When a tree becomes inconvenient, it must go! Case in point is a pine tree near my house that had been partly shading my solar collectors for the hot water for my home in the afternoon. I was willing to tolerate that, but eventually it grew high enough to block my Dish satellite so that I was losing HD signals. Two strikes and it was out!
Offending Pine tree on the left |
Trunks down and partly bucked |
We hauled off all the branches to my burn pile and lit that off while we were cutting up the trunk.
Burn pile before |
Pine needles burn very quickly so the fire did not need a lot of tending and maintenance, although it was somewhat smoky. There's nothing like the smell of wood smoke in the fall.
Burn pile almost done. |
We cut the trunk into firewood lengths and I have stacked it in the backyard to season for a few years before I split it. Pine wood has so much pitch that it takes a long time to dry out. It's not a good idea to burn unseasoned pine in the wood stove because it creates a lot of creosote buildup in the chimney. That creosote can create a chimney fire and burn down your house. I get my chimneys cleaned every year or two just to be safe.
Tree stump and stacked firewood |
Now the tree is down, my satellite dish has a clear line of sight to the HD satellite, and I'm getting better performance from my solar collectors. I guess you could say I am back in hot water!
A clear line of sight for my solar and satellite
While I have contributed a substantial amount of carbon to the atmosphere by burning the tree, I see it as just shortening the carbon cycle. The tree would eventually have died and rotted, releasing carbon back into the atmosphere. I am sure the equation does not pencil out optimally, but by gaining more free solar energy, it probably nets out.
No comments:
Post a Comment