Blowing through the wood

Man these temps have been ridiculous. I burned through 1.5-2 bucket loads (kubota bx2360) of wood since Monday night and have been running the stove at a pretty good clip. I basically am running one full load at 7am, 4 splits about 4pm and one full load at 8 pm. I figure its right around 6.5 cubic foot of wood per day. I'm not even trying to keep the house temps up and have been letting it hang around 70 on the first floor and 65 in the bedrooms just so I don't burn through more wood than I have been.

At this pace I awhile be consuming a new record amount of wood this winter. Guess I need to cut even more next year to make up for it. Glad I am more than three years ahead. The best part is this cold is here to stay through until at least next Thursday.

 

Yep.
There's always more than needed in the shed in case we get a winter, well,....like this one.

 

Yes sir Certified we are having us an old fashion real winter this year. Most of us on here have learned to be way ahead which is a real blessing.

 

I have lived in this part of ohio since I was 8 and I really only remember one other year that we sustained such long spells of cold temps. We are just fine but I have never burned this much this quickly in this house before. Lol

Completely agree with you on the learning to be ahead. I remember a few times we weren't ahead on our farm when I was growing up and we were cutting and splitting wood in snowstorms after dark with tractor headlights so we had something to burn the next morning. I swore I would never be in that situation.

 

Been there when I was an new woodburner back in the 80's....looking for dead wood and sometimes mixing green with dead to have some fire in the stove. Never again if I can help it.

 

We're in the same boat certified106, but all the time spent in the woods gives us a nice cushion.

 

The saying "You never have enough wood"
come to mind.

You got plenty to make it thru till spring , right ?
That extra in the shed, will come in real handy

Stay warm.

 

This year taught us to close off two unused rooms so the core areas can stay somewhat warm. Our stove isn't quite up to the task this winter. Nice heavy warm comforters in the bedrooms.

 

Im right there with you. At the beginning of the winter I was saying how much better things were this year and how much less wood Im using but now that were in the middle of our second "Arctic Blast" Im burning through the wood like crazy. I hope this stuff goes away soon its not normal and I dont like it but I think I will up my projected 3 cord of wood to 4 for a just in case.

 

Three very full wheelbarrow loads every 24 hours right now.

 

Wow you got me beat! That's a bunch of wood!

 

That is a lot of wood. I don't recall ever using that much. We averaged 5 to 6 cords a winter of wood seasoned one year. Now burning 5 to 6 tons of pellets with some furnace assist in deep cold. Didn't have a furnace when we burned wood. This year is a hard one and I am not keeping the house as warm as we prefer. 9 f outside and 69f inside. Wife not happy at all. We sit bundled up waiting for March when it should be warmer.

 

I gotta say that having more than a years worth of wood is an unintended benefit to the three year plan. The purpose was to get years worth stacked just so it would dry properly. What a great plan.

 

The 3 year plan gives you a years buffer of wood, that if needed will burn pretty good.

But I always feel like I need more wood.
A good way to be sometimes.

 

I'll second that....

 

I sealed up some air leaks, so now it's 64 in here instead of 60, like it was during the last cold snap. I've got a spare flue. I ought to hook up my backup stove to it; Then I could always have one stove peaking on a fresh load while the other one is burning down coals.
Seriously, this summer I'm going to upgrade this joint's ability to hold heat. In addition to the increased comfort level, I'll cut wood usage.

 

WOAH! Keeping up with that is nearly a full time job I'd imagine!

 

Pay you back tax free dollars $$$, every day afterward too.
Most energy upgrades are relatively cheap, & reward you with great payback, comfort & $$.

 

Wiped out the three year plan down to just enough for next year at this rate! Going to have to double down. I told the wife to start getting in shape because we are going to be busy cutting and splitting.

I am finding the sub zero are making it a challenge to get the skid loader running to bring another hoarders load into the porch. It has been challenging to find a warm enough day to try running it.

We are putting more than a stove cord at a time in porch, with wood stacked in random piles.

Yup, going to have to get after it with the chainsaw as soon as the snow pack gets shrunk.

 

Yes, been burning through it the past few days. Good thing we had the rather warm spell there inbetween teh last cold blast. The real stack killer for me is going to be if winter lingers on. Some years the fire is out by April 1. Other years it lingers on till May. Have to wait and see.