Are you sick and tired of soaring high fuel bills to heat your house? If you do not mind minimal hard work, you might save a significant amount of money by trying out wood as your main heat source. There are other advantages as well. Let us revisit some of them.
Cost efficient. It can basically save you tons of money depending on how much work you are willing to shell out, you can practically save a bit or a bundle. For example, you can readily buy wood which is dried and seasoned, meaning, ready to burn.
One cord of seasoned wood burned is equivalent to almost 200 gallons of number 2 oil or 220 gallons of natural gas. So, all you have to do is to utilize the actual prices of wood and gas or oil for your scenario and see the difference. In a lot of instances, wood is still a cost-efficient product even brought split and delivered.
Mood and Atmosphere. This is probably one of the intangibles that many people would agree as the most important benefit of wood burning; the comfort and warmth that only a wood stove can supply. Flames from burning wood are regarded as hypnotic. People can look at the flames without minding the hours. That’s why there are so many videos to be played online! But nothing beats the real thing of course.
Renewable Resource. Wood is regarded as a renewable source while coal, gas, and oil are not considered as one. When a tree grows, it takes out carbon dioxide into the air, replacing it with oxygen which is a ready advantage to mankind. When a tree rots or dies or burns, the carbon dioxide is returned back to the atmosphere. So the end result is negligible in terms of this greenhouse gas, but not so with heating oil, coal or gas. This is because of the fact that when they burn and release carbon dioxide, the latter came out of the atmosphere thousands of years ago. Wood fuel, at the end of the day, is environmentally friendly.
Source: firewoodforstoves.com
Decreases Foreign Oil Dependency. When you look at a larger picture, what you possess is a renewable and sustainable energy source that takes the place of non-renewable energy. When people burn wood, they are simply not burning oil, gas or coal, therefore, producing a positive environmental output.
For each cord of wood burned for home heating instead of using oil, a significant amount of carbon is taken out of the atmosphere. A lot of households in rural communities and small places could easily lessen carbon emissions by four thousand kilos each winter by using firewood instead of a pair of tanks of fuel oil.
Source: Money Crashers
Enhances Local Economy. Instead of supporting foreign cartels for our energy, we would perform well to support our local economy in wood processing and sales of wood burning elements and accessories. When you witness all the players in the wood burning realm, there are no big companies like there are in gas and oil. It comprises tons of manufacturers spread all over the country, as well as local woodlot and logger owners.
Furthermore, there are a lot of service organizations and local stores supplying services and goods related to wood burning and processing. Wood fuel businesses are the primary source of income for 1/10 of rural communities, providing about almost half of their cash earnings. Wood fuel utilized generates at least 1/5 more local employment as compared to energy from oil products per unit of energy.
So, when will your next firewood time be?