Saturday, January 13, 2007

That piece of wood you threw on the fire cost 50 cents!

Early this morning I heard a weird noise out back. I asked Robin if she heard anything downstairs. She said nothing out of the ordinary. I was on my way out the door and saw a water shower going up into the air. Our line out back burst from the cold. I thought this was only supposed to happen if the Temp went under 20 degrees. Guess not. Some buddies of mine went to Coopers Gulch to hit some softballs at 9am. Not a good idea in 30 degree weather. It did not seem to affect Barry Scarpelino though, he was hitting shots over 300 feet and he is closing in on 55 years of age. Robin and I went to the gym and then to the C/R women's and men's game. Afterwards we met friends at Big Louie's to watch the Eagles and Saints. My buddy Ron is an Engineer who has to analyze many of lifes little problems. He did a cost assessment on how much it cost to actually use wood heat. He broke it down to a level of a normal piece of wood and how much that piece represents cost wise in heating a house. It came out to 50 cents! Has anyone out there heard of such cost comparisons? He explained his methodology but he was losing me quickly. Of course if it applys to his house it may be skewed. His house is well over 4,000 square ft with 9 ft picture windows over looking the bay on Humboldt Hill.

8 comments:

Anonymous said...

"His house is well over 4,000 square ft..."

The question which lingers in my mind is why American homes have grown so grotesquely in the past twenty years.

What advantage lies in such an abundance of interior space? Do they enjoy vacuuming?

Anonymous said...

Wouldnt you Sand Dwellers prefer talking about art, the latest Robert Mondavi wine, making love... Civilized pursuits?

Instead it is like the latest episode of 'Survivor'. Avoiding leaky pipes, celebrating the village elders physical prowess and realizing the way you heat your hovels is inefficient.

Anonymous said...

Anonymous admonishes us for not seeking "civilized pursuits," as he furiously pours his bile into blog comments.

samoasoftball said...

12:15pm-Reality pits us sand dwellers on a more base level. We are too busy heating our homes, drinking wine out of a box and hoping our water pipes don't burst to the point of ruining what art we dare to expose to the elements.

samoasoftball said...

11:07am-Our friends built this house as a project. It just got bigger than they were anticipating. It is probably one of the most impressive structures in all of Humboldt County with an unbelievable view. It also is an investment for their future. More power to them. They invested a huge amount of time and effort.

Anonymous said...

the question ought to be why houses have gotten so small and lot sizes so small that people have nowhere to put their stuff and have brought about the hideous proliferation of storage units.

give me a 6,000 square foot house any day - with room for a library, a dining room, a den, room to spread out instead of living like ant men.

IMHO

Derchoadus said...

Wouldn't depend on if you went out and cut/split you're own wood? Sure at $280 a cord for madrone, it would be costly. But I do my own and save over $150/month on my PGE bill.

Anonymous said...

too bad sand dwellers cant burn sand for heat. if they could it would change the power dynamic throughout the county.