How many cords of wood did you use last winter?

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Arjuna

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It’s my first winter with a wood furnace and I’m curious how much everyone else used. I’m in the northern lower peninsula of Michigan.
 
Do you have a forced air wood furnace, or an outdoor boiler?

We used a Yukon Klondike indoor furnace for a couple years it was very wood hungry. Now we have a Lamppa Kuuma vapor fire. It's much more miserly and requires loading less frequently which is more convenient. We used about 5-6 cords heating our small but drafty log cabin.
 
We burned more now that I am retired so close to 3 cord.


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Do you have a forced air wood furnace, or an outdoor boiler?

We used a Yukon Klondike indoor furnace for a couple years it was very wood hungry. Now we have a Lamppa Kuuma vapor fire. It's much more miserly and requires loading less frequently which is more convenient. We used about 5-6 cords heating our small but drafty log cabin.

I have a forced air wood furnace connected to my natural gas furnace.
 
For reference:
  • 2 story, 1400sq.ft. , built in 1968
  • Wood heat provided by a fireplace stove insert. Used as 'primary' source, but we don't sweat it if we're not home and the fire dies. The oil fired boiler kicks on at 65°F.
  • Located in Central PA
  • Average indoor temperature maintained: 71°F.

  • Winter 2018-2019, we burned about 3.5 cords.
    • Mostly all maple.
  • Winter 2019-2020 we burned about 2.5 cords. It was a more mild winter AND we were burning better quality firewood:
    • mainly beech and ash
    • some oak, mulberry, and walnut
    • a small bit of the maple left over from the previous season

Long story short, there are many variables that will determine how much wood you will burn in a specific season.
  • the weather (Capt. Obvious: You're welcome.)
    • average temperature for the specific winter
    • wind
    • snowfall
  • the temperature that you want to keep your home
  • the type of wood that you have (a cord of oak will keep you WAY warmer than a cord of pine - for the same volume, 1 cord)
  • how well your kids keep the doors closed, etc.
 
Way people on here throw around the term CORD is hard to know what they burn.
I burn on adverage 12 (12 devided by 3 equals 4 ful cord.)face cord during a winter to maintain 75F in a 1875 Sq. Ft. house useing a England 28-3500 indoor ad on wood furnace.
We are in SE Michigan.

Al
 
Way people on here throw around the term CORD is hard to know what they burn.
I burn on adverage 12 (12 devided by 3 equals 4 ful cord.)face cord during a winter to maintain 75F in a 1875 Sq. Ft. house useing a England 28-3500 indoor ad on wood furnace.
We are in SE Michigan.

Al
Why should it be any different than using face cord as a measurement? Full cord is 8x4x4 and I'm sure we all stack them tight no big gaps . I burned about 4 cords last season. Less than we average of 6 a season . This year was weird not too cold all winter but it stayed cold into May .

I do take into account that my splits are 20" so it's a heavy cord when its three row deep
 
7 full cord. We leave patio door open halfway with heavy curtain covering opening, to allow dogs to come and go. House is kept at 73 and would cut wood usage if we stopped leaving a door open. We use an OWB, and have for 20+years, would never go back to inside stove, no matter how much more efficient. Rather have all the mess and bugs outside. Have an endless supply of aged (3-5 years) red oak. Oak wilt and gypsy moths have given me that.
 
Duce, put in a doggie door. We have 4 of them and it saves a ton of getting up and down. Out little girl refuses to use the basement one though so she gets special treatment. The lab uses the doggie doors most of the time. She also just opens the door herself when she’s in a hurry. We have all lever door handles and she knows how to use them. I have one on the shop door so they can come and go to check on me. When I’m doing hand work they lay there and watch, when grinding or welding them step out until the noise stops.
I burn lots of wood and don’t keep track. Heat two houses including domestic hot and my 24x 60 shop and 24x price kids play room beside the shop.
 
Duce, put in a doggie door. We have 4 of them and it saves a ton of getting up and down. Out little girl refuses to use the basement one though so she gets special treatment. The lab uses the doggie doors most of the time. She also just opens the door herself when she’s in a hurry. We have all lever door handles and she knows how to use them. I have one on the shop door so they can come and go to check on me. When I’m doing hand work they lay there and watch, when grinding or welding them step out until the noise stops.
I burn lots of wood and don’t keep track. Heat two houses including domestic hot and my 24x 60 shop and 24x price kids play room beside the shop.
He needs a full size door.IMG_20200709_195941.jpg
 
So I'll go along with this being a bit of a loaded question. A good cold winter, starting to burn starting to burn in late september or early october ending burning march/april well go through roughly 8 cords. This past winter was warmer then normal, but stayed colder longer then normal and we went through about 6 cord. Were effectively hearing 2400 sq ft, between a full walk out basement and the main house. We heat with a crappy hot blast 1557m, that has been modified for a larger fire box and for wood only. House temp varies with outdoor temp. It never gets bellow 70* and we open windows or let the fire go out if it gets over 80* we bought the house with this furnace and no back up, so wood is our sole source. If I let my wife tend the furnace shell burn a weeks worth of wood in 2 days. This normally only happens if I get called out to plow roads and it takes longer then 10 to 12 hrs till I'm home. In which time the furnace needs filled again. We burn a mix of hardwoods. Some soft woods but not much if I can help it. I also get a few loads of mostly oak pallets a year and use them to start fires or when I'm home and feeling lazy. I had hope of an outdoor boiler but local building codes make that hard to do for a new install. My father in law heats twice as much space, between his house, shop, and guest house with a green wood hydronic furnace. He burns total junk whatever he can find and uses half the wood I use. I would love to have his set up. I live in lebanon, Pa.
 
6 cord and could of used 1 more cord.. house built in 1959 . walk out cellar not insulated. 2 x 4 walls unknown insulation ? have a bigger 32" log inside wood furnace in cellar. probably not the most efficient wood stove. once i get that bed of coals going stove never goes out. leave between 5 to 6 in morning fill it up and get home 4 to 5 at night still have a nice bed of coals. also it doesn't even seem to matter weather we have a warm winter or not still burn 6 plus. if i don't burn wood ,4 fill ups on a 275 oil tank.
 
Somewhere around 2.5 cords. Don't keep close track.

Heating season is ~8 months.
Keep the house 68-70*. Doesn't get super cold here though, not like up north where it easily gets colder than -40*.
 
Somewhere around 2.5 cords. Don't keep close track.

Heating season is ~8 months.
Keep the house 68-70*. Doesn't get super cold here though, not like up north where it easily gets colder than -40*.
At some point, the number doesn't really matter; it's just fkng cold. I think -40 falls into that category.
 
Whatever 6 face cords is. Thats nights and weekends. When I'm home 70 is the target temp but sometimes I get bored and throw more wood on and its warmer. It depends on the heating season also. Some years its November to April last year was October to mid May. It wasn't real cold but it was below freezing.
 
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