76 replies to this topic

[msterees]

Does anyone here burn firewood? I have a small wood stove and a fireplace and like to burn wood in them from time to time. It seems to help me keep my thermostat on a lower setting. It was also nice to have that backup source of heat when my heat pump went out recently. I'm not sure if it is any cheaper to burn firewood tho because it also seems to be expensive. Is there anyone here who cuts their own firewood or grows bamboo to use for heating?

[sculptor]

my shop and studio are almost exclusively heated with firewood, and the house gets some(1/2?) it's heat from the same stove
I fell the trees, cut and split the cordwood
---------lots of work------ and expensive
maintenance of chainsaws, splitter, truck, stove and chimney
Long ado, i read that firewood warms you twice--------------at least
--------
I'd feel bad about it, except that I also plant trees, so basicly, I'm carbon neutral to covering carbon use of my entire family
------------
wood stove is located in a bunker(thermal mass) type basement which is the lowest space in the combined house and studio so the heat naturally rises as the cold air finds it's way down--------------(nothing new, the romans heated their northern villas with fireplaces in the lowest parts of the buildings, and flues contained within the lower stone walls)

in a really cold winter, i'll burn up to 5 cords, though 3 is more common

bonadventure
rod

[JBMedia]

I've been burning as much firewood as possible so far this "winter". I'm doing my best to lay off the central heat in the house. Plus, I personally find a fire constantly burning somewhat therapeutic. Regardless, I can already tell you not only am I cutting down on energy usage, but I'm also already saving quite some bucks from the same time last year!

[sculptor]

 JBMedia, on 09 December 2011 - 05:25 PM, said:

, I personally find a fire constantly burning somewhat therapeutic.

for thousands of generations, our ancestors gathered around fires for warmth and comfort and often the stories and discussions that unified their societies-----------staring into the flames-has an effect that draws on genetic memories (as/re Gregory Bateson)
therapeutic------yes fersure
comforting well beyond the heat

[msterees]

I also find burning firewood to be therapuetic. I like to start a roaring fire when sitting down to watch a movie or read a book. You're right, it is both therapuetic and comforting.

[Shortpoet-GTD]

Make sure you close the damper when not in use, and have a glass screen in front to prevent heat loss
from another appliance.
http://www.chiff.com...t-heat-loss.htm

[Alli]

At my old farmhouse outside of Seattle we had a fireplace and loved using it. I'm in a high-rise apartment now, so no fireplaces here. I miss it sometimes, though- there is definitely a therapeutic effect.

[zararina]

I just experienced burning fire wood when I went for a camping last time. We just use tent and it was cold in the wild near the falls, so we make a bonfire.
We do not have winter weather/season here so houses do not usually have a fireplace. Only those who lives in some so cold places here might have them.

[mariaandrea]

I grew up in an old house with a huge handmade stone fireplace that we used a lot, especially when the power went out in winter storms. It served as heat and for cooking. I grew up in a community with lots of wood stoves in houses and some people would specifically ask for babysitters for their kids who knew how to use one. I love the smell of wood fires. The only problem here in the city is that we sometimes have conditions where the air stalls overhead, trapping pollutants - has to do with the pressure and temperature inversions. They'll put out a burn ban on those days because the added pollutants from burning wood isn't good for you. The exceptions are for homes heated solely by wood.

[kathie_san]

In the Philippines, people in the countryside uses wood in cooking, especially if they have to boil something for a long time or when grilling. I grew up in the country and I have experienced it, we have a lot of trees, some are fruit trees which is not completely cut down, they only get the branches trimmed and that's what we dry up to use for cooking.

[artistry]

In my grandparent's home in Georgia, on their farm, they had a fireplace, which kept the parts of the house very warm. There were woods around,  where the trees were cut down for firewood. I loved the comfort of the fireplace, watching the flickering flames. I have not lived in a place which had a fireplace since then, but for some reason I can still remember the fireplace very vividly. I think that a fireplace adds something to a room, and a lot to the home.

[jasserEnv]

 Shortpoet-GTD, on 10 December 2011 - 04:12 AM, said:

Make sure you close the damper when not in use, and have a glass screen in front to prevent heat loss
from another appliance.
http://www.chiff.com...t-heat-loss.htm

I personally think you have to do way more than close the damper and screen. I built an insulated front panel that I put in front of the fireplace when it is not in use. Before I used it, the floor in front felt as if I was walking outside on pavement. Now it is quite comfortable so I know I am saving on heat loss.

