Backwoods, Thanks for that link. I'll read that later when I can print it out. I'm at work now, and it's hard to see on my phone.
As a baseline figure most will use from 3 to 4 cord. Large home and/or not great insulation along with doors and windows may use more. OWB will use even more.
A cord is 4' tall x 8' long x 4' deep = 128 cu ft. 16 x 5 x 6 = 480 cu ft / 128 = 3.75 cord 16 x 5 x 2 / 2= 80 cu ft / 128 = .625 cord ( b x h x l / 2) So I think you're right around 4 cord of storage space in there.
There is a cord calculator on the site here that might help you out. It will be a guessing game for the first year to maybe get yourself some sort of baseline , also some variables involved. Weather and temperatures will vary from year to year but you will figure it out. You are off to a great start and there is a ton of information and knowledge here that can help you out. You came to the right place !! So many great people on here and always willing to help.
Welcome to the site PatrickNY Another good aspect of burning wood is being able to keep the house warmer than when you were having to pay for all of your heat. If the house gets up to close to 80 just add less wood or open a window. It is nice to know you aren't burning thru money if you happen to get your house a bit warmer than usual. It is a wonderful feeling being enveloped in a blanket of wood heat.
Thanks all for all the 'welcomes'. Another question I have is when I have the fire going and the house gets warm, but my boiler doesn't go on, I'm thinking the pipes could freeze. I have baseboard heat. The wood burner is in the living room, but the 3 bedrooms are on the same heating zone. If the water doesn't circulate for an extended period, I could have an issue...? ps: what's "OWB"?
OWB = Outdoor Wood Burner. If you are worried about pipes freezing you can get foam insulation wraps for them at the big box stores. Having insulation in your walls is important. Sealing your sill plate where it meets your foundation if you have a basement will drastically reduce air leakage in and out of the basement. My basement is uninsulated (cinderblock construction) and un-heated and I have the water lines (pex and some copper) wrapped. No issues.
Oh, no. I don't know how that happened. Let me try to change it back. I'm usually on IPad, now I'm on my phone. Let me try to fix that. Thanks for the heads up.
PatrickNY welcome to FHC!! As you've seen, this is a great group of people. You'll see as time goes by that they get even better as you get to know them. Based on your numbers for the shed, averaging 7 feet tall, of you fill out all the way out will be 4.375 cords of wood. So I see you have a boiler, just set the boiler's t stat at the low threshold you find out comfortable at, or even lower if you want. Any temp setting on a boiler will be more than enough to keep pipes from freezing.
Thanks, Horkn, but if I set thermostat at 65°, but wood burner brings house up to 75°, then water in the pipes will never circulate. Also, even when I leave bedroom doors open, they don't get even close to the living room temp w the wood burner going.
Get a room thermometer. I bet you find even a bathroom at a far end of the house from the wood stove doesn't get much below 50 unless it gets really really cold outside. Sitting on the throne might be a bit chilling. As long as there are no pipes in or near an uninsulated outside wall you shouldn't have frozen pipes. 60-65ºF is supposed to be good sleeping temps. I once had a kitchen faucet pipe freeze. The water pipe went right by a single pane basement window. Like two inches away. Somewhat rare 0ºF outside . Froze at the window.
Yes, I've found that you don't want your bedroom to be the nice 70+ degrees that the stove room gets to. Much better sleeping temps at 60 or so
