I know several people who own woodstoves, yet they choose to heat their homes with natural gas because its "cheaper" or "less of a hassle".
Its unfortunate, because the fact is that in this area you can heat your home for virtually nothing if you own a truck or utility trailer. I have saved myself almost $1000 a year on heating bills over the last 5 years by logging onto Craigslist regularly and looking for "free" firewood.
Now most of the "free" firewood that is advertised is pure crap, such as rotten lumber with nails in it that someone is trying to avoid paying to dispose of. But several times a week there will be ads from people who have had a tree felled and just want the green rounds hauled away. If you are willing to do a little work and can make room in your back yard, its pretty easy to score all the free firewood you could possibly use.
I currently have over 5 cords of good-quality firewood (oak, Douglas fir, maple, cedar) that I found on Craigslist for free. Most of it was green when I got it, meaning that I had to sit on it for a year or two to let it season, but once I got far enough ahead of the game it became possible for me to always have at least 2 cords of seasoned wood on hand at all times.
Just 2 days ago I scored a cord of Cherry wood rounds that a homeowner had paid a tree service to drop in his back yard. Cherry wood is as good as oak in terms of BTU's, and I got the cord for the $15 worth of gas I used to drive there. A cord of good seasoned hardwood will cost you close to $300 delivered in the middle of winter.
If the SHTF, I can heat my home ( and cook and heat water on my woodstove) for at least the next 3 years with what I have on hand, and the thousands of dollars I have saved in the interim have been spent on other preps.
No stove or fireplace? You can buy a portable woodstove (the kind that are used in canvas wall tents) for under $200 if you look around, and install it in your garage by cutting a hole in the garage door for the chimney pipe to go thru. In a pinch, you could cook on it and keep part of your house warm using whatever scrap wood that was available.
Just something to consider....unlike oil, electricity or natural gas, firewood quite literally grows on trees and anybody with a saw can obtain it for themselves!
Its unfortunate, because the fact is that in this area you can heat your home for virtually nothing if you own a truck or utility trailer. I have saved myself almost $1000 a year on heating bills over the last 5 years by logging onto Craigslist regularly and looking for "free" firewood.
Now most of the "free" firewood that is advertised is pure crap, such as rotten lumber with nails in it that someone is trying to avoid paying to dispose of. But several times a week there will be ads from people who have had a tree felled and just want the green rounds hauled away. If you are willing to do a little work and can make room in your back yard, its pretty easy to score all the free firewood you could possibly use.
I currently have over 5 cords of good-quality firewood (oak, Douglas fir, maple, cedar) that I found on Craigslist for free. Most of it was green when I got it, meaning that I had to sit on it for a year or two to let it season, but once I got far enough ahead of the game it became possible for me to always have at least 2 cords of seasoned wood on hand at all times.
Just 2 days ago I scored a cord of Cherry wood rounds that a homeowner had paid a tree service to drop in his back yard. Cherry wood is as good as oak in terms of BTU's, and I got the cord for the $15 worth of gas I used to drive there. A cord of good seasoned hardwood will cost you close to $300 delivered in the middle of winter.
If the SHTF, I can heat my home ( and cook and heat water on my woodstove) for at least the next 3 years with what I have on hand, and the thousands of dollars I have saved in the interim have been spent on other preps.
No stove or fireplace? You can buy a portable woodstove (the kind that are used in canvas wall tents) for under $200 if you look around, and install it in your garage by cutting a hole in the garage door for the chimney pipe to go thru. In a pinch, you could cook on it and keep part of your house warm using whatever scrap wood that was available.
Just something to consider....unlike oil, electricity or natural gas, firewood quite literally grows on trees and anybody with a saw can obtain it for themselves!
