Heating with wood warms you twice, once when you cut it and once again when you burn it.
Thus said Henry David Thoreau, or supposedly something to that effect. As a longtime wood-burning compatriot, I agree with his poetic words.
We’ve burned wood as our primary heat source for over 20 years. My husband grew up in a house heated solely with wood. Between the two of us, we’re qualified to say wood has a charm all it’s own. Its warmth and nurturing nature can’t be replicated with conventional oil, gas or electric. Perhaps even more charming is the huge savings it offers in fuel costs.
There are many options today for heating with wood. I have zero-tolerance for technical details, so I won’t go into any product comparisons. But, as mentioned above, HDT and I are like kindred spirits so instead, I’ll expound on the wood heating system we use and how it warms us twice.
Our Wood Heat
We live in a 1917, three-story, 2500 sq. ft. American Foursquare house. This doesn’t include the 1170 sq. ft. field stone basement because, needless to say, in a house this old you do as little basement living as possible.
Our heat is a combined furnace system of wood and LP gas generated by forced-air. The two furnaces sit side-by-side in a basement wood room. We burn wood for 95 percent of our heat and should the fire ever go out, the gas is ready to kick in.
Our setup is about 15 years old. By today’s standards, its likely not the most efficient and it certainly has some drawbacks. For example, someday we’d love to replace the dusty forced-air with radiant floor heating. But for now, our system suits us well enough because:
- It’s located conveniently in the house yet the mess isn’t in our living space,
- As a graphic designer, I work from home and can easily put another log on the fire,
- My husband is dedicated to proper maintenance and cleaning (in winter he cleans the chimney once a month),
- We have free access to “making wood,” which is field jargon for cutting wood.
So, even with this 15-year-old furnace system, what are our annual fuel costs? About $500. Five hundred dollars a year for LP gas, which includes the gas we use for our stove top and hot water heater.
Pretty sweet, eh? Yep, it is.
But wait. There’s a kicker (of course). This is where “heating with wood warms you twice” comes in.
The Real Cost of Wood
Wood isn’t free. You have to either buy it or make it, meaning you’ll pay for it one way or another.
Buying wood pretty much negates the idea of saving fuel costs. Depending on its availability, wood may or may not be cheaper than conventional fuel. Here in Wisconsin, a full cord of hardwood averages $200 on Craigslist. Comforting, nonetheless, is the fact that wood is a renewable resource compared to finite fossil fuels such as coal or gas. If managed right, burning wood can be environmentally beneficial.
We’re fortunate enough to be able to make our own wood. We have access to woodlots where each fall, winter and spring we cut enough dead and fallen trees for an ample supply. Well, I should clarify—my husband cuts the wood and, as is his nature, he continuously cuts enough to keep us warm well into the future. I simply help load it into the trailer, stack it, and later throw it into the basement through a wood chute. Yep, we handle our wood quite a few times.
Which leads me to the costs of making wood. Making enough wood to heat a home requires tools, time and labor.
A good chainsaw is a necessity. So is a means of transporting the wood from the woodlot to the burner. We also use a gas-operated log splitter, because as he-man as my husband is, splitting wood with a maul gets pretty tiresome after a while.
Time and labor? Well, yes.
If you’re one who has more productive things to do with your time or if you’re the least bit adverse to outdoor physical activity (hey, aren’t we all, at one time or another), consider that heating with wood may not right be for you.
That disclaimer aside, think of wood in more optimistic terms. Wood heat is warm and comforting. Making wood is cheaper than any gym membership. And spending time in the woods is a beautiful reminder of God’s creative hand.
Go for it!
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We’re big on re-purposing. We saved this fir tongue-and-groove when we added on to our exterior front porch and needed to redo the ceiling. The wood takes a little cleaning but we’ve already used some of it for our sunporch ceiling and it’s stunning.
We have so much finished wood in the kitchen, we originally planned to paint the pantry cupboards and wainscoting for a bit of contrast. But look how pretty it is. It’s a sin to cover wood this beautiful!
