Hello everyone, I am new to this page. I am also new to the wood heating thing, well kind of. My parents heated their renovated, but old, 1800 square foot two story farm house for the most part with a Jotul freestanding woodstove on a fieldstone hearth for the majority of my lifetime, with a backup heating oil furnace. The thermostat was placed right next to the woodstove so when it got cool in the early morning hours the furnace would kick on just to keep the pipes from freezing. I love wood heat so I finally talked my girlfriend into letting me install a wood stove in our living room. Now we live in western NY between Buffalo and Rochester, and we unfortunately (house has been nothing but a nightmare) have a 1800 square foot "modular home" that is 13 years old. I installed a 2000 quadrafire 3100 stove per code/instructions with outside air intake. I am wondering about possible wood usage, if anyone has a good calculation for that? I completely understand it depends on temperature, how long the low temps last, how much we plan on using it etc. I plan to put a fire in in the morning and stock it up in the night letting the furnace kit on at night. Might get used a little less because she's concerned with the temperature of the outlier rooms and pipes. So any insight into this would be helpful, and please use the cord/face cord correctly, there are plenty of people in my area (firewood salesman) that try to sell face cord as a cord and I do understand the difference. Currently I have about 4 face cord of good dry wood that has been down for a couple of years ready for this winter but I also have about 6 face cord that should be ready for next winter, and I do plan on purchasing a moisture meter because that is pretty good cheep insurance. I apologize for the rambling but feel it's better to give more information than not enough. Thanks in advance!
Lots of variables. How efficient is the woodstove? What species is the wood? How seasoned is the wood? How well is the house insulated? Do you plan to burn all the time, or only while your home? 4 face cord is not a lot of wood. Its only 1.33 full cords. I would suspect you will need at least 4-5 full cords a year if you burn full time. Especially in Buffalo area. I use 8 full cords a year, but I burn in an older woodstove in the basement. I'd figure 4-5 cords as a starting point, and adjust after a full winter is done.
Welcome FirewoodTim ! Quantity used is all over the place for people, based on many different things...some use 2 full cords, some use 12-15. (outdoor boiler) But 4 (full 128CF) cords seems to be a pretty common "average" number amongst those that heat "full time"
Welcome FirewoodTim !!! I think 4 full cords would be a good start and should cut your heating bill significantly for the first winter. Any chance you can find dead and downed wood that is already dry or would dry quickly? We made it though our first winter scrounging fallen dead ash and oak trees in the back yard that had probably been on the ground 5-7 years. In addition to the moisture meter, get a temperature gun so you can shoot the pipes to know the temperature trends in different parts of the house whether you are using the wood stove or central heat. Infrared Thermometer - Electrical Testers - Electrical Tools - The Home Depot If you find pipes that tend to get cold, you can wrap them in heat tape to keep them from freezing.
And learning to move the heat around the house will help keep the furnace off too...a small fan at the far end(s) of the house running on low to push the "cold" air down by the floor back toward the stove will work wonders!
Welcome to the FHC FirewoodTim Great to have you join us. I second all the above comments. Try to get on a three year plan, that is having enough seasoned wood for three years. Do you have a steady source of wood to harvest?
Welcome to the forum Tim. For starters, your area should be full of dead and dieing white ash and that is an excellent firewood. It starts at a relatively low moisture compared with other firewood plus it splits easy and dries fast. Just never buy into the old wives tale about you being able to burn it right after cutting it. Always dry your wood before burning it. Here is more information: Primer on Woodburning by Backwoods Savage Yor can read online or copy it to your computer. How much wood will you burn? Based on what you've given us my best bet would be from 3-4 cord. However, my guess is also based on full time burning rather than starting with a cold stove in the morning. You will have much better results if you keep that stove working and will not use any or very much more wood. I can give you reasons for this if you or others are curious. On those far rooms, heed the advice given by brenndatomu! For years I tried (unsuccessfully) to move the warm air into the far end of the house and used to spend time unthawing water pipes.Then after laughing at the idea, I tried pushing the cooler air toward the stove room. Bingo!! I was and still am amazed! I also stopped blowinf the air down from ceiling fan and now suck it up! Another big difference. Of course we change the direction of the ceiling fan in the summer months. Good luck.
Welcome to the club, FirewoodTim ! If you're planning to use the oil furnace some for backup, I'd say you'll need 3-4 cords on hand. If you're going to try to heat 100% with wood, you'll want 4-5 cords ready.
He's like a HEPA filter...he gonna catch it! Now, if he chooses to bring it up or not.... I really didn't think much of it until pointed out...now its glaring...kind of like when somebody says "hot water heater" now
Welcome to FHC FirewoodTim. You'll like it here. We like dogs, beer and pics. Lots of pics. As you can see, we have a lot of great, knowledgeable people who are willing to share. Make sure to make use of the resource tab at the top. It is next to the forum tab. The 3 lines. There is a btu chart that with a drying chart. And thank yes you can burn pine. But definitely make sure it is dried properly.
Welcome! Just remember the number one rule about firewood - you can never have enough. Get ahead of what you think you need. If you think you'll burn 4 FULL cord, then get 8 FULL cord. Nothing worse than the middle of winter and not having any dry wood to burn!
Welcome to this club. As already said. We like pictures. Can we see a picture of your stove? Do you plan to buy the wood or collect it yourself?
I’ve used anywhere from a bit over one cord to three cords a year. Same house, same desired end temperature. Between different weather and different wood, there can be a lot of variability.
Also what temps do you want the house. I am retired and really can't deal with the cold anymore. Do I like the house around 78-80 in the winter. Poor hubby is comfy around 72. And even then would probably prefer shorts.
Welcome! This is an awesome forum, and though we may not have all the answers you'll get all the advice you need. Recommendation: try to forget the word "face" when using wood hoarding vocabulary. In CT it's prohibited to use the term "face cord" when selling wood because it's so misleading (but sellers do it anyway). Not sure what the regs are in NY, but it's better to call a cord a cord, a 1/2 cord a 1/2 cord, etc. Time to start hoarding! Get a moisture meter and check that firewood, because moisture content of the wood will have a HUGE effect on how well it heats your home. Definitely check out the Primer on Woodburning. Good stuff. Pretty soon you'll be a crazy hoarder like all of us here and you'll love every minute of it.
