How much wood do you burn

[Lloyd_E]

We have an early 1800's house - 1900 sq ft two story. Majority of it is insulated. I go through about 3/4 tank of oil(150 gallons +/-) a year - for domestic hot water and baseboard. We burn 4-6 cords depending on the wood. This year I mostly burnt pine so I think we are closer to 6 cords. I burn oak, ash, apple, maple, pine, spruce - what ever I can get my hands on. It all burns, it just depends on how many trips you want to make to the stove. We have only turned on the furnace/hot water baseboard maybe 6 times this winter - when it got really cold and a few house hold members complained. The stove is in the cavity of the fireplace/bake oven. We use fans to circulate heat around the house plus it flows naturally up the stairwell to the 2nd floor. Most years it averages around 4 cord of hardwood.

 

[murphy1244]

Regular cord.

This is why people should not use that made up term of face cord.

 

[Lloyd_E]

This is why people should not use that made up term of face cord.

Correct... 4'x4'x8' + 128 cu ft. after it is stacked.

 

[Larry Caldwell]

I heat 1800 sf with a Fisher fireplace insert about the size of their old Mama Bear. The firebox is 26" deep, 18" wide and 16" high, with a 10" clear opening door. It will take a big hunk of wood, which means it doesn't have to be fed often. The house is a 1972 ranch style that I have upgraded the insulation, doors and windows on. The floor plan is open, and a ceiling fan in the same room spreads the heat out nicely. The climate is mild, with most winter days averaging about 30 heating degrees. We burn about 2.5 cords of wood in a winter, mostly madrone, which is great firewood, some white oak, with just enough fir and pine to make kindling. Generous windows in the south wall warm the house any time there is a sunny day, like today when we need no other heat. We also have a heat pump, which we keep set at 60 degrees just so the house doesn't get too cold if we are gone.

 

[arrow]

Thanks to all who have contributed thus far. It is interesting to note that there are still the old type wood stoves around such as Fishers. They are still doing a creditable job. (anybody still using a Nashua?) Of note also is that some of these outdoor boilers are not using that much more wood than an internally placed wood stove. Combine that with also achieving dhw needs and it is certainly an efficient package. Catalytics seem to be the kings of burn efficiency. Say what you want of having to tend to the converter or even replacing it, the convenience and savings of its efficiency more than makes up for this sporadic inconvenience. When all is said, if you want to use less wood while maintaining 24 hour winter burn rates (like 2 or 3 cords) in areas of 5000 or more degree days, insulate, place stove in main living space, and have an open floor plan. Otherwise you'd have to get one of those 6000 lb Russian stoves.

 

[Tig]

Nice holz hausen Moss.
We just moved over to the newly constructed part of the house (1900ish sq') and heated this winter with a Valcourt FP10 zero clearance fireplace. 7200 degree F heating days per year. It was placed in the main room along with a ceiling fan, which blows up in winter. I've found the direction of the fan to be essential for comfort. The house being a work progress meant we had some serious heat loss from missing doors to the old part of the house. Even now the basement/crawlspace does not have a proper door.
We will burn over four cord this year to the best of my reckoning. Most of that I burned before Christmas when we were still living on the old side of the house and were desperate for heat. We're out of seasoned hardwood now and I'm burning yellow birch. Even with birch, we're letting the fire die out in the evening.
Next winter will be the real test. I have capacity to store about 10 cord and I buy a truck load of logs at a time. The load splits into about 7 cord. So if I burn under 4 cord per year I should be able to keep a rolling stock of seasoned hardwood on hand, considering the suplemental wood I pick up every year.
Interesting to hear of Fisher stoves. My grade 9 shop teacher left in the mid 70s to manufacture them in Marmora, On. Just north of here. Were they also made elsewhere?

Edit: A quick search turned up the Fisher story and the Marmora connection.

 

[dmccarty]

.. Of note also is that some of these outdoor boilers are not using that much more wood than an internally placed wood stove.

