The average American homeowner spent over $600 to heat their home last winter. One way to slash your bill is install a wood stove in your home. Wood stoves allow you to burn a readily available resource, wood, to heat your home. Even if you don't live near a forest, you can likely find a wealth of wood in your local area. Here's a quick urbanite's guide to harvesting wood in urban areas:
Recycling Centers
Nearly 10 % of the waste generated by Americans is wood-based. In most municipal areas, much of this wood refuse ends up at local recycling centers. If you're a wood stove owner in an urban area and you haven't visited your local recycling center, you should make at least one monthly pilgrimage to a few in your area. Most municipal recycling centers separate wood waste and will allow you to forage among the wood they separate.
When you forage for wood, look for the following:
Big Box Stores
Similar to recycling centers, big box stores generate tons of burnable waste each year. The dumpsters behind big box retailers, particular home improvement stores, can yield everything from thick cardboard to hardwood scraps. Although cardboard won't burn very long, you can supplement your wood stove fuel with cardboard to help it burn hotter and cleaner.
Tip: Any wood-fiber based product can be burned in a wood stove.
Construction Contractors
Calling a few of the biggest construction contractors in your area can be another source of fuel for your wood stove. Because construction contractors frequently build with variety of wood materials and need to control waste on job sites, they will often allow you to scavenge for wood at their job sites. It's important, however, to make sure that you always get permission before showing up to a job site and make sure that you gather wood during slower construction times.
Even if you don't happen to live near a forest, you probably still have access to much of the wood you'll need to fuel your wood stove this winter. For more information, contact a company like Hearth and Patio.
Share22 December 2015
Even as a child, I was an indoor person. Despite the fact that I lived on a ranch and had a hundred acres of land to roam on, I preferred reading a book while sitting in the most comfortable recliner in my home. I’m referring to that soft, plush, and luxurious piece of furniture that you absolutely have to force yourself to get out of. When I became a homeowner, my primary quest was to find a suitable replacement for my childhood retreat. I researched, examined, and sat in numerous chairs before I finally found the one, the beautiful tan piece of furniture that I wanted to grow old with. On this blog, I want to share with others the importance of buying the perfect furniture items for your home, the ones you never will want to part with.
