New Wood Burning Worry Wart

[Hedgerow]

That is two cords.

We use 2-3 cords a year of mostly cottonwood with some elm, ash, apple and walnut for "overnighters". Our house is 1500 sq ft, built in 1933 and also hardly any insulation. We have a Vermont Castings Encore catalytic stove.

The differences are, of course, we are in Colorado at 4800 feet, and two cords of oak equals probably four cords of cottonwood. We both work weekdays so we use our radiant heat when we're not home. If we were home all day (as in retired, soon I hope), we would probably use 4-6 cords a year, but almost no propane.

I only have a little over a cord up right now, but I cut and split all through the winter. I would rather cut and split wood when it's 40 degrees and sunny than when it's over 90, so I don't even start on my woodpile until October.

Sounds like you have plenty of wood with your backup, but time will tell.

..[video=youtube;-BMpfcqzNrE]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-BMpfcqzNrE&feature=player_embedded[/video]

Just sayin...
I'd get some more...

 

[russhd1997]

I think he has over a cord. Might be 2 ?

He has 2 stacks at 144 cu. ft. per stack. A cord of wood is 128 cu. ft. 144 x 2 = 288 cu. ft. So 288 / 128 = 2.25 or 2 and 1/4 cords. If his wood was cut 16" instead of 18" he would have 2 cords.

 

[Hedgerow]

He has 2 stacks at 144 cu. ft. per stack. A cord of wood is 128 cu. ft. 144 x 2 = 288 cu. ft. So 288 / 128 = 2.25 or 2 and 1/4 cords. If his wood was cut 16" instead of 18" he would have 2 cords.

Which is just enough to run out in March and have to turn the propane furnace on...
Then get crushed by a beer can...



While his wife watches in horror...

 

[zogger]

Similar latitude to you. Extremely leaky around 100 year old cabin, zilch insulation except for a few thin sheets randomly laid out in the attic decades ago...joke., plank walls.. old single pane windows.... We do about four cords, but that is well mixed, it's not all primo, a lot of tulip poplar, sweetgum sapling rounds, etc. If it was 100% two year old seasoned oak, probably not so much. Plus, Garden Goddess needs that heat, we've been burning since the cold snap in september! Not every day, not hard, but this is the earliest we ever started.

If I was you I'd get another cord over to the house and covered, insurance, then start cutting and get at least two years ahead. If you can score some standing dead soon, say good stuff with the bark falling off, that would be additional insurance if you got it split and stacked immediately.

Dry dead pine is extremely easy to find in the south and burns great! No one wants it! It's silly! I burn it and have burned it forever! Ya, I got oak hickory and ash but burn some pine, too! Find some blown over with the main trunk off the ground and the bark off or falling off easy, you can get truckloads ridiculously easy and it will burn within days of being split, heck, right then if it has been dry for a week and not rained on. Put some small splits on in the morning on the coals with some paper/cardboard, that'll heat the chimney back up, then add some mediums, once they are going good, throw your hardwood on top. You can supplement your good stuff that way. Look for like 4-10" diameter real dry pine logs in the woods. One to a few splits is all it takes to process and it is instasplit wood at that stage. You barely have to tap it with a fiskars.

That first half hour in the morning getting the temps back up in the house makes a difference and scrounged pine will do that. Just burn it wide freaking open no damper full air, you'll get good heat and it won't gunk your chimney any. Once you get back to the hardwood, adjust stove to taste.

 

[ShaneLogs]

Rule #1....you can never have enough wood.
Rule #2....when the wife feeds the stove all day, a national forrest does not have enough trees in it to cover her usage.
Rule #3....cut split and stack as much as you can to ease tension between you and the aforementioned party from rule #2.

Those should be on David Letterman's top 10 things! Haha!

 

[bert the turtle]

Your wood will last however long it lasts, but any insulation you install will last the rest of your life. I can't see the sense or value in busting ass putting up firewood for a leaky poorly insulated house. Bust ass insulating the house. May as well do it in the winter when it is a slightly shallower circle of hell to work with than it is in summer. Then put up some more wood.

We had an ice storm here when my son was a month old and I'd been in my house about a year. Couldn't buy a generator, heater, or battery. But there was plenty of insulation available. I took a small section of my house, put reflectix over all the windows and was able to heat that section to a nice warm temperature for the duration of the storm with what heating I had available.

 

[ShaneLogs]

He has 2 stacks at 144 cu. ft. per stack. A cord of wood is 128 cu. ft. 144 x 2 = 288 cu. ft. So 288 / 128 = 2.25 or 2 and 1/4 cords. If his wood was cut 16" instead of 18" he would have 2 cords.

Oh yes, I understand now. Thanks for the math lesson. Learned something new LOL

 

[bowtechmadman]

Just keep cutting...there is never enough. I'm with fife...I'll have 2 cords gone by the end of november.

