Is burning wood a good way to heat a home? I was just wondering, at 45 bucks a rank (and more in the city), aren%26#039;t more people running out and cutting down good green trees to make money selling wood? Not many trees are being planted to replace the ones being cut down. is this good for the environment?

Additional Details

9 months ago

I know you can%26#039;t burn green trees - lol.. I%26#039;m talking about cutting good green trees and letting them dry only for the sake of fire wood to sell the next year. We burn only dead trees that have to be cut down from our property. But there are tons of people selling wood around where I live and I%26#039;m sure in other rural areas too. I%26#039;m just curious of the impact on the environment in the long run. If you are heating a home only with wood it%26#039;s giving cutters a reason to keep on cutting. Just curious...

Best Answer

Burning wood also contributes to global warming. One person by themselves wouldn%26#039;t be much of a problem but when millions do it, it causes considerable damage.
My family do some old fashioned things to keep warm in winter. We wear slippers, woolen hats, wrap ourselves up in blankets and use hot water bottles.
We haven%26#039;t used a heater or fireplace during winter for about five years at home and when we%26#039;re out and about we just dress sensibly. We do sit in the kitchen when we cook dinner because of the heat from the oven. It%26#039;s good for family time together. Save the trees and some money. If it is just a little bit cold put on more clothes and cuddle your loved ones. experience

Asker's Rating:

You sound like a true homesteader! There should be more like you. We don%26#039;t buy wood, we use dead wood from our property. But there are 4 from my area that travel around cutting tree%26#039;s for only firewood. Ton%26#039;s of it sitting around waiting for the curing process. I think it%26#039;s crazy. Thanks!!!

Other Answers (19)

• excellent question, but it depends on what you mean by good.
  cheapest? most efficient? most available? easiest? most enviromentally friendly?
  unless you specify to which of these you refer, i can only give you the answer that says yes to all of the above: THE SUN.
• burning wood for heating is efficient and pleasant, but it causes serious pollution, is an inefficient process from the aspect of transporting wood, especially to urban homes and it requires replanting of equal or greater number of trees than trees that are cut for burning.
  in primitive societies wood is one of the common sources of heating material, but these same societies fail to invest in replanting trees, which causes desertification and other unpleasant side effects.
• No. Here in the Phoenix area, where we have serious air pollution problems, builders are no longer allowed to put wood-burning fireplaces in new houses, and there are many days when the owners of older houses with fireplaces are not allowed to burn wood. Gas fireplaces are still allowed because they%26#039;re cleaner, but a heat pump is a much more efficient way to heat a home.
• HOW LONG IT LASTS, THE WOODS?
• my neighbor down the street dont really buy his wood. he goes around with his truck and picks up the wood people put next to the road when they chop down their trees. somehow the Lord has been good to him and he seems to get enough for each winter. only once or twice did i see him buy a rank of wood. so i say he is helping buy cleaning up others peoples version of trash. and when i had two dead trees taken down on my property he came and got wood along with 3 other familys. i helped people heat their homes. plus, i saved my house and my neighbors home from dangerous trees.
• Depends on if you can afford electricity or not. Depends on the size of the house. Depends on alot of things. No, people are not running out and cutting green trees for firewood. Green trees don%26#039;t burn!!!! If wood doesn%26#039;t burn,you can%26#039;t sell it. duh!!! If you cut one- plant two, is the general rule. You are making a mountain out of a molehill with your question.
• NO, NO, NO, NO, Burning wood means less trees which means less oxygen for the atmosphere. If you are to cut wood plant 2/3 time more then what you did cut to burn.
• I have used dead wood from my 10 acres to heat my home. This wood is of 0 carbon impact to the environment, it%26#039;s already dead, it%26#039;s already on the ground. Plus I get to walk through the woods with a free workout to heat my home. My goal in life is to be petroleum free.
• not at all. If it%26#039;s really cold then your doing good just heating up the room that the fire place is located.