I’ve css’d a little over 5 cord so far this spring toward my goal of 12 for the 3 year plan. I also have a couple cord of dry beech I’ve had for 3 years in addition to this. About a cord of what I put up this spring will be good this winter because it was dead wood or down for a couple years already, and I have about a cord of pine and fir for the shoulder seasons. And my stove isn’t here yet. Did this yesterday. It’s the dead stuff, mostly beech. And this is ten pallets, 4 pine and 6 beech with a little maple. I staggered them because of rocks. I still need to clear out and level my planned permanent wood pile area. I’ll be in good shape once my Fireview arrives I think. My neighbor told me yesterday he’s got some more trees for me this fall, and I’ve seen a few blow downs close by that I’ll collect before winter. I’m thinking we’ll burn 4 cord at most, probably less, so 12 cord is my minimum goal. 20 will make me feel better. I’ll be there by year 3 and should have 12 by this time next year.
Good job. I too, got to the 3yr plan in spring of 2017. However, I needed more for the 18-19 heating season. I was fortunate enough to scrounge a sufficient amount of standing dead oak, to let the other stuff seadon properly. How big of a house are you hoping to heat? Our 1800 sq ft ranch, open plan, is heated by 3-4 cords.
Thank you Mike! We’re heating a raised ranch, or split entry, of about 2100 sq ft total. It heats and cools very easy. We were burning 3-3 1/2 tons of pellets with the stove in the same location. We also have a heat pump on the upper level to supplement when necessary, and oil fired baseboard for backup but I hope to eliminate that eventually and install another heat pump downstairs. The 18k unit upstairs heats and cools the place surprisingly well all by itself until it gets well below zero. We’re planning some upgrades to tighten the place up more over the next few years so it should mean even less wood in the future. One more mortgage payment and then it’s going into upgrades. The new Fireview is part of it. I’m kinda looking forward to next winter already in a way. I don’t want to skip fall though. That’s my favorite time of year.
Sounds good! I'd think the "upper" would be the warmest areas of the house when the stove is running. Great thought of earmarking your soon-to-be-finished mortgage! You have it budgeted for the house. Keep to that budget because list of upgrades/repairs WILL get longer.
Oh it’s happening already. That’s why we have a priority list! In 35 years of diy home ownership I can’t recall many times when the list and the cost went up. What hurts the most is having to hire more of it out these days.
I meant to say I can’t recall too many projects where the list and cost Didn’t go up! There’s always something...
