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Originally Posted by TheIglu  I've used nearly a gallon of gas for my Stihl taking down and logging quite a few trees. Also, the little Remington electric dealie I have works great a limbing and cutting! (yes, electricity still costs, but it's far cheaper to run an electric saw than a gas)
My tractor is diesel. It will run on most anything I toss at it.
I agree, wood is not a viable heat source for people living in a metropolis. I'm willing to agree that Stoneman, Chris and me all do a little more labor getting the wood and burning it. But you know what? We aren't rightly fucked and completely helpless to the oil market. I filled up last night. 188 gallons since early December, ~310 since the day we moved in, Sept 11th. That includes hot water. Not bad, right? Ok. Not good enough though. On demand system is going in once it's warm enough to turn the furnace off. Wood burning boiler AND stove being put in next summer. THREE options to heat the house, one of which is nearly free. Moving/cutting/splitting the wood? I've used ~10gallons of diesel in the 20 hours I've put on the International so far. The hours used for logging will be minimal. A nice sharp splitting maul is no match for a splitter in speed and ease, but it's FREE other than my time. I'd rather be tired and sore while proudly looking upon an indefinite source of heat that I paid nearly nothing for while the rest of the population demands a politician "fix" what isn't broken, just gluttonous and wasteful.
So while people keep bitching like crazy until gas is back down to $1.00/gallon (here is a secret, IT WON'T HAPPEN), I'll be using the money I would of spend on a new exhaust for the ZRX, new suspension for the CR125 and a new trailer for a new heating system that will save me double that in the next five years.
The same people who want to shut off Welfare are also the ones saying gas prices need to drop since it's hurting the poor so badly. Can't pick and choose. |
I think a lot of people will be saying "why the fuck didn't I do something like that" over the next few years. Not necessarily wood burning, but solar heat and electricity, passive solar homes, or plain conservation. I think we are beyond a point where this economy can be "fixed", a major recession is over due. Oil prices will double again. Most people have missed the boat, we spent it all when times were good and have nothing invested, nothing saved, and we are tits deep in debt. In the last ten years I've wired at least 500 new houses. One geo-thermal. None with any solar collectors. Nobody cares yet, and when they do the cost will have been inflated to the moon.
I'd like to hear more of your ideas about the stand alone heating system. I have some ideas of my own, and as I said I'm an electrician. I would be willing to come out with my van and give you some help just to get some experience with alternate heat systems.