Carbon Loophole: Why Is Wood Burning Counted as Green Energy?

[Darth Omar]

They make pellet furnaces, and all pellets burn cleanly due to the fact that you don't damper them down.

But...the way they rape us for pellets now, it's no longer the most efficient form of heat. Heating 2200 square feet isn't easy with pellets, unless you have the stove in the basement of a ranch. Or your house is one big room with bedrooms off the main room with no hallways.

I get them for $5/40 pound bag.

My house is single story and the stove is more or less in the center and in the living area and close enough to the kitchen that it stays comfortable. Obviously, it’s warmer by the stove than in the bedrooms or other areas but they don’t need to be as warm—-I sleep better when the bedroom is cooler anyway so it works fine for me.

 

[Althea]

The best way to go is an outdoor wood burner. Keeps all the mess outside. But they ain't cheap.

Feasible only for those with an existing hydronic system. But I agree. You can stoke that sucker and leave for the weekend. And many of my friends who have them burn pine, and other woods you'd normally avoid.

 

[countryboy]

I actually enjoy getting wood in but it’s labor intensive.

This pellet stove is spoiling me though. I got it right before thanksgiving so it’s still new to me. All you do is load the hopper and press the button. Though keeping a shop vac handy is a necessity because of the ash. I clean the burn pot daily and the vent bi-weekly on account of ash build up.

It takes 16 minutes to brush the vent out because I timed it lol.

My wife and I enjoy cutting wood too. It's finding the time that's troublesome.

 

[Althea]

I thought about a pellet stove, but I have ready access to all the wood I want

If I could do it over, I would install an outdoor boiler and radiant floor heating. That is my dream setup

Agree about the radiant, but it's trickier with wood floors. But...ceramic tile with radiant heat is heaven.

 

[Althea]

Yep, same here. Wood is "free" except for labor and equipment. I have a small house, so I'll go through maybe five or six cords. It's been going fast of late though. I wish this cold snap would break.

You ain't shittin!!! Since I started using wood decades ago, I go through about 100 gallons of oil/season. I like the furnace to run in these single digit temps though, so the radiation doesn't freeze in those cold corners of the building. Typically, the furnace will come on in the wee hours of the morning when the wood furnace is cooled.

 

[countryboy]

Feasible only for those with an existing hydronic system. But I agree. You can stoke that sucker and leave for the weekend. And many of my friends who have them burn pine, and other woods you'd normally avoid.

Not necessarily, you can install a hydronic heat transfer system on many existing furnaces. But yeah, it's not inexpensive. It would be nice to build new, and incorporate radiant hydronic heating throughout.

Never thought about the pine burning. I have a good bit of pine on my property.

 

[Darth Omar]

My wife and I enjoy cutting wood too. It's finding the time that's troublesome.

It’s an excuse to get in the woods lol.

 

[Althea]

I'm personally not a fan of nuclear. I'd rather burn coal.

I used to be on a forum where a member claimed he heated his house with a certain type of coal. He claimed it was far cleaner than some coals. Anthracite maybe?

I know I've demolished a lot of old homes that used to use coal for heat, and there was soot embedded deep in the structure. I'm sure modern coal furnaces are much cleaner though. My wood burning furnace is actually designed for coal.

IMO...no matter the carbon energy source, damping anything down creates the pollution. Coal is meant to be banked down. I think the pea coal burns a little cleaner, but I'm not all that familiar.

 

[countryboy]

You ain't shittin!!! Since I started using wood decades ago, I go through about 100 gallons of oil/season. I like the furnace to run in these single digit temps though, so the radiation doesn't freeze in those cold corners of the building. Typically, the furnace will come on in the wee hours of the morning when the wood furnace is cooled.

Lol. We haven't fired up our crappy propane furnace up in a few years. We've been 100% wood for some time now. And yeah, chilly mornings are standard operating procedure. Especially if I'm too lazy to fill up the fire box before I go to bed. But it's manageable.

