Heating With Wood - The Trade Offs and Compromises

In southeastern Wyoming, heating with wood is astove. Wood takes up a lot of space. Much more
key part of our life. Our first snows appear at thethan you might think at first simply because the
end of September, and the wind frequently blows"space" taken up by fuel from the utility company
dry snow 40 to 60 miles per hour across thecan only be appreciated if you sit outside and
open terrain. This is the land of wind chill and snowwatch your meters spin.
drifts, so heat from a wood stove is indeed- There is a fair amount of labor involved with
welcome.wood heat. Wood needs to be cut, split, hauled,
I've been heating my home with wood forstacked and then moved into position where it
several years. There is nothing quite like eliminatingcan be loaded into the stove throughout the day.
or greatly reducing the heating bill. It's an exampleIt can take a couple of weeks of effort using
of marketplace alternatives in action. It's one ofpower equipment to process enough raw wood
the feet that I have firmly planted on the soil ofto heat your home for the winter. And, ash
self sufficiency. You can too, once you understandremoval is a recurring job during the heating
some of the important considerations of woodseason.
heat.- Wood in any form results in sawdust, splintered
There are many things to consider if you'vepieces of wood, wood chips, and pieces of bark
never heated with wood before. From a generalthat can form a trail leading to your stove. It's a
perspective, you trade labor, space, conveniencebit of a mess unless you're ready to handle it. Ash
and a bit of comfort for tremendous savings onremoval in particular is a messy job because it
the heat bill. Otherwise, you trade your money tocan become airborne so easily.
have someone else supply your home with heat -- There is also a trade off when it comes to
at whatever the market rate happens to be.money. A modern high efficiency wood stove can
Let's look at some of the trade offs andbe a big investment. If you're buying firewood
compromises that we make when heating withinstead of harvesting or scrounging, it can be
wood. It's been said before, "everything has itsexpensive, so you'll want to know about wood
price."costs versus traditional fuel costs to determine
- Your comfort is compromised to an extent,whether it's cost-effective. There is also a trade
simply because wood stoves don't operateoff with the cost of electricity you use on
automatically day in and day out. They need youblowers and electric powered heat exchangers
to attend to their needs for more wood, ashversus the cost of fuel oil, propane or natural gas
cleaning and adjustment of air intake.you save by having an alternative heat source.
- Heating with wood is nowhere near asSo, if you're considering wood heat for your
convenient as simply flicking the switch or pushinghome, you'll need to think about the trade offs
a button on the wall mounted thermostat thatand compromises associated with it. I don't regret
controls your furnace or boiler. Wood needs to beheating with wood simply because I like the idea
brought in, and that can mean you need to do itof more self sufficiency and less dependence on
at times when it's not convenient to go get it, likeothers. I also like the idea that I'm more involved
during a snow storm.in doing something that helps me appreciate the
- Space is compromised to a certain extent. You'lleffort required for daily living. Lastly, in the event
need space to stack bulk wood outside. You'll alsoof an emergency, I'm much better prepared to
want to have some wood stashed near thetake care of myself and others simply because
stove inside so you don't have to go outside toI'm doing more of that as part of my daily living.
get wood each time to need to load up the