Its really hard to judge how much wood we are on for rotation as its always up in the air. Never knowing the worst winter to hit or whatever. Sometimes its the opposite. Depending on where you live is a huge factor along with house size and functionality(other heating options) come into play. I heard 1 cord to about 4-5 here in WA. Average household...I just say Im on the 3 year plan because Ive hoarded more than I can put into numbers and more to come. Its not something Im willing to go ahead and measure but hard to say I don’t have wood for the next 2 years.
Self inflicted newbie idiocy. Having just figured out how to properly build a top down fire, I figured this would behave like any of the other top downs(not realizing that the larger size of the splits and the reduced surface area on the top down is partly what regulates them to some degree) I had made. This one was a few large pieces locust and lot of smaller birch and pine splits. I should have cut it back sooner, but that wall of secondary flames across the glass was distracting. When the smell changed I knew that I had too much fire.... And closing it down just trapped more heat. Like I said my own ignorance...
I was talking about when there were a lot farmers and they had to take care of the crops both in the spring and fall so wood was cut when the time allowed. Not sure why you think it was an excuse of some sort.
He had a Central Boiler and the draft fan shorted out. That sent sparks down to chainsaw chips from where he bucked up his slab wood coming off the sawmill. That started the slab wood pile on fire (about a cord) which sent enough radiant heat to start his vinyl siding on fire. His house was home-built like mine, out of Hemlock 35 years old, so it went up the wall quickly and into the attic. It was also a split level, so he had fire over and under them. Then the propane tank blew up and that was what woke them all up, and they were able to get out, very luckily alive. Just a very quick exchange of events all happened in June of 2002 as he was heating domestic hot water/pool. This is a long story and I must take my wife to ER so I will get back later to you if you have questions. I know its not fully explained,but must go...
Here’s the thing though, not all of us live in Farmland, Im a Pacific Northwester so the excuse that Im talking about is regarding that some people think you can cut it in the late summer and start burning it in the fall. Old School was picking the time to do it when they felt it was time. Not picking on people but some folks I knew growing up did this and at that time I wrapped my head around thinking that way was OK. *BEEEP* Not! Lots of people here live in the woods so sometimes they get the thought that trees are a “smoke comb” and other dumb excuses that catch the ire of their neighbors watching and smelling the plumes. These with that mindset had this notion that “it’ll burn fine” which we know is not true. However the deal with the EPA part is that if they were burning in an old Schrader or Fisher, was they figured they could burn just about anything in the stove if they wanted to raise the temperature and get the wood going. More than 75 percent of their fires would just smoke even though it may have looked to be burning rapidly, the stack gave it away... We hear and see the stories here and there but everyone has their own version of Old School, of course yours and mine will differ as the experience goes. Let’s face it, old school was taught thinking they can boil water by burning it. No matter who tells them otherwise.. Hoping I clarified this to some kind of extent. I learned that splitting stacking wood was best way to make sure the wood was ready. I unlearned the “lessons of Old” and worked hard last summer for the driest wood I could burn for this year. So far its burning beautifully.
Well the information about dry wood has been around a long time, if some decided to ignore it (as some still do) then I dont consider that old school I call it ignorance. I remember reading an article about some people spending the whole winter ( many years ago) heating their large house with 3 wood stoves, it was his full time job and I am sure he did not have the time to cut ahead for the most part. I do get your point as I still see it in some posts, learning all you can about wood burning is the best thing you can do for your own safety.
