Has your wood been getting gobbled up???

Englander NC-30 - 3.5' CF firebox. 1 year old
Heating 2200 SF 2 story house, built in 1884. Almost zero insulation.
Stove is on main floor in living room, and house is very open floor plan, with an open staircase to the upstairs.
Stove does a good job heating most of the house, including the upstairs because of the open staircase. The upstairs is just as warm as the downstairs.
I have the upgraded blower for the NC-30 and I run it at nearly full blast most of the time. Stove runs 24/7 once it get's cold.
I can keep the house between 68-75 depending on the outside temperature. Overnight, the temperature can drop as low as 60-62deg, but doesn't take too long to get it back up after a full load of wood.

I am not sure exactly how much wood I will be burning, because I am pretty new to this, but at my current rate I think I will go through at lest 6 cords this winter. I think part of this is due to the fact a few of my cords were pine and poplar so I was having to load the stove quite often while going through that. Most of the rest of my wood for the winter is black locust, so that should help slow my rate of consumption.

I do not have any single source of fire wood, I live in the city, and get wood from wherever I can find it. I have a friend with 30 acres about 50 min drive away that I can harvest a few cord from (various hardwoods), and a friend that is a one man tree service who calls me to help him clean up after cutting a tree, and gives me a couple truck loads as payment. I also check Facebook marketplace, Craigslist, and have friends who just call me when they know of a downed tree, or free wood.

I built a woodshed this past spring that holds about 6 cords. So I can't really be on anything more than a 1 year plan, so my firewood is not very seasoned, but it still heats fine, even though most of it has been downed for less than a year before it's used. The location of my woodshed gets nice wind and I think it helps dry the wood pretty decently.

I would consider retro-fitting insulation. How much do companies charge for something like that? Is it based on square footage to retrofit?

 

I can fit about 1/3 cord in my same sized trailer, so the math was easy (just the way I like it).

 

How are you friend? Staying busy?

 

That also includes our domestic hot water for sinks, showers, and dishwasher for the 7 months I’m running it.

 

Wait, you only take showers for 7 months of the year? ;-)

 

I use about 2.5-3 cord in a normal year. I heat between 1800-2000 feet a year. My bedrooms are mid to upper 60s depending on outside temp. The middle parts of the house are low 70s maybe and the 500sqft stove room will be mid 70s to about 80f. I like it in the upper 70s to 80 in the room I sit and watch TV in.

If I were you I would purchase and install a more efficient unit in the living space and cut that wood use to 1/3-1/2 your current level.

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I avg about 4 cord, last winter hung on so about 4.5 the winter before was closer to 3.5. I used to burn closer to 7 with the old smoke dragon.

 

What’s da matter with dat?

 

10-12 cord in an owb heating 1600sq ft of shop & 1040 of house + dhw. Pretty good insulation, but the shop doors go up & down all day so I use more then. I burn Pine & other softer woods till it gets cold. Indoor temps at 70 in shop & 72 In house.

 

Man 15 per year! That's . We're at about 4.5 for a 1500 single story with decent insulation and a HE stove, but the stove placement the previous owner did was a joke. It's an open concept 3 bed and the guy put it on one side of the house in the corner. At least it was the correct side of the house but it's right in the living room so it cooks us out when we're watching movies. It's a shame to because there's a perfect central spot for it .

 

So you can look at it. My under is in the stove room. Gets up around 80 when it's cruising. I like it though. But I get cold easy. And I am more comfortable working in summer than winter. But I also wear shorts and a t shirt in the winter inside.

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We use 7ish cord each winter, down from 15 cord with the old smoke dragon we had in before. 2800 square feet of house above a full walk out basement (1500 sq.ft.) where the stove is right by the basement door for easy access bringing in the wood. Almost all nice 2 or 3 year seasoned hardwoods and a bunch of pine rounds for burning down coals. I'm trying to get fully spun up on the 3 or 4 year plan. My wife likes it toasty in the house and I can't complain about it either... It sure is nice coming into the basement in the winter and standing by the stove to get warmed up and dried out. This year should be a little less brutal in the winter cuz I picked up a F-250 this summer with a snowplow. Cleaning out our drive and lanes will be a lot warmer than it was on the tractor in the past.

 

Moving snow is a lot more fun inside a toasty truck with the radio and heat cranked! ...til it breaks and it's back to the snowblower! I don't mind running the blower, but hauling it around to clear rental and family properties was miserable. Glad to be back into a plow.

I think we burned five-six cord or so last year. Couple of those being pine, and the last cord+ being poorly seasoned sugar maple. It was our first year with an indoor stove. Prior to that we ran an owb, to the tune of 12-15 cord/yr. This year with a newborn we will probably go through a bit more as the house needs to be warm 24/7 - no time where nobody's home, and mama stays downstairs to nurse the little guy most nights. On the other hand, the wood is in better shape so fires are hotter and last longer overall. Maybe it'll wash.

 

First year burning here. Since Oct 1st we are through about 3/4 of a cord, that's with temps averaging 6-8* below normal for Oct and November. Not sure what to expect for the rest of winter. I do know I have only burned about 30 gallons of oil vs about 140 by this time last year.

 

I estimate I burn at least 12 a year...likely more. I have several different stacks, piles, sizes etc that I pull from depending on the season/weather so I really never got an accurate count of what Im burning.

I burn in an older OWB, heat a 2400 sq ft home + 1000 sq ft garage + domestic water, all in northern New England so I think 12-13 cord or so is reasonable. Sure is a lot cheaper than what it'd cost in propane, plus with the wood I don't care what my wife sets the thermostat too, and I keep the garage at about 60 which I'd never do on propane.

I've probably used about 4 so far this year if I had to guess, lit the boiler on October 1.