Wood is Not a Good Choice for Heating and Cooking
Wood is the most primitive fuel for heating and cooking.
“The maximum heating value of one kilogram of oven-dry wood averages about 4,500 kilocalories (with a range of 4,100–6,800 kilocalories). In general, softwoods possess a higher heating value than hardwoods, and extractives have an important influence; for example, a kilogram of the oleoresin in pines has a heating value of about 8,500 kilocalories.”
Other Issues with wood include deterioration, mold, smoke and availability in some areas. Also, storage is an issue.
How much wood to heat your home?
Anthracite Coal is much Better Than Wood
A modern 3 or 4 bedroom house with about 2,500 sq. ft. of living area can be heated for one year with 2 to 3 tons of anthracite coal. That would be a fuel cost of about $800 to $1200. Another way to look at it, one ton of anthracite coal produces as much heat (or BTUs) as 200 gallons of oil or 300 gallons of propane.
Anthracite, also known as hard coal, and black coal, is a hard, compact variety of coal that has a submetallic luster. It has the highest carbon content, the fewest impurities, and the highest energy density of all types of coal and is the highest ranking of coals.
Anthracite is the most metamorphosed type of coal (but still represents low-grade metamorphism),[a] in which the carbon content is between 86% and 97%.[1][3][4] The term is applied to those varieties of coal which do not give off tarry or other hydrocarbon vapours when heated below their point of ignition.[5] Anthracite ignites with difficulty and burns with a short, blue, and smokeless flame.
Anthracite is categorized into standard grade, which is used mainly in power generation, high grade (HG) and ultra high grade (UHG), the principal uses of which are in the metallurgy sector.
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