Free source of heat? - Page 2

[vtgirl]

we live in the heart of the green mtns and here in vt there is a rule that you can take up to 10 cords of *dead and down* trees in the nat'l forest for $10 per cord. we spend $20 each year (the minimum) and get a permit to take 2 cords.

not sure if we take more or less than that but it's really worth it.

also when there is logging being done even in a privately owned forest, the loggers often bury the unusable logs that they have to remove to get the *good* wood. we have gotten at least 2 cords this summer thru friends who know loggers and have worked out a deal with them to take those logs so they don't have to bother burying them. of course you need a chainsaw and a splitter (or someone who is willing to split and stack!!) but for your time you can heat your house for super cheap. we have had the same (full) tank of oil for 2 years now because of these methods.

we give our friend $50 for bringing us the logs and we try to avoid building fires till the end of october. our house is very well insulated (thanks to the weatherization program we qualified for 6 years ago when we were broker than broke) so the wood goes a long way.

HTH!

[lmonter]

Free? Nothing's free.

But lower cost?
We heat with wood. We have two wood stoves. Hubby goes out wood cutting on forest service land with friends periodically through the summer (we have maybe 5-6+ cords of wood ready to be split on our front lawn or stacked up). But it does cost $5/cord for the permit, the gas in the truck to get up there, technically the cost of the truck when we bought it years ago, the chainsaws and safety equipment, etc.
Wood cutting is more like hubby's hobby though - we don't tend to buy anything extravagant, so he gets his big-boy toys here and there over the years.
Although my "hobby" is the garden and canning and so on and getting all the supplies and such in order has taken time and a little money, but it's coming into it's own in regards to cost-effectiveness as the years tick by.

[unlegal]

We keep an eye out all year long for people giving away free firewood on Craigslist. This year, we have enough to last all winter for our wood stove. We have a small house, so the stove heats the whole place up super hot. Sometimes, we even have to open the windows.

[Fuamami]

When we first got married, we burned pallets in our woodstove. There was a warehouse near where I worked that had stacks and stacks of them - I'd just throw a couple in the truck on the way home from work and we'd cut them up and throw them in.

You have to clean all the nails out of your stove a lot, and they burn fast, but they are free!

[gentlemango]

DON'T BURN TREATED WOOD!

Make sure your wood is not treated with chemicals like construction lumber. It releases VERY toxic fumes.

[oneKnight]

The kind of pallets that companies throw away are very cheaply made and not usually painted or treated. Stores/companies try to keep the good ones. Unfortunately for you pallet-burners, they are starting to switch over to reusable plastic pallets.


I wish we could get free heat, it costs us so much.
I get free a/c by opening the windows when it is cooler at night, but it's never warm enough in the winter to get that kind of free heating boost.

[Smokering]

Not free exactly, but in winter I always leave the oven door open after baking. Makes the kitchen slightly less chilly.

Cosleeping is another good one! I used to freeze at night... now with DH on one size and my heat-radiating baby on the other, I stay toasty! Unfortunately summer's coming up, so we'll see how it goes....

[MeganW]

Well we're about to move into my grandparents guest house which is wind mill powered. So no heat or electric cost.