Going Green Saves Estemerwalt $350k

Who says going green costs you money? Estemerwalt Log Homes (Honesdale, PA) was using fuel oil to power its kiln for drying specialty woods for its lumber operation, including wainscoting, tongue-and-groove paneling and trim board. But with fuel oil prices rising, now topping four dollars a gallon, owner Kurt Propst decided to investigate alternatives. He found a sawdust burner and converted his kiln’s heat to that product that every milled log home manufacturer has plenty of excess of—sawdust.

“We were selling the sawdust to farmers for bedding for their cows—for $7 a ton. We now burn two tons of sawdust a day, versus 10 gallons of fuel oil per hour, eight hours a day. So our cost now for heating the kilns is only $14 a day.”

Probst estimates the move will save the company more than $350k annually. “That sawdust burner paid for itself in the first week or two.”