vulnerable to market volitity - part of the Heat Infographic project

Electric Baseboard - yes
Mini Splits - yes
In Ground Heat Pump - yes

supply and demand issues could lead to rolling blackouts and/or a 10x price jump in one year.


Central Natural Gas Furnace - yes

local well could become empty, or be required to shut down due to environmental problems


Central Propane Furnace - yes

regional sources could dry up; already can be subjected to extreme price fluctuations


Pellet Stove - yes

If you have an awesome price and then your regional wood mill shuts down, you could end up having to drive hundreds of miles (per trip) plus paying 3x


Wood Stove - no
Modern wood stove - no
Masonry Heater - no
Rocket Mass Heater - no

purchased wood prices can fluctuate.  But with wise woodland management, you can grow far more wood than you need for free.

Realistically, how long does a woodlot take to prepare and grow?
What is a minimum size needed?
This would be the case for people starting off with a bare paddock.

John, Washington University says 2-3 years but the average seems to be 5-7 years.

I lived on some land in the Arizona high desert for one winter, and spent most of my time gathering wood from fallen trees. The climate was very arid, so junipers would grow very crooked, without extra watering beyond 12 inches of rain each year (mostly in summer), but ponderosa pines or anything else substantial for milling / construction was a no-go.

I was allowed to gather over 40 acres, and I steadily depleted / cleared about 2000 sq.ft. (liberal estimate) of fallen wood around me and my makeshift rocket mass heater over 4 months. It was a J-tube, so no burn barrel or super-efficient pyrolysis was happening, and my shipping container was un-insulated.

Once I left for a month and then returned and noticed some regrowth of the living trees around me.

Assuming no regrowth and same rate of harvesting, I would deplete all fallen wood in 7.25 years. I would be interested how long it takes Junipers to mature or die in this climate, which would determine whether I would consider wood a sustainable source in this situation.

I wish I had a bigger plot of land not located in a village so I could utilize wood heat for my boiler instead of relying on oil. One day!

Timothy Norton wrote:I wish I had a bigger plot of land not located in a village so I could utilize wood heat for my boiler instead of relying on oil. One day!

You might be able to import or truck in waste wood or wood pellets at the same price as oil, depending on your location. Maybe when you're oot and aboot your village, see if there are any fallen trees you can take off your neighbors hands 😉