 

[Althea]

I actually enjoy getting wood in but it’s labor intensive.

This pellet stove is spoiling me though. I got it right before thanksgiving so it’s still new to me. All you do is load the hopper and press the button. Though keeping a shop vac handy is a necessity because of the ash. I clean the burn pot daily and the vent bi-weekly on account of ash build up.

It takes 16 minutes to brush the vent out because I timed it lol.

I shut mine down and thoroughly vacuum it after about every 3 bags. Yep...it takes more time to lug the shopvac from the shop, than to actually do the cleaning.

 

[Althea]

I get them for $5/40 pound bag.

My house is single story and the stove is more or less in the center and in the living area and close enough to the kitchen that it stays comfortable. Obviously, it’s warmer by the stove than in the bedrooms or other areas but they don’t need to be as warm—-I sleep better when the bedroom is cooler anyway so it works fine for me.

Yep...about $250/ton here too. There's no reason for pellets to be so high. When diesel was expensive, we paid for the trucking. They should be about $200/ton if we weren't getting gouged.

 

[Althea]

Not necessarily, you can install a hydronic heat transfer system on many existing furnaces. But yeah, it's not inexpensive. It would be nice to build new, and incorporate radiant hydronic heating throughout.

Never thought about the pine burning. I have a good bit of pine on my property.

As you know...once you get an outdoor furnace cooking, you can almost burn rocks in that sucker. My friends throw huge pieces of unsplit pine in, and they get a lot of heat.

 

[cancel2 2022]

I see. So all power plants are built next to coal/plutonium mines?

Piss poor argument and ignorant to boot. Plutonium doesn't occur in nature, you're talking to a guy with a degree in chemistry ffs!!

As for coal, yes most certainly, power stations would usually be built near to coal mines. Anyway that not really the point, at Drax they replaced cheap coal with very expensive wood pellets using the bogus premise that wood is carbon neutral. If you read any of those articles I posted you'd know that.

https://www.chathamhouse.org/expert/comment/wood-not-carbon-neutral-energy-source#

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[countryboy]

IMO...no matter the carbon energy source, damping anything down creates the pollution. Coal is meant to be banked down. I think the pea coal burns a little cleaner, but I'm not all that familiar.

I guess there are different types of coal. Some has less impurities, like sulfur.

Yep, it's anthracite I was thinking about. https://www.leisurelinestove.com/anthracitecoal/

 

[Althea]

It’s an excuse to get in the woods lol.

Today...ticks are an issue.

 

[Althea]

Lol. We haven't fired up our crappy propane furnace up in a few years. We've been 100% wood for some time now. And yeah, chilly mornings are standard operating procedure. Especially if I'm too lazy to fill up the fire box before I go to bed. But it's manageable.

Tough to go away for a weekend, though.

 

[countryboy]

As you know...once you get an outdoor furnace cooking, you can almost burn rocks in that sucker. My friends throw huge pieces of unsplit pine in, and they get a lot of heat.

Yeah, one of my neighbors has an outdoor unit, and I see his wood pile is very large pieces, minimally split. Me, I cut 16" wood for my fire box. More labor, but way easier to handle and build fires with. I actually mark my logs with an old tape measure and marking paint, just for uniformity.

 

[cancel2 2022]

From a carbon point of view...sure. But I'd stop short of calling wood burning 'green', if that term addresses the lack of any pollutants.

It is neither carbon negative or green, only fools buy that argument.

https://www.chathamhouse.org/publication/woody-biomass-power-and-heat-impacts-global-climate

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[countryboy]

Tough to go away for a weekend, though.

What is this "go away for a weekend" of which you speak?

If we ever do come across some free time in the winter, I'll have to maintenance my propane furnace and see if it still works, lol.

 

[countryboy]

Today...ticks are an issue.

I spray my boots with the strongest Deet available. Haven't had a tick on me in years. Pull 'em off the cats all the time though. I also wear a straw hat to keep the sun off, it gets sprayed with Deet too, keeps the flies out of my face.