 

[mga]

I think he has over a cord. Might be 2 ?

yep...i corrected myself.

 

[tbow388]

I guess I should say that I do have insulation in my ceiling. About 6". The only wall insulates room in the house is the carport. I closed it in myself. All of my exterior walls go like this from the inside out.

1. Some sort of paneling.
2. Either 3/4 board or beaded ceiling.
3. Open space from tough cut 2x4 oak.
4. 3/4 board, cut to fit. Some 4" some 6"
5. Roll riffing shingle material.
6. Asbestos shingles.

All outside walls are 8" thick.

Ceiling goes in this order from low to high.

1. 12" x 13" ceiling tiles.
2. 1:16" Masonite ceiling board.
3. 3/4" beaded ceiling.
4. 4 - 6" ceiling insulation.

The reason I say partially insulated is because there is no wall insulation.

 

[zogger]

Your wood will last however long it lasts, but any insulation you install will last the rest of your life. I can't see the sense or value in busting ass putting up firewood for a leaky poorly insulated house. Bust ass insulating the house. May as well do it in the winter when it is a slightly shallower circle of hell to work with than it is in summer. Then put up some more wood.

We had an ice storm here when my son was a month old and I'd been in my house about a year. Couldn't buy a generator, heater, or battery. But there was plenty of insulation available. I took a small section of my house, put reflectix over all the windows and was able to heat that section to a nice warm temperature for the duration of the storm with what heating I had available.

I agree with you! I haven't done that here, a good rebuild and retrofit, as I do not own where I live, but I do have access to closeby unlimited firewood free for the taking. I simply can't at this time justify the expense for doing all that work. Iff/when I get to own here, that will change. I've done a lot o other "free" work here, including total wall to wall quality carpet install, on my nickle, and a lot of built in shelves, enclosing one porch for a walk in closet, rebuilding the other porch three times now from storm damage, etc, but tearing apart the walls to do insulation, plus making it two feet deep in the attic, and fixing the windows to at least good quality double panes etc...that's too much for what is in essence a rental unit. If I got paid three or four times as much, ya, I'd probably do it. As it is now I don't have a spare half to full years income to do that stuff.

I was going to grab some of the blow in insulation they use on the broiler farm side of things here, and do the attic, but the leftover half a trailer load the boss had surplus got *stolen*.

 

[tbow388]

MGA, I know if you read it correct you would have known. You have always given good advice and always to me seemed to be super knowledgable.

 

[mga]

He has 2 stacks at 144 cu. ft. per stack. A cord of wood is 128 cu. ft. 144 x 2 = 288 cu. ft. So 288 / 128 = 2.25 or 2 and 1/4 cords. If his wood was cut 16" instead of 18" he would have 2 cords.

i just go by linear feet (stacked 4 feet high)......... every 24 feet is one cord of wood.

i use 6 cord in a bad year and without using any back up heat.

 

[tbow388]

I should also say that all of my widows are old wood and glass style. But I also have storm windows on the outside.

 

[bert the turtle]

It is hard to justify insulating a rental, unless you can get the owner to pay for materials and it works out to less effort than cutting the wood. Good luck with getting your own place!

 

[tbow388]

Zogger, if I didn't own where I live I would probably not do what you have done. I would do a lot more to my home but like everyone else, times are tight. I am the and have always been (20 years) the sole supporter of my family. And now my son is in college. He now has been a very awesome son and bought my stove for me. I burn wood for a few reasons. Most of all I love fire and the warmth it brings. I also love providing for myself in the heating area. And a super great reason to burn wood!!!! Give my CAD a excuse. Have to have a bunch of saws to cut a bunch of wood!

 

[darkbyrd]

I never feel like I have enough wood at this point in the season. But I have a couple cords of standing dead black locust in reserve if it comes to that.

 

[bubba3228]

I think he has over a cord. Might be 2 ?

I use this to do my syfering, knot+knot...

Cord Calculator

 

[haveawoody]

tbow388,

If you have decent insulation in the attic and none in the walls it leaves you few low budget options left.
You could try the silicon day routine and that might make quite a difference.
Grab about 12 tubes of clear silicon a go around the outside of the house looking for ways the air can get in, around windows will have an impact for sure and things like electrical inputs into the house etc.

Bet you use all 12 tubes of silicon and have to go back for more.
I always do each 5 or 6 years.
Just stopping all the little air migration points can make for quite a difference also.

 

[haveawoody]

bert the turtle,

Ditto on the insulation for me.

I could never figure out guys killing themselves getting huge amounts of wood to heat a poorly insulated place they own.
Having 3 out of every 4 logs you burn heat the great outdoors seems crazy.

For me it was thick insulation in the attic and silicon crack repairs and my wood consumption was 1/2 what it was before i started.
I get to play silicon warrier about every 5 years but always find a few more sneaky air infiltration places i missed on the previous war
I was lucky to have good wall insulation though so not huge amounts of work to tighten my place up.