I live in the sticks
We don't have gas or oil central heating. We have a wood burner.

Upsides...

I own & regularly use a chainsaw

I own & regularly use a selection of axes

It looks lovely

It smells lovely

It's carbon neutral & therefore good for the planet

Chopping wood although hard work is immensely satisfying & makes me feel very manly ;)

Downsides....

It's fucking cold in our house in the morning till the fire gets going again

ash ash ash ash ash ash ash ash ash ash ash ash ash ash fuckingash

Wood takes up a lot of room
(sittingduck Attention seeking, bullshitting fuck-knuckle, Wed 10 Nov 2010, 13:25, 25 replies)

You are my sister's husband
AICMFP.

Although he sensibly does have central heating to go on first thing in the morning while they sort the fire out.

Christmas is fucking LUSH in such an environment.
( Je suis un vagabond is an unfunny, up your own arse middle class knob, Wed 10 Nov 2010, 13:31, closed)

As I said
We don't have central heating just the wood burner ;)
(sittingduck Attention seeking, bullshitting fuck-knuckle, Wed 10 Nov 2010, 16:59, closed)

Yeah you should get some
So that it's not fucking cold in your house in the morning till the fire gets going again.
( Je suis un vagabond is an unfunny, up your own arse middle class knob, Thu 11 Nov 2010, 9:37, closed)

Still beats
lining the pockets of utility companies!!
(bROKEN aRROW PUA HVI Master, Wed 10 Nov 2010, 13:36, closed)

Amen to that

I just need to rig up a treadmill for the dogs & daughter to power the TV and I can tell the electricity company to fuck themselves too ;o)
(sittingduck Attention seeking, bullshitting fuck-knuckle, Wed 10 Nov 2010, 17:08, closed)

Then how to stick it to the TV licensing people?

(Petite chien is going to do science to it, Wed 10 Nov 2010, 21:52, closed)

well he's got a woodburner...

(teebie jeebie, Thu 11 Nov 2010, 12:07, closed)

Is cutting down trees and burning them
really carbon neutral? I'm quite surprised at that.

OK, it beats digging up rotted plankton and burning that, but still...
(Imaginary Ed was dreamed up on, Wed 10 Nov 2010, 13:41, closed)

Yes: I'd've thought that it probably is.
The plant material absorbs carbon as part of the growth process, and releases almost all of it during combustion. I'm going to assume that the burning is not 100% efficient, so burning wood is probably possibly actually carbon-negative.*


*Not a scientist. Just guessing.
( Enzyme is powered by sunlight, Wed 10 Nov 2010, 13:57, closed)

He doesn't mention if he plants a sapling for every tree he cuts down

(Reverend Fister "a disciplined fuckwit", Wed 10 Nov 2010, 14:18, closed)

I planted a tree this summer
So I offset it by burning an old armchair.
( sandettie light vessel automatic New Twitter - @bollocksreally, Wed 10 Nov 2010, 17:03, closed)

Yes it is
Letting wood slowly rot releases cardon dioxide and methane. Burning it just releases carbon dioxide.
(IHateSprouts is baking a huge pie shaped like an enormous pie, Wed 10 Nov 2010, 14:22, closed)

It is carbon neutral but in this case its a bad thing.
Because the tree was the actual carbon neutral part of it.
Trees are one big 'sink' of carbon, during the growth of the organism it gains a lot of carbon that is taken from the atmosphere, burning it releases a great deal of carbon.
Killing the tree by cutting it down for firewood and burning it, not only are you releasing the carbon within its wood, but you are also responsible for that tree no longer being able to store more carbon in future.
The best thing would be to leave the tree until it died naturally, but as IHateSprouts said, rotting wood would produce methane, which is more harmful than carbon dioxide to the ecosystem. So that the best way to do it would be burning dead wood.
That way you ensure that the carbon actually stays in the carbon sink for longer and it was able to store the most carbon.
( 6821isnotmyPIN Bored cig., Wed 10 Nov 2010, 15:36, closed)

And then plant a sapling for each tree that you burnt

(Reverend Fister "a disciplined fuckwit", Wed 10 Nov 2010, 15:57, closed)

Wood supply
Most of my wood comes from either tree surgeons (I know 2) or sustainable suppliers. I also get oak and larch offcuts from a woodframed house building company. And they do indeed replant what they chop down except the tree surgeons obviously.
(sittingduck Attention seeking, bullshitting fuck-knuckle, Wed 10 Nov 2010, 16:58, closed)

I've never heard of anyone cutting a tree down for firewood
The logs I burn are from pruned trees and those felled for other reasons (e.g. they were diseased and unstable). Tree surgeons are always lopping branches and tops off trees and that's what gets turned into firewood round my way.

Of course, if someone is going round clear-felling trees purely for firewood, that would be environmentally dodgy.
(IHateSprouts is baking a huge pie shaped like an enormous pie, Wed 10 Nov 2010, 17:47, closed)

Hmmm
If you get it running properly you shouldn't have too much ash left.
It also it helps to keep a bed of it for the logs to sit on.

It shouldn't go out if you put a couple logs on and get the vents right before you go to bed. It should just tick over.
(oneinthepink is at your cervix m'lady, Wed 10 Nov 2010, 13:43, closed)

We used to use damp peat for that
You'd keep some of the peats from the outside of the stack handy, and they would just burn very slowly all night.

Cutting peat is even harder work than cutting wood, but it is still immensely satisfying.
(gordonjcp, Wed 10 Nov 2010, 14:47, closed)

Mmmmm
Stacking drying peats when the midges are out doesn't come near my 'satisfying' list :)
( Ring Of Fire A petty, drooling belming butthurt retard., Wed 10 Nov 2010, 15:14, closed)

There isn't that much ash
I had to put somthing in the negative column

As for the fire going out. I can stack it up and shut down all the vents and there will only be embers in the morning. I just bung some kindling on and some smaller logs open it up and it's soon going
(sittingduck Attention seeking, bullshitting fuck-knuckle, Wed 10 Nov 2010, 17:04, closed)

thanks
I'm scratching imaginary midgies now. I may live half a world away now, but the memory of miserable times at the mercy of those little buggers is still strong.
( SteamedCleaner, Wed 10 Nov 2010, 23:09, closed)

What chainsaw
do you have?
(Psymon_Spark Jesus Saves! The rest of you take 4d6 damage, Wed 10 Nov 2010, 15:44, closed)

A shit cheap one


I covet a Stihl but I'm not that rich :(
(sittingduck Attention seeking, bullshitting fuck-knuckle, Wed 10 Nov 2010, 17:06, closed)

Ive got a Stihl. It matches my big cock. And my Stihl scrub bar (for gorse and blackberry)
( enoughblueskyforsailorstrousers, Thu 11 Nov 2010, 3:59, closed)

coal and shovel
ok toxic ash, but stays in all night and does not involve moving machinery (unless you are a collier)
and the carbon has just been sat around for ages doing nothing.
(Littlesirjohn sprung up his head and so amazed them all., Wed 10 Nov 2010, 23:05, closed)