Not to much left either. I have maybe half a cord of ready to burn and then its into marginally dry oak and ash. I will just have to keep an eye on the chimney. No biggy though. Worst part is we are all probably going to ramp up for next year and not burn half as much as luck would have it.
I feel your guys pain, I am running around with a moisture meter and hand splitting a lot of stuff trying to figure out where to go after all my stacks of super dry wood have been gobbled up. I wish I could get to one of my stacks of elm that I cut this fall standing dead, I know the smaller stuff was ready to go, but is cut off a massive amount of snow. I am not turning a blind eye to silver maple, cotton wood or anything else I have turned my nose up in the past. The hoarding obsession has gone to a whole new level =)
Dennis, that is the experience that come with age. Even seen a blizzard in April and a heavy snow in May.
I hear you guys! Pile still looks good, but I've been sliding more poplar and white birch into the daily burn to "steeeretch" things out a bit. If April/May come in with some cold days - I may have to drop some standing dead stuff or break into my 2-3 month old cherry piles. I may have to get creative with kindling and fire-starters though, that pile is looking pretty weak
I'm sitting in a good spot...although I'm mixing seasoned oak with green pine...It does work. I have many pine boards to toss on to ramp up the heat if need be. Thanks to PalletPete's chain sharpener, the 441, and some good early leads on some ash and other loads, I won't be sweating it next year.
Well I went into the year with 2.5 cords. Considering how cold it was I think I faired pretty well. Burned 24/7 till Feb 7th. Now I am down to my last face cord and just burning 24/7 on the weekends. I thought about dipping into next years stuff, but feel it's better to wait, I'm on Natural gas so while my bill will be high it's not like oil or propane outrageous. I the brighter side I have pretty much cut and split and stacked what I used this year so sitting at just shy of 9 cords out back need to get one more cord and I officially will be 3 years ahead. As 3.5 cords would have got me through this winter, and I don't see another winter like this for a couple years.
Saw a story on the news about people meeting a pellet delivery truck at a local truck stop to make sure they got some because the pellet supply is so low. Just this am saw a promo for a story on tonights news about burning cord wood, with a warning from fire officials about making sure your wood is "seasoned". I've still got 15 cords ready and another 5 that will be ready by the fall, although most of it is spruce.
I am not the best at making predictions, but I would not count out another bad winter next year. There are theories being tossed around that the great lakes being this iced over could usher in a weather pattern for summer and a possible early fall and winter onset. Late 70's and early 80's had a string of wicked cold and snow. History may repeat itself. Get out and hoard!
Even your friends high bill is not that bad!!! My bill for dec was $250 my neighbors budget bill (meaning their payment is the aame month to month) is $450/month. And they live in a 1600sq ft home!! Look where i live! Our power here in SC is some of the highest in the nation. d
I just checked, and heating oil went back up to $4.04 from $3.99 at the beginning of he week. This is beyond highway robbery. And they wonder why people leave the cold and head south after retirement. NY has high RE taxes, a sales tax and income tax. Between that and the price of heating a home, I wonder how some can stays in this state at all. I feel sorry for the elderly and kids just starting out. Right now it's 30° outside, and it's real easy to heat the house with the stove. Going down to 4° overnight, and we'll be chewing through the wood.
I got our stove 4 years ago. I was 28 then. Even down here in SC with a poorly insulated home if I ran both he at pumps I could easily see $400 some months to stay 67 in the house . And with a child planned at the time I had to get a stove.
But one extreme usually follows another so we very well could have a really hot summer this year too.
I remembered a cache of well seasoned maple. I get that coaling and then put my less than perfectly seasoned wood on next. Works good and it will get me through. It's mild out now. Up around 32 today. Tomorrow in the 40's. Need some more melt so I can find my oak stacks that have been buried for almost 2 months.
We were like a high of 37 today. Its pretty cold here. Got a load of oak and a few elm splits burning. Trying to keep the house warm.