[JBMedia]

I didn't think to ask this before, but does anyone know which wood is the best to burn. As far as environmental concerns go? I'm just curious, of course I burn the wood in my yard, but it'd be nice to know if there was a particular type that was better overall that I might be able to obtain.

[sculptor]

which woods kinda depends on where you live

here in iowa i'd prefer osage orange, hickory, elm, locust, and the oaks
i save the apple, pear, cherry, mulberry, beechnut, etc. for smoking meat---------and if i have extra, they feed the heating fire later in the winter

right now, we have a red oak blight, so it makes sense to burn the dead ones in hopes of controlling the spread of the disease so i've cut a few of these down in the last few years

I rarely cut down any trees as fallen wood usually meets my needs-----but in the years when I do need to cut down standing dead wood, or when neighbors ask me to fell a dead or dying tree on their land, i enjoy the challenge of getting the tree to fall where i want it to--------shades of paul Bunyan gives a certain rare form of satisfaction

[sculptor]

epimetheus:

when i clean out the ashes, quite often there is a quantity of unburnt wood coals and flakes and chunks of the clay lining over the firebrick(which i resurface every year or 2) mixed in with the finer ash----I filter these out with 3/8" mesh hardware cloth and reuse them in a soil mix to make terra preta

so far, i get about 10-15 cubic feed of this material every year-----------at this rate, i'll make enough to create a new 4x12 planting bed every 2 years or so, meanwhile, i'm working at covering a brush pile with clay subsoil and hope to double the output  by slow burning that into charcoal.  With that , i hope to get about a cubic yard from an 8x8x6 ft pile of brush

reduce repair rebuild reuse recycle--------------------izzat reuse, or recycle? or both?
rod

[jasserEnv]

 sculptor, on 12 December 2011 - 07:42 PM, said:

which woods kinda depends on where you live

here in iowa i'd prefer osage orange, hickory, elm, locust, and the oaks
i save the apple, pear, cherry, mulberry, beechnut, etc. for smoking meat---------and if i have extra, they feed the heating fire later in the winter

right now, we have a red oak blight, so it makes sense to burn the dead ones in hopes of controlling the spread of the disease so i've cut a few of these down in the last few years

I rarely cut down any trees as fallen wood usually meets my needs-----but in the years when I do need to cut down standing dead wood, or when neighbors ask me to fell a dead or dying tree on their land, i enjoy the challenge of getting the tree to fall where i want it to--------shades of paul Bunyan gives a certain rare form of satisfaction

Having a large enough lot or a wood lot means you can take advantage of the deadwood quite easily. In recent years the number of strong winds coming off the lake in our area means that most people have very full wood sheds. We have also been doing a lot of planting to prevent too much thinning of the forest in the area. For the last decade, those winds seem to have taken out a number of the old trees every year. Those winds were rare before that so I am guessing climate change is responsible for the new weather pattern.

[Shortpoet-GTD]

Most cities have sites where they take trimmed trees-to crush down to mulch or just piles of branches
they haven't ground down yet.
Often, there are large stumps there too.
It's all free firewood.
It would pay to call your city (if you don't know for sure) and find out the location of these tree dumps.
I go to the one here a few times each year for free mulch.

Just a thought.

[msterees]

Sculptor
Do you have a tomato garden? If so, wood ashes raise the acidity of the soil and are actually good for these plants. I have a flowerbed for growing tomatoes and empty my ash container there whenever it gets full. You can also make soap from wood ash.

[jasserEnv]

Something interesting that I just read about too is that human urine is also good for the plants because it is high in nitrogen. The combination of ashes and urine is supposedly very beneficial to the gardens. It may seem a little gross but if you can save a flush and help the garden, that is a good combination.

http://www.scienceda...90902112750.htm

[Shortpoet-GTD]

 jasserEnv, on 18 December 2011 - 07:33 PM, said:

Something interesting that I just read about too is that human urine is also good for the plants because it is high in nitrogen. The combination of ashes and urine is supposedly very beneficial to the gardens. It may seem a little gross but if you can save a flush and help the garden, that is a good combination.

http://www.scienceda...90902112750.htm

I don't want to wander too far off topic, but as long as their aren't pharmaceuticals/antibiotics in the urine,
it's ok to "water" your pansies.
http://www.energetic...fertilizer.html

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