Using mostly wood to heat our home and a supply of hot water

There’s the green argument that it releases the same carbon as the tree absorbed when it was growing, that’s a very powerful argument against the use of coal, oil, gas and electricity (as much electricity is generated using these fuels). We buy into that completely, but also have this fear that we are using some fuel that could become rare or expensive. The more people that use wood means greater demand, shortages and higher prices. Without a policy of tree planting and renewable sources of timber, then this fear could become a reality.

At the moment, supplies of wood are readily available. Trees will always need to be cut down, burning them for fuel instead of a huge bonfire in a field does seem more efficient. The market for logs is not regulated like other fuels. The price of a cubic metre of wood is basically determined by the commercial laws of supply and demand. The more people demand it the higher the price will go.

On stoves you have to burn well seasoned wood. This means allowing the timber to stand for up to 2 years whilst the moisture content drops to less than 20%. Now suppliers are interested in selling wood, not storing it for 2 years, so most wood you buy will have started to season but not enough. Therefore you have to have good storage space to keep you wood supplies dry for this long. To have a store of wood that will last you for 2 years is considerable and as you take it out one end to burn, you need to top it up the other. This wood has to be handled perhaps several times. Great exercise.

So without trying to be negative (which we are not) wood as fuel is more difficult than conventional fuels. There’s no switch to press and the heating comes on. It’s newspaper, sticks and patience.

Many people we talk to have combinations of heating systems. They may use oil, but with the price of it they have had a wood burner installed as part of the heating system. This can be complicated, but it works in tandem with the oil boiler. When the fires on, the oil boiler never switches on. Saves oil that way, but you still have the back up of oil if you don’t want to light the fire.

So what have we done?

Mulit-fuel stove allows us to reduce our coal needs by using wood

Well we have gone for reliance on a multi-fuel stove (as opposed to a wood burning stove). Now this means we burn wood and smokeless coal. Burning a 50:50 mix is not too bad and isn’t as polluting as neat coal or other fossil fuels, but in reality we probably burn 70:30 wood to coal. This is real progress. We see this as a move in the right direction. We haven’t any backup of oil as a “can’t be bothered to light the fire” reserve. We do have an electric immersion heater for when the summer so we don’t have to light the fire, but the rest of the time it’s back to basics, fire in the hearth, hot water and radiators. We like that simplicity and keeping in touch with the efforts required to keep a house warm.

You can also read about how we opened up our Victorian fireplace

The cost of heating with wood can be seen in the table below. This was taken form perge who make wood burning equipment. You can visit their site for more information.

Fuel Type

Unit of Sale

Energy Density
KWh/KG

Cost per KWh
Pence inc VAT

Electricity (Daytime)

KWh

Electricity (Nightime)

KWh

4.25

Oil (Kerosene)

Litre

11.7

6.20

Propane

13kg bottle

13.8

11.9

Propane

Bulk per litre

13.8

Natural Gas

KWh

House Coal

50kg bag

2.20

Anthracite

50kg bag

9.2

2.50

Wood (Seasoned Logs)

Bulk
Cubic Metre

4.50

Wood

Bulk
Un-processed

4
After seasoning

Wood pellets 8mm

Tonne

4.8

3.50

Wood Chips

Tonne

3.4

Clearly wood makes good economic sense. Even if mixed with smokeless coal, it still offers good value for money. Bulk un-processed timber means straight from the tree, so you will need to cut, split and season the wood before use.

More to discover on the Quest for the Good Life . . .

You may also be interested in reading about our Chickens or the Wildlife we encourage. Follow our attempts at jam & chutney making, our preferences for home made food. We want to brew more beer, wine & cider to sit and enjoy in front of our stove which burns mostly wood. Read about our philosophy to do with supermarkets and dependence on oil. If you are interested in making your own chicken house or planting vegetables we have some useful downloads for you. If you keep an eye on our news pages, we will publish the latest on the Quest for the Good Life.