Today marks a 1-year anniversary for me. It was exactly one year ago today that the LP truck pulled into my drive and filled the tank. It was exactly one year ago today that I was handed my last LP bill ticket. It was exactly one year ago today that I decided it was time to start burning wood for heat again. It was exactly one year ago today that I didn't have a single stick of seasoned firewood on hand.
I have been cuttin' splittin' haulin' and stackin' just about every weekend since... at least a few hours almost every weekend, except I took July and August off. I managed to keep the the wood furnace fed all last winter... didn't matter the weather, I was out in it near every Saturday and some Sundays. This year, on the 1-year anniversary, November 1st, I have 13-14 cord of oak and 1-2 cord of elm stacked outside, another 5 or so cord of elm in the basement. There's a big Sugar Maple laying on the ground since last March, should be around 2 1/2 cord when bucked and split and one really big ash that snapped off in the wind this spring, thinking somewhere just shy of 1 1/2 cord... And I've still got several standing dead, and/or gonna' be standing-dead in the woodlot... lots of blow-downs that have limbs held up off the ground. And of course, hundreds of living trees to cut as needed... elm, oak, ash, maple, cherry, walnut, cedar and fur.
That's the good news... here's the bad news. We still use the LP for hot water. I have a teenage girl that runs the hot water tank completely empty twice-a-day. I also have three-year-old and the clothes washer never seems to stop. And of course, there was maybe 5-6 mornings last winter that the LP furnace kicked in on those super cold overnights, before I got out of bed to stoke the fire (all that oak should end that, I hope). I checked the LP tank this morning... dam... 10%... I'm gonna' have to call the LP guy... :bang: ...near 400 gallons to fill that thing... :bang:
I have been cuttin' splittin' haulin' and stackin' just about every weekend since... at least a few hours almost every weekend, except I took July and August off. I managed to keep the the wood furnace fed all last winter... didn't matter the weather, I was out in it near every Saturday and some Sundays. This year, on the 1-year anniversary, November 1st, I have 13-14 cord of oak and 1-2 cord of elm stacked outside, another 5 or so cord of elm in the basement. There's a big Sugar Maple laying on the ground since last March, should be around 2 1/2 cord when bucked and split and one really big ash that snapped off in the wind this spring, thinking somewhere just shy of 1 1/2 cord... And I've still got several standing dead, and/or gonna' be standing-dead in the woodlot... lots of blow-downs that have limbs held up off the ground. And of course, hundreds of living trees to cut as needed... elm, oak, ash, maple, cherry, walnut, cedar and fur.
That's the good news... here's the bad news. We still use the LP for hot water. I have a teenage girl that runs the hot water tank completely empty twice-a-day. I also have three-year-old and the clothes washer never seems to stop. And of course, there was maybe 5-6 mornings last winter that the LP furnace kicked in on those super cold overnights, before I got out of bed to stoke the fire (all that oak should end that, I hope). I checked the LP tank this morning... dam... 10%... I'm gonna' have to call the LP guy... :bang: ...near 400 gallons to fill that thing... :bang: