Fuel Free in 2014

My brother-in-law started the holiday, and I haven't had a report from him yet this year, but I'm going to call us Fuel Free on 4 May. Last year, the holiday fell for Rural Ways on 29 April. For any reader who may have forgotten, Fuel Free marks the first day of the year on which no indoor heating is required. The first time you can get up, not light the stove, not run the furnace, not use a gas heater, pellet stove, or anything else—all day—is Fuel Free. It doesn't mean you won't burn again during the season: At Rural Ways, we will, for example, almost certainly burn the stove later this week because snow is in the forecast, but it is sort of a milestone that gives you a day of rest from your labors. We reached temperatures around 80F yesterday, did not drop out of the 60s overnight, and will likely get back to 80F today. No need for heat.

But, back to the point about labor. Fuel Free is probably relatively meaningless to those who have a hands-off central heating system. If you are heating with wood, however, you end up doing a lot of work, so it is pretty noticeable when that chore drops off your list every day. I think this is especially true for my brother-in-law, the founder of the holiday, because he runs both a pellet stove (or maybe two) and a wood stove. For him, keeping the house warm requires hauling wood to two or three implements each day (and that doesn't even count buying it or cutting it and dragging it up to the porch). The other problem that my brother-in-law has is a really nice, clean house. Heating with wood is dirty. If you live in a big, old, ramshackle dump like The Homestead, you can sort of ignore all the ash and sawdust on the floor. But, if your house is nice and new and neat and clean, it is probably a lot of extra work to keep it that way with all the wood going in and out. So, hats off to Uncle GCK and a warm welcome to the start of the fuel free season 2014.