon so it probably needed it.

scrubbedexpat099

Many wood stoves are horribly ineficient, masonary Stoves are the best, wood has to be burned at a high temperature.

Heating does not need to be expensive, better to invest your money in not heating the outside.

US standards are crap admittedly, now the cost consequences are being felt.

Bob

That's the thing, if we had a stove or fire place, we'd be set with free firewood...FIL gets it free, off cuts from work, good quality hardwood too....it's always nice having a proper fire.

Bob

Ouch...though can't imagine you have that cold a winter down your way generally?

Bob

We rent, so the oil guy won't do a locked plan because we can move and that'll ruin things apparently....

Oh, and our electric was around $90 last month, usually around $120-150, higher up towards the warmer months.

Bob

Victorian house here, it's shite.....except the apartment downstairs, because the landlords used to live there before they had more kids so got another house....you can tell, because it's so much more likely pointed and insulated.

Bob

$3.40 a gallon....

Bob

FIL seasons for a couple years...well he gets it stacked and leaves it one year, splits it the following year, and will then burn what was split the previous year....a good sized shed type thing to cover it all....they also lug a load up to the grandmothers, and for other close friends and family if they want to pick it up themselves.

Bob

Metal stove much better than a fireplace....decent hard wood, burns really hot and won't leave much behind...inlaws burn a few logs a day and don't have to empty the ash for a couple months, which is chucked outside for grip on the driveway.

BritGuyTN

it was down to 19f last week

NASTY :curse:

AmerLisa

our highest gas bill usually averages at $150......will probably be for next months bill and then it starts going down in March

Adnams

yes well youre a sensible brit. the ole dad used to season his oak for a couple of years and had cast iron wood burners in the two living rooms and jesus they were hot. heated the whole 16th C cottage they had, well okay there was an Aga too....

another bloody yank

That's another advantage for us. Our bill is lower since we don't use the electric furnace anymore and we can keep the house as warm as we want instead of setting the thermostat to 62.

The initial outlay for a woodstove and install isn't cheap, but we waited until a used one came up in the paper and got it for $350.00. It's an older model and probably not as effecient as a newer one, but a new one would have cost nearly ten times what we paid. My In-laws are brickies so they built us a corner hearth for free, and I hired a guy to do the parts of the stovepipe install I didn't want to do myself, like cutting a big hole in the roof! The insulated stove pipe costs quite a bit, luckily we had a short, straight run.

For anyone interested in wood heat, www.hearth.com is a great site.

Adnams

But if you had an Aga you'd be quids in
http://www.aga-rayburn.co.uk/

Huge initial outlay but worth their weight in Gold-io