Wood stove burning...

[dmccarty]

We heat our 2400 sf house with a "small" stove that is rated for a house 1500-1800 sf. Our house is well insulated with 2x6 walls. On the other hand we have huge windows in every room. They are casements and we don't feel cold sitting next to them but they can't help.

We burned 3-3.5 cords last year. The wood was so so seasoned. This years wood will be much better season wise. The one thing that really help us run the stove was getting a stove temperature gage. It sits on top of the stove and against the double wall chimney. It allows us to choke down the fire but still keep it hot enough to prevent creasote buildup.

We try to run the stove 24 hours during winter. Sometimes we will have to rebuild it with kindling but usually there are enough coals to start it right back up. I do get up in the middle of the night and throw wood on the fire though. But the dogs get me up to go outside so I'm up every night anyway.

Our power bill, everything is on electric, is around $100 all year except in summer when the AC is on at which point the bills go to a high of $150-160. Without the wood stove I think our electric bill in the winter would be at least $200 a month.

I'm busy getting 5 cords, 4x4x8, ready for this season.

Later,
Dan

 

[coachgrd]

Thanks for all the responses so far and I welcome others too.

For those of you who asked, the stove I purchased is a Quadrafire 3100 series with Advanced Combustion Technology (which essentially burns the smoke as well.) The literature states this results in "cleaner air, less chimney maintenance, and fewer trips to the wood pile."

The stove is rated for up to 2200 square feet and our home is about 2700. The literature also states that it will heat up to 52,000 BTU/hr. using cord wood.

Heres' a link to the stove I have:
Fireplace Stoves, Gas Stoves, Pellet Stoves, Fireplaces, Fireplace Inserts by QUADRA-FIRE: Products - Wood Fireplace Stoves

 

[schmism]

i burn a lot of pallets in my garage durring the winter.

I cut the slats along the runners with a skill saw, then cut the runners on the band saw.

The slats are THE best item for kindling as they split easy, and is a ready available never ending supply of dry free sticks.

a dozen broken pallets from the industrial area of town will last me a month or 2 deping on how much real firewood i mix in with it.

 

[scesnick]

I think you will really enjoy heating with wood. Not to mention the money you will save. I heat a 3,500 sq ft. log home with a AHS multi fuel boiler in the dead of winter but I also have a Harmon mark II that I use when it isn't brutally cold out . ( I live at 3,000 ft on top of a wind swept mountain on the Md/WV. border. )
I burn %80 coal. It burns longer and hotter than wood. My total heating bill for last winter was $250 !!!
With you living in one of the best anthracite coal areas in the world I am curious as to why you didn't go with a wood/coal stove?

A few good sites for alterantive heating:
Anthracite Coal Forum

http://www.arboristsite.com/forumdisplay.php?f=55

 

[8561]

Your usage sounds about the same as mine, nights and weekends. I generally will start the stove around 5:30 or 6 when I get home and fill the stove at about 9:30 or 10 and let it go out overnight. Depending on how cold, I might start it in the morning, and run one load of wood through it. It does burn all weekend. I use about 1.5 cords a year, give or take a 1/2 cord depending on how cold and how dedicated I am. My house is about 2700SF and new so it's well insulated. I have a Heathstone stove which is soapstone. They're a little pricey, but when they get hot they stay hot.

 

[schmism]

how long can you continously burn with out haveing to empty ashses?

my uncle in his VC can go about 5 days 24/7 countiously.

 

[irwin]

Boy I must be bad at this wood stove thing! You guys are getting a winter's worth of heat from 3-3 1/2 cords.. What am I doing wrong? I burnt 6 cords. It would make my life easier if I didn't have to cut and split as much wood, not to mention storage issue.. my my my..

 

[ByronBob]

Irwin

I think the difference here is a Full cord and a face cord. They are 2 different sizes of wood. Read above in an earlier post about the differences.

I would start out by going overboard and split 15 face chord for this winter. I doubt you'll use all of it but you'll have a jump on next winter with dry wood. Covering it to reduce water absortion would also be a good idea.

 

[knute_m]

I use 4-5 full cords of hardwood per winter. My main heat is a wood/coal/propane furnace from Yukon. Wood Furnace by Yukon-Eagle

I also installed a Quadrafire Yosemite into my fireplace at the beginning of last season. It is mainly for use early and late in the season. Fantastic little stove. It is extremely efficient, with virtually no smoke out the chimney.

We heat about a 2100 sq ft. log home in the mountains of WV, where the heating season starts in mid to-late October and lasts well into April most years.

March 17, 2007

 

[coachgrd]

Knute...that's a great looking cabin you've got there. We were through your neck of the woods earlier in June as we drove from nw PA to Tennessee. It certainly is, as your plates say, "Wild and Wonderful."

Say, maybe you can give me a quick idea how you post that link without pasting the entire URL in the message...Others seem to be able to just post LINK but I'm dumbfounded how to do it.

Thanks for giving me an idea how much wood each of you are burning each season...keep 'em coming if you haven't chimed in yet!