November 1st, 1-year anniversary

[Whitespider]

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:

 

[cnice_37]

400 gals a year.... I think you are doing all right!

I am in a similar situation for the hot water except with heating oil.

 

[Whitespider]

I did the math... less than a gallon a day.

 

[CWME]

I think you are doing ok as well. I have the same issue, oil for the DHW. We are running about 10-11 gallons of oil a month.

You are going to miss having to cut wood every weekend. Those are the good times and good memories for me anyway. Family pulls together to get the wood. I love those times.

 

[beerman6]

Parker propane took their tank from me because we only used 51 gallons a year

 

[bluestem]

We still end up getting around 250 of LP every fall as well, the stove uses it and the furnace does run a little in the fall and spring. I don't worry to much about since 3 years ago it was getting filled each month fall, winter and spring. I think the OWB has already paid for itself.

 

[olyman]

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:

Welllllll, you could make a sidearm for your woodstove, and have another pre tank hot water setup. That would cut your hot water propane use, to near nothing. Me thinks, id some how,rig it up,,so after 5 minutes,the teenager,,would get COLD water............about 10 seconds of warning!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

 

[mooseracing]

We fill ours about yearly as well. That includes water heater, dryer, stove and furnace. Our furnace usually runs for about an hour or two before we get up during winter as the house gets down to ~51.

 

[Laird]

November 7th will be my 3 year anniversary for installing my OWB. The only thing running on gas after that was the dryer and it crapped out a year later so I replaced it with an electric. My teenage daughter likes taking scalding hot baths just before I take a shower. In the winter it's no problem!

 

[Constrictor]

working every weekend to get wood sounds like a bad tradeoff. i like my weekends for fun stuff. I wouldnt want to spend more than 3-4 weekends getting wood for all year. last year i didnt cut one stick!

 

[Whitespider]

Wouldn't that be great... I mean, having weekends for fun.

I work a job all week; a job that often puts me on the road away from home for the week. If I am home at night during the week I try to spend some time with the kids, and the wife, and eat, and help with homework, and maybe even get a chore or two done... before bed. The weekend is when I get all the other things done, and try to squeeze in a few hours for working the firewood, and fix broken bicycles, and broken cars, and broken whatever, and mow the yard, and put the storm windows on, and maintain the power equipment, and fix the roof, and unplug the drains, and... and... and... and... and... and if I'm lucky, I may even get to start the fire pit at the end of the day, have a couple beers and cook a steak... before bed.

Now, I ain't complaining, it's the way I choose to live. I do everything my self... I don't call the plumber, the electrician, the auto repair guy, the glass repair man, the appliance repair guy, or any other guy... 'cause I am "the guy". I have a family to look after, I flat ain't got any time for "fun"...

 

[olyman]

Wouldn't that be great... I mean, having weekends for fun.

I work a job all week; a job that often puts me on the road away from home for the week. If I am home at night during the week I try to spend some time with the kids, and the wife, and eat, and help with homework, and maybe even get a chore or two done... before bed. The weekend is when I get all the other things done, and try to squeeze in a few hours for working the firewood, and fix broken bicycles, and broken cars, and broken whatever, and mow the yard, and put the storm windows on, and maintain the power equipment, and fix the roof, and unplug the drains, and... and... and... and... and... and if I'm lucky, I may even get to start the fire pit at the end of the day, have a couple beers and cook a steak... before bed.

Now, I ain't complaining, it's the way I choose to live. I do everything my self... I don't call the plumber, the electrician, the auto repair guy, the glass repair man, the appliance repair guy, or any other guy... 'cause I am "the guy". I have a family to look after, I flat ain't got any time for "fun"...

join the crowd!!

 

[Ironworker]

Wouldn't that be great... I mean, having weekends for fun.

I work a job all week; a job that often puts me on the road away from home for the week. If I am home at night during the week I try to spend some time with the kids, and the wife, and eat, and help with homework, and maybe even get a chore or two done... before bed. The weekend is when I get all the other things done, and try to squeeze in a few hours for working the firewood, and fix broken bicycles, and broken cars, and broken whatever, and mow the yard, and put the storm windows on, and maintain the power equipment, and fix the roof, and unplug the drains, and... and... and... and... and... and if I'm lucky, I may even get to start the fire pit at the end of the day, have a couple beers and cook a steak... before bed.

Now, I ain't complaining, it's the way I choose to live. I do everything my self... I don't call the plumber, the electrician, the auto repair guy, the glass repair man, the appliance repair guy, or any other guy... 'cause I am "the guy". I have a family to look after, I flat ain't got any time for "fun"...

I do the same and have plenty fun of doing so

 

[unclemoustache]

Happy anniversary. Celebrate responsibly. :msp_biggrin::msp_biggrin:

 

[chopperfreak2k1]

Wouldn't that be great... I mean, having weekends for fun.

I work a job all week; a job that often puts me on the road away from home for the week. If I am home at night during the week I try to spend some time with the kids, and the wife, and eat, and help with homework, and maybe even get a chore or two done... before bed. The weekend is when I get all the other things done, and try to squeeze in a few hours for working the firewood, and fix broken bicycles, and broken cars, and broken whatever, and mow the yard, and put the storm windows on, and maintain the power equipment, and fix the roof, and unplug the drains, and... and... and... and... and... and if I'm lucky, I may even get to start the fire pit at the end of the day, have a couple beers and cook a steak... before bed.

Now, I ain't complaining, it's the way I choose to live. I do everything my self... I don't call the plumber, the electrician, the auto repair guy, the glass repair man, the appliance repair guy, or any other guy... 'cause I am "the guy". I have a family to look after, I flat ain't got any time for "fun"...

boy you said it all right there! and like greyfox said it's all fun for me cuz it's me takin care of my family, and there might not be any better feeling in the world i tell ya what!

 

[AIM]

Congrats on keeping the propane man at bay at least to one fill a year.

Sittin here right now I'm drawing a blank on wether this will be my 4th or 5th winter with my OWB. Either way I haven't seen the propane man since and there is still a small amount in the tank. My furnace is the only gas operated device in my house though.
My electric bills on the other hand are shocking! $150+ per month and occasionally north of $200.


I don't know if a buck a day is good or not but I have a friend that is a plumber that has talked about a new DHW heater that is supposed to sip gas. I think he was saying this model is REAL recent. Like 09 -2010.

 

[Steve NW WI]

Spidey, a new tankless water heater should cut down on your gas needs. If sized right, they keep up to demand real well, and don't waste fuel keeping water hot overnight or during the day when no one's around using it.

Congrats on a year of sticking it to the man!

 

[MacLaren]

Happy 1st b-day with AS. I shot ya some rep.

 

[100 Watt]

Yep, I'm in the same boat with you. I can go a year on @ 400 gallons of propane. I have a tankless waterheater (LP) and a couple times a year run a Reznor (hanging LP furnace) in my uninsulated barn. The boys get cold during poker night! Money out the window no doubt. If I run across a free stove and pipe, I might stick one in the barn.
I typically don't burn wood until I can burn 24/7 without running myself out. Right now temps here are @40 at night and close to 60 during the day. Unfortunately burning season is just a week or two away for me. I normally quit burning mid March, or until the wood runs out! This year I've got @ 8 cord split and stacked. Good luck to ya

 

[Wagnerwerks]

You need this

Woodstove Water-Heater Coil by Thermo-Bilt, stainless steel, for wood stove, corn stove, coal stove.

I've been thinking of doing this for a while.