Scrounging Firewood (and other stuff)

[benp]

Beautiful day in the neighborhood here.

View attachment 466469

We got bubkas out of that. Maybe 2 inches.

The roads were skittish in some places from the freezing slush.

 

[Ambull01]

@Ambull01 Dont forget, we need pics of the repaired wood mover

Will do. It's not going to be pretty though. I was nervous about having enough wood for this winter but because of the mild temps I've basically been able to survive with only a few fires so far. Looks like December will continue to be mild during the day so I have no more worries. Next year I'm totally set with all oak. Should have enough for the year after as well. Going to finish this scrounge site up in two weeks (have National Guard training this weekend) then I'll relax. Need some time off to get this Echo running.

 

[crazywolf]

Will do. It's not going to be pretty though. I was nervous about having enough wood for this winter but because of the mild temps I've basically been able to survive with only a few fires so far. Looks like December will continue to be mild during the day so I have no more worries. Next year I'm totally set with all oak. Should have enough for the year after as well. Going to finish this scrounge site up in two weeks (have National Guard training this weekend) then I'll relax. Need some time off to get this Echo running.

Yeah but in our area winter doesn't really start until Januaryish. Jan-March can be pretty brutal temp wise. I know last year sucked bad and I had 4 figure power bills hence the wood stove this year.

 

[nomad_archer]

Ouch, ouch, ouch.... That is a lot on heating costs. I don't know how much you are heating and what type of system you have but 4 figure heating bills is insane. We replaced our old heat pump because we were getting $200 heating/cooling bills more on the cooling side of things with the old 1979 heat pump.

 

[CrufflerJJ]

We installed a woodburning insert in February of 2015, after seeing some $500 electric bills. Our single story ranch has electric baseboard heat, and the local power company keeps cranking up the rates. It's great to be able to just throw a little more wood on the fire & not worry about the electric bill.

 

[crazywolf]

Ouch, ouch, ouch.... That is a lot on heating costs. I don't know how much you are heating and what type of system you have but 4 figure heating bills is insane. We replaced our old heat pump because we were getting $200 heating/cooling bills more on the cooling side of things with the old 1979 heat pump.

Old house combined with electric emergency heat. I'm getting as much insulation put in as I can but needed something during the sub 40 degree weather when the heat pump isn't really doing anything.

 

[Ambull01]

Yeah but in our area winter doesn't really start until Januaryish. Jan-March can be pretty brutal temp wise. I know last year sucked bad and I had 4 figure power bills hence the wood stove this year.

True. Jan and Feb is when it really hits. I can only stuff the stove to gills though so I'll be able to do that and still have a lot of firewood for 2-3 months. Last year was freaking insane, at least for MD. Saw some temps close to negative 10 or so with wind chill. That may have been the coldest weather I've seen since I live in the NC mountains. My neighbor told me about his $1,600 electric bill after I complained about my $250 bill lol. Summer months my electric bill is extremely low so I'm hoping my winter bill will be comparable.

We installed a woodburning insert in February of 2015, after seeing some $500 electric bills. Our single story ranch has electric baseboard heat, and the local power company keeps cranking up the rates. It's great to be able to just throw a little more wood on the fire & not worry about the electric bill.

I have electric baseboard heat in my 1891 Victorian style house. Figured out last year the thermostats were broken on several of the heaters so they were going full blast 24/7. I disconnected all of them. Going to install some heating ducts running from my stove room to the rest of the house. Hoping it works.

 

[nomad_archer]

Ambull, I had three registers put in to the cold are return duct work in the basement where my stove is. With the heat pump I can run just the blower fan to move air, so when I have the wood stove cookin, I turn the blower motor on and it circulates the hot air upstairs. This warms the house up really quick versus waiting for gravity to do the work.

 

[Ambull01]

Ambull, I had three registers put in to the cold are return duct work in the basement where my stove is. With the heat pump I can run just the blower fan to move air, so when I have the wood stove cookin, I turn the blower motor on and it circulates the hot air upstairs. This warms the house up really quick versus waiting for gravity to do the work.

