They should be. If a log home is not energy efficient because of the log walls, it is always because of either or both of these two reasons:
#1 Not enough log in the walls, either the logs are too small or there is too much glass area in the log walls.
#2 The logs are not air & weather tight because of either inferior joinery and/or lack of a proper sealant or gasket.
The “R” or “U” factor is only one type of measure to give you an indication of the cost of heating or cooling your home. A comparison might be made with fuel efficiency of a new car. A specific vehicle might be rated for a certain amount of fuel consumption under strictly defined conditions but in the real world changing your speed, wind, hills, mechanical condition and weight plus temperature will effect the actual fuel consumption dramatically. “R” factors, which were developed initially by insulation manufacturers in a laboratory environment, are similar in that they are only part of what it takes to make an energy efficient home.
Based on testimonials from our past clients, our log homes cost 1/2 to 1/3 as much to heat (in other words they are 2 to 3 times more energy efficient) than a conventionally built frame home in the same weather conditions and of a similar square footage. To learn more on building a super energy efficient log home please read:
Energy Efficiency
Why our log homes are the most energy efficient of all log homes click here:
Techniques that make Moose Mountain Different

Today, most home builders want to position themselves as green or environmentally responsible, but we believe there is no contest when you compare a Moose Mountain Log Home to any other option. 
To understand why building a Moose Mountain Log Home is the most environmental decision you can make  please refer to the Environmental section of our web site.

The answer may surprise you!
The oldest existing, still in service, log homes were built of pine are now at just under 800 years old! While older examples may exist, those did not survive the test of time intact. Why, because durability is much more than just rot and insect resistance, it is the ability of a species to handle UV and physical wear and tear plus today, also how well a protective finish or stain will adhere or penetrate into the wood itself. The factors that allowed historic structures to last so long were great protection from roof overhangs and a foundation that did not allow moisture to be absorbed into the base rounds. Simply keeping pine logs dry, except for the occasional driving rain, made them very rot and insect resistant. Choosing a species that quality stains adhere to and are absorbed deep into the wood makes all the difference when combined with roof protection to make for an extremely low maintenance log home. Pine absorbs stains and treatments better than almost all other species, as much of the pressure treating processes are geared to pine. 
See Sweden’s oldest log home.   

Besides price, comparisons usually include visual appearance and performance. Appearance is a personal decision, in some cases it is no more right or wrong than choosing a favourite color. Appearance can have more tangible factors such as attention to detail, balance of design and the balance of log components used. Performance needs a comparison under similar conditions, are the homes being compared fully settled? Are they in a similar climate? Are they similar in other respects? (Note: the drier the climate the faster and more so a log home will dry out, meaning the faster and more so the joinery will be put to the test.) Joinery that stays tight is both appearance and performance. Performance is largely issues that can be broken down to facts or numbers, how much does a particular log home cost per square foot to heat, how big if any are the gaps in the joinery? In the end, value to you must be the balance of some or all of the factors above, some like performance are more easily determined, others are personal. If the look and feel of the homes you see in our photo gallery fit the image you have of your dream home then we hope you will take a closer look at our homes and how we do things: 
Photo Gallery 

There are many different types of log home construction and you need to choose the look and budget that best suits you. Click here for detailed information on different types of log homes: 
The different types of log home construction

As you are no doubt aware, there are many different types of log homes, for pricing information on our handcrafted fully scribed log homes click here: 
How Much Should I budget for My New Log Home

Because we warranty our log work against air and weather leakage we always want to do the full delivery and full set up of each and every home we build in North America therefore, we include it in our price. For more information on what we include in our log package, click here: 
What Does Moose Mountain Include in it’s Pricing

Yes, but only as firewood. We are very serious that even though we have at times access to a seemingly endless supply of inexpensive “Dead Standing Wood”, when you compare performance and what it takes to build truly air and weather tight, chink-free log joinery plus the visual difference and considering how much you can minimize checking (cracking) in the log walls with properly selected winter cut logs, using dead standing or bug killed timber is not an option!

We build with Lodgepole Pine or Western Red Cedar for our log walls, White Spruce for our Roof System and Structural Beams and Douglas Fir for our stair treads. For more information on log species click here:
 Logs

Normally at mid length of our walls the diameter is 16″ – 18″ in Lodgepole Pine (18″ – 24″ diameter butts), 16″-20″ mid length diameter in Western Red Cedar (19″ – 24″ diameter butts) and White Spruce for structural requirements has been up to 4 feet in diameter at the butt end. If your project requires a different specification contact us, we are geared to providing for your individual wants and needs.

No, we have never found two home owners who have wanted the same plan and in about forty years we have never built from the same plan twice! More info click here: 
Design

Our main markets today are Western Canada previously they were across Canada, United States (mostly in the Rocky Mountain and Midwestern States) and we have also shipped into Europe and Japan. Today after over 40 years of building handcrafted log homes I wish to focus on building instead of the paperwork needed to ship out of country.

The softwood lumber dispute between Canada and the USA affects our raw log costs, as stumpage and reforestation rates are set based on the the US cost of lumber. As the cost of US lumber goes up or down a major portion of all raw log costs in Canada go up and down accordingly.

The average home size varies from one year to the next but 3,000 sq. feet to 8,000 sq. feet has been our overall average but we do love to build smaller also as long as quality is still the owner’s priority. The maximum sized home we have built thus far is 27,000 sq. feet and the smallest around 800 sq. feet. Overall we prefer to deal with a lesser total number of customers at any given time, this way we are better able to concentrate on the individual issues of importance of our home owners.

Well over 40 years, we have been in business as Moose Mountain Log Homes Inc. since 1978, for more info on Lloyd Beckedorf click here: 
About the President

There are many different types of log home construction and you need to choose the look and budget that best suits you. Click here for detailed information on different types of log homes: 
The different types of log home construction

Settling is only a problem if you do not allow for it. Once allowed for properly, it does not matter if you require 1/2 an inch or 4 inches for settlement, the work required to allow for settling is the same. Every true log home will settle (even dead standing or kiln dried) and if during construction, the allowances have not been sufficiently addressed then and only then will you have a problem with settling.