Has your wood been getting gobbled up???

I want to hear from the folks who use significant amounts of wood. Those who burn at minimum, 6 full cords a season. I know to me, it seems everyone and there brother is burning "2-4 cords" a year. I have an older stove that can gobble up some serious wood. The firebox holds 9 cu. ft. and will take a 27" long piece. I usually burn between 7-8 full cords a year. That's keeping a 1500 sq ft. house in the low-mid seventies, which is what the wife likes. He throws so much heat, he has to be kept down in the dungeon. Id say its typically in the mid to upper eighties down there most of the time. I cant really burn a stick at a time, as we both work full time, and Im not coming home to a cold house to restart the stove every night. So using much less wood isn't really an option. I wish I burned two cords a year, Id be on about a 6 year plan.

So who burns a lot of wood, what do you have for a stove. Thermocontrol 500 here.

 

I know you're looking for high-volume burners, however....

I heat an 1800sqft house using 3-4 cord of good hardwood. Birch, maple, beech, and oak. We keep it in the low 70's, during waking hours. Wood stove ison the living level, unfinished basement.

How's your house insulation? And, what kind of wood are you burning? 3yr plan?

 

I burn about 15 cords per year, in a home made owb. burn chamber is 3.5' diameter X 6' long. I used to burn 30 cords per year before new windows, siding and insulation. I'm heating an old 2200sq ft house, domestic h20, and a 1200sq ft shop. I used to burn in a wood stove. house is 50* one minute, 90* and your opening the windows the next. now the temperature is set by the thermostat. also it takes me about an 1-1.5 hours to process a cord. stacking though is another story.

 

30 full cords?! That's insane! Glad you were able to cut that in half. That would be a 10-12 year plan for me lol.

 

We go through a full 6 cord a year. That's heating about 1100 s/f of living space and 2600 s/f of shop that's all attached (Google "barndominion"). We have radiant heat throughout with an indoor "gasser" wood boiler and lots of p-iso foam (insulation) in the walls. The shop is set at 60 and the "house" gets to about 80 from just the heat thrown off from the boiler, a design shortfall on my part. I used to tell myself (when I bought oil) that I liked a cool house, now I like a hot house where indoor winter "attire" for us is basically underwear and we sleep on top of the sheets, kinda like living on the beach!

 

We burn between 5 and 6 cord each year and heat with only wood. Don’t like it when the backup propane forced hot air furnace kicks on. This year I haven’t even plugged it in yet. 1200 square foot house. Four year old Regency 3100 stove in the basement. Basement is always in the 80s. Heat rises up the stairwell and registers in the floor above it and keeps the near side of the house right about 70. 75 if we burn all day long. Far side of the house from the stove is right around 65 and will drop to a comfortable 60 for sleeping if I don’t do an overnight load.

 

I'll measure my rows once again, but I think it is 6 1/2 high X 22' long. That = just over one cord.

The OWB has been lit since Nov 1st.

But...…...

There was some real mild temps here. Teens and 20's overnight/30's during the day.

And then there was that insulation added to the house thing...…...

 

Insulation is so critical, a pita to retrofit but if you're planning on staying in that house for the next 10 years or more, a real good move.
If you take the insulation "thing" to the extreme, your heat/fuel source becomes a minor detail as it will take very little input from that source to maintain your temps.

 

Yes. My wood is getting gobbled up. But that is why I process and buy it. To heat about 4200 sq.ft. Of home and 900 sq.ft. of garage to 45F. I go through 9-10 full cord a season.

 

Hey buddy!

 

For the area you're heating, that doesn't sound to bad.

 

Worth it. Ask a lot of questions and find the right company. The retrofit went well.

One of the companies, (there were 2) sent us a Christmas card expressing their gratitude for choosing them, once again.

 

I use about 3 cords a year to keep a 1300 sq ft house about 75. The furnace almost never comes on unless it is below zero. We use about 30 gallons of fuel oil a year.

 

My house was built in 1993. It is a 24x36 cape, upstairs is approx 20x36. So total about 1500-1600 sq. ft. It has 2x4 exterior walls with R13 fiberglass insulation. I bought the house in 2011. I finished the upstairs and put open cell spray foam in the upstairs walls and the roof rafters. I also resided the whole house with vinyl, after installing 1/2" foam insulation with taped joints. I burn exclusively hardwood, mostly oak, hickory, and maple. With some cherry, ash, and birch occasionally. The basement where the stove is situated is unfinished. I cannot seem to get on a three year plan, because that would mean approx. 25 cords of wood on hand at any given time. Being married with kids, a full time job, 21 acres to maintain, etc, I just don't have that kind of free time to devote to wood. I should note I harvest 100% of my own wood. I don't buy logs or pre split firewood. I usually have my wood ready 12-18 months in advance. Im aiming to get that to 2-3 years.

With all that out of the way.....

I think there are several factors that need to be considered for my situation

*My house is about 1600 sq. ft., but i'm heating 2500 sq. ft. as the stove is in the basement. Someone with a ranch is heating one floor and unless its a huge ranch, a lot less sq. ft.

*Due to my house layout, I don't have anywhere on the first floor that I'd like to put a stove, and I don't want to deal with the mess. I'm sure doing this would decrease my usage, as I could get a smaller stove, and would be heating less area. Id probably cut my wood amount in half or better.

*If I averaged the temperature on all three floors, it comes out to 75 degrees. That's 85 in basement, 72 first floor, and 68 top floor. The temps are perfect for me, as I like it warm on the main living floor, but cooler for sleeping areas.

*My wood isn't as seasoned as Id like, so I may be wasting some heat to further season the wood and get rid of water. Working on a three year plan.

*Due to work schedule I have to load the stove fully during the week mornings to return to coals 12-13 hours later.

 

Wow. That’s a lot of wood. Do you buy by the log load? Or cut the trees as well? Hats off to ya. That’s a whole lotta work.

 

I heat 4300 sf of house, 1600 sf of garage, and all domestic hot water with my outdoor wood boiler during the winter. I changed my system a bit during the summer, so I am only burning wood when there is a heating demand. The hot water is now supplemental, because I installed a hybrid heat pump/electric water heater in May 2019. The wood boiler is plumbed into the cold side of the water heater through a plate exchanger and mixing valve, so even if the OWB is cold, I still have hot water. This is the first winter in 12 years where I have not had to burn 24/7/365 just to have hot water.

So I am not sure what my consumption will be, but I started burning on October 20 this year, and have probably gone through 2 cords so far. I was hoping to make it to May with 5 cords but that won't be likely. Probably need 7 to 8 cords for the winter. My garage isn't fully insulated, and I plan to solve that problem in a couple of weeks during Christmas vacation, so hopefully wood use will stabilize.

 

around here some tree services are happy to dump the wood. as they usually have to pay to get rid of it. but i usually tip the guy 20 per cord. keeps my supply up.

the way i do it its actually really easy. just trigger time on the saw. the rest is in the machine. move the logs with a grapple. then use the 8 way splitter mounted on a skid loader, and split from the seat.

 

I have a wood burning fireplace insert and heat about 2500 sf. I don’t measure wood too scientifically but I burn about eighteen 5’ x 10’ trailer loads each heating each year. The trailer isn’t packed too full and the last 18” or so is usually left empty

 

That's about-ish 5 cord.

 

Thanks! I had no clue what that equaled