Yeah that's what I'm thinking. I'll have to use ceiling flexible duct work through the door transoms. I'll put in duct fans in a few strategic locations to help move the hot air. Also going to use a ceiling fan in the stove room setup to pull air towards the ceiling. Second floor above the stove room will have a floor vent that's connected to more duct work to get the air circulating on the second floor. That's my plan at least lol.

 

[crazywolf]

True. Jan and Feb is when it really hits. I can only stuff the stove to gills though so I'll be able to do that and still have a lot of firewood for 2-3 months. Last year was freaking insane, at least for MD. Saw some temps close to negative 10 or so with wind chill. That may have been the coldest weather I've seen since I live in the NC mountains. My neighbor told me about his $1,600 electric bill after I complained about my $250 bill lol. Summer months my electric bill is extremely low so I'm hoping my winter bill will be comparable.

My summer bill is nothing and I was lucky that was true as I used budget billing to pay back the winter crazy. Heat Pumps are very efficient until the temp drops below 40.

I have electric baseboard heat in my 1891 Victorian style house. Figured out last year the thermostats were broken on several of the heaters so they were going full blast 24/7. I disconnected all of them. Going to install some heating ducts running from my stove room to the rest of the house. Hoping it works.

Yikes that would suck! Your house is about 10 years older than mine. I have a 1902 farm house built on pillars. The foundation was filled in awhile ago. I had the crawlspace encapsulated but the walls let all kinds of air in.

 

[Erik B]

Will do. It's not going to be pretty though. I was nervous about having enough wood for this winter but because of the mild temps I've basically been able to survive with only a few fires so far. Looks like December will continue to be mild during the day so I have no more worries. Next year I'm totally set with all oak. Should have enough for the year after as well. Going to finish this scrounge site up in two weeks (have National Guard training this weekend) then I'll relax. Need some time off to get this Echo running.

Don't have to worry about it being pretty, just functional.

 

[JustJeff]

Careful using cold air return. If there is a draft problem or a fire, it will fill the house with smoke immediately. I actually had to move a cold air return to do installation to code.

 

[nomad_archer]

I don't leave the returns open when I am not home and running the blower. I have never had a draft issue thankfully. But good reminder. I had the returns put in when I had the HVAC done so I sure hope its to code.

 

[Ambull01]

My summer bill is nothing and I was lucky that was true as I used budget billing to pay back the winter crazy. Heat Pumps are very efficient until the temp drops below 40.



Yikes that would suck! Your house is about 10 years older than mine. I have a 1902 farm house built on pillars. The foundation was filled in awhile ago. I had the crawlspace encapsulated but the walls let all kinds of air in.

Did you read about all the studies done on basements and crawl spaces? Basically you're supposed to totally seal the perimeter walls, use insulating foam boards, then possible fiber glass posted along framing. Of course plastic barrier sheets on dirt floors. Remove and seal vents. Remove fiberglass from floor ceilings in crawl space and basement. That's another project I need to do

 

[nomad_archer]

I was just outside packing my truck to go up to my hunting cabin tomorrow morning and low and behold Santa saws the UPS man showed up with the new to me echo cs310. I could not resist, I grabbed the head lamp and headed to the shed. I added gas and oil and it fired right up. I can't wait to get some small, medium wood so I can muffler mod and retune. It feels like this saw has more power than it is giving me stock.

 

[MustangMike]

Good Luck & Enjoy your new saw!

 

[JustJeff]

Good Luck & Enjoy your new saw!

That's a sleek and sexy lookin saw.

 

[SteveSS]

I was just outside packing my truck to go up to my hunting cabin tomorrow morning and low and behold Santa saws the UPS man showed up with the new to me echo cs310. I could not resist, I grabbed the head lamp and headed to the shed. I added gas and oil and it fired right up. I can't wait to get some small, medium wood so I can muffler mod and retune. It feels like this saw has more power than it is giving me stock.

Great little saw. I'll bet it would make a great cedar limbing saw. Lot's of folks around here cut cedar for resale to the chippers, and it has to be trimmed flush. I'll bet that Echo would be a dandy.

 

[JustJeff]

That's a sleek and sexy lookin saw.

Whoops, I replied to the wrong post. Lol.

 

[svk]

Wow. Logged in after 6 hours away and had 42 notifications plus several PM's. I think today has been the busiest day on AS since the pre link bucks days.