The Fuel We Use

Which fuel to use for our evaporator was a topic of much discussion. There were basically three choices, fuel oil which used by steam evaporators, solid wood, or wood pellets.

Fossil fuels come from far away and/or foreign lands and there is zero control over its cost. Though fuel oil is convenient to use it was not considered to be a renewable, sustainable, green energy source for our maple operation.

Wood pellets are a greener choice than fossil fuels yet from our deductions there were serious issues with its processing, shipping, and availability here in Ontario.

Firewood is humanities original heating fuel and is a renewable resource like wind, solar and hydroelectric power. Here in Muskoka we have highly productive forests, everywhere, including the forest on our property making solid wood a homegrown sustainable local energy resource. Trees are the worlds best solar collectors and renew themselves every 30-50 years without any maintenance. When wood is burned as a substitute for fossil fuels, the result is a net reduction in CO2 emissions. In the final analysis, using firewood (solid wood) for our evaporator that is local, renewable, and sustainable made the most sense to us. For the most sustainably and eco-friendly produced maple syrup choose a sugar maker that uses solid wood like we do here at Sugarbush Hill.