I looked at outdoor burners when we were designing the house but the smoke from them bother me as well as some other issues. One part of my drive to work, takes me through an area with plenty of outdoor burners and the smoke can be like a heavy fog on some mornings. There is one area that has at least three outdoor wood burners and they can really smoke it up but further up the road is just one and it smokes up pretty heavily on its own.

However, further up the road a guy installed a outdoor wood burner in an outbuilding that looks like a single car garage. You have to look long and hard to see if that thing is burning. Absolutely amazing. Because we keep talking about wood burning and I keep thinking of this guy and wondering what he has installed, I am going to stop and talk to him when I have the time and see him outside. I really want to know what he installed. :laughing::laughing::laughing: I can see his wood piles and It is not very big.

I wonder if he has a water tank to store the heat from a quick and efficient burn but I see the stove working in the morning and evening.

Later,
Dan

 

[The Deerslayer]

Great idea for a thread. We have a well-insulated early 1990's ranch with an open floor plan that is just over 2000 sq. ft. Our primary heat source is a soapstone wood stove by Hearthstone. It is located in the main part of the house (living room, dining roon, kitchen). The vaulted ceiling has two ceiling fans. It keeps that part of the house anywhere from 68 to 76 degrees depending on the outside temp. The bedrooms are generally 6 degrees cooler which is good for sleeping. We find that when we use the ceiling fans, it increases the temp by about 5 degrees or so. I pulled out the zero clearance fire place (junk) that was installed when the house was built and I installed the woodstove about 8 years ago and have never looked back. I cut, split, and stack wood form the property or from friends who need a tree or two taken down. We burn mostly oak, maple, ash, and some elm.....approx 3-4 cords per season. Our winters in northeastern CT are similar to yours in RI, so it should be a decent comparison. When it gets really cold outside (single digits) we turn the oil furnace on at night to kick in if the house temp drops to 62, but that is fairly rare. Here are a few pics of the woodstove, and what it looked like before.

 

[arrow]

I looked at outdoor burners when we were designing the house but the smoke from them bother me as well as some other issues. One part of my drive to work, takes me through an area with plenty of outdoor burners and the smoke can be like a heavy fog on some mornings. There is one area that has at least three outdoor wood burners and they can really smoke it up but further up the road is just one and it smokes up pretty heavily on its own.

However, further up the road a guy installed a outdoor wood burner in an outbuilding that looks like a single car garage. You have to look long and hard to see if that thing is burning. Absolutely amazing. Because we keep talking about wood burning and I keep thinking of this guy and wondering what he has installed, I am going to stop and talk to him when I have the time and see him outside. I really want to know what he installed. :laughing::laughing::laughing: I can see his wood piles and It is not very big.

I wonder if he has a water tank to store the heat from a quick and efficient burn but I see the stove working in the morning and evening.

Later,
Dan

Interesting Dan. The guy my wife works for has one that stores 2000 gallons of water. He heats his house, a barn and a work shed as well as getting his dhw. He goes through 12 cord per year. It smokes at the beginning but nothing after 15 minutes. Its called a Garn wood boiler

 

[arrow]

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Great idea for a thread. We have a well-insulated early 1990's ranch with an open floor plan that is just over 2000 sq. ft. Our primary heat source is a soapstone wood stove by Hearthstone. It is located in the main part of the house (living room, dining roon, kitchen). The vaulted ceiling has two ceiling fans. It keeps that part of the house anywhere from 68 to 76 degrees depending on the outside temp. The bedrooms are generally 6 degrees cooler which is good for sleeping. We find that when we use the ceiling fans, it increases the temp by about 5 degrees or so. I pulled out the zero clearance fire place (junk) that was installed when the house was built and I installed the woodstove about 8 years ago and have never looked back. I cut, split, and stack wood form the property or from friends who need a tree or two taken down. We burn mostly oak, maple, ash, and some elm.....approx 3-4 cords per season. Our winters in northeastern CT are similar to yours in RI, so it should be a decent comparison. When it gets really cold outside (single digits) we turn the oil furnace on at night to kick in if the house temp drops to 62, but that is fairly rare. Here are a few pics of the woodstove, and what it looked like before.

Deerslayer that is a beautiful stove. I recall when they used to make TV's look as nice (with wood not soapstone)