Speaking of firewood...

[Steve NW WI]

Put 5 cords through the old stove from late Sep till late January. Less than a cord through the new one in almost a month of fairly cold weather. I'm hauling in a little every week or so till I get a handle on what I'm gonna need. I don't want a bunch of wood downstairs all summer.

Just guessing, I'll finish out the year at 7 or so cords total, and next winter will get by on 5 or less, vs 8 in the old stove. With about 10 cords laying around - that puts me close to 2 years ahead.

My 4 days up north with the gas on, cost me about 25 gallons of propain...

 

[autoimage]

woodshed holds 5 and im almost at 3 so it loks like it will be 4 when its over. i just uncovered some 2yr old apple i forgot about thats burning so nice

 

[Whitespider]

It's been the relentless wind this year that's sucked so much heat away.
It started blowing out of the NNW just before Christmas and ain't hardly stopped.
Even on days when the temperature has managed 20's, and even a few 30's, wind chill has remained in single digits either side of zero... the last time the temperature broke 30[sup]o[/sup] we had 40 MPH winds (if it keeps up I might just as well move to that god-forsaken land called Kansas and Nebraska).
Just like right now... the thermometer says 19[sup]o[/sup], but with a 17 MPH wind it's pulling heat away as if it was only 4[sup]o[/sup] outside.
It used to be we'd see the wind die off some after sundown, but not so much this year... most of the time it picks up!

 

[Fred Wright]

We've gone through a good 3 cord already. The stack we made close to the house, approx. 2.5 cord was gone last month. We're 1/3 the way through the next stack. Didn't think we'd need both when we stacked 'em but I'm glad we did. We won't run out.

Daytime temps have been about normal for this area... but at night it rarely gets above 29°. Went through a lot of red oak awhile back when the cold snap hit. Still have a bunch left but we're being conservative with it.

There's another 3 cord laid in and stacked but it'll have only have one year drying time before we get into it next winter. That's kinda disappointing but whadda ya do?

Have another 4 cord in the round out there, I've gotta get it split and stacked pretty soon.

 

[KenJax Tree]

I don't need to worry about wood when its cold i click the theromstat to heat and when its hot out i click it to cool.:msp_thumbsup:

 

[H 2 H]

It's been a mild winter here PNW (were I live) I have about 3 chords left and burned about another 4 chords this winter same goes for my Aunt that I've been cutting for. We haven't had snow to speak of here like in past years and not the rain we usually have

 

[ppkgmsy]

We've gone through about 3 cords, probably burn about 1 more before the season ends in late April or early May. I cut for 4 cords a year, but if we go over this I dip into next years wood, which has been drying since the summer or autumn.

Do any of you guys keep track of your yearly wood? For about 10 years now, I've been taking photos of the woodshed with whoever might have helped me posing in front of the stacks. I paste these up on the wall of my shop and then make notes on the photo indicating when each cord was burned. My wife thinks I'm nuts but admits it's better than having girlie pictures!

 

[jack_90125]

I have 2 pallets side by side and pallets on ends and back standing up and have filled it today, 6 times since oct. and its about maybe 3/4 cord per fill and all we use to heat for a long long time. never run out of wood as we have a tree service that dumps only hardwood and I probably have about 4 cords ready if needed and 20 plus waiting in the wings. trying to get 20 years ahead so I can find something else to play with.

 

[cnice_37]

Do any of you guys keep track of your yearly wood? For about 10 years now, I've been taking photos of the woodshed with whoever might have helped me posing in front of the stacks. I paste these up on the wall of my shop and then make notes on the photo indicating when each cord was burned. My wife thinks I'm nuts but admits it's better than having girlie pictures!

You sir, are nuts.

I merely have pictures of before/ after for almost all the years I burned, but I just keep them in photobucket.

Burned 3 and change cords, got another 1 and change I'll burn then call it quits more than likely. Hopefully I get through May, I have plenty CSS waiting for next winter, but man I'm already tired of this winter.

 

[johnnylabguy]

I just brought a load in and I'm down to a little over a cord left in the woodshed. Been a colder winter than last year. I'm totally guessing here but have probably burned around 3-4 cords. I really have to start keeping better track of it!

Last cord in the shed!:

Not that I couldn't dip into some of next year's stash:

 

[time warp]

OWB has gone thru 11-cord so far but I'm heating over 4500 sf...The wind has been wicked this winter. I can tell a huge increase in wood usage when the wind is howling...

 

[Streblerm]

This is the first full year for my new EPA stove and I have burned just a hair over 4 cords so far this year. It was almost exclusively a mix of Silver and Norway Maple. It hasn't been an extremely cold year but I think it was a bit colder than last year when i burned between 8-9 cords in the smoke dragon which was pretty consistent year to year. I didnt keep that close track on wood usage in the past but this year I would like to build a woodshed to hold 2yrs worth of wood under cover so I have been keeping a tally. I figure I'll burn somewhere in the neighborhood of 5.5 cords by the end of the season before I switch to A/C.

In addition to burning less wood my electric usage is down about 20%. I attribute this to the longer burn times I am getting out of the new stove. On those long cold nights the heat pump must have been running quite a bit. With the bedrooms upstairs and the stove down late night loading just isnt in the cards. I know the house is warmer in the morning than it used to be and I have to light much fewer fires. It is also easier to regulate the temperature in the stove room with the new stove.

I was hoping to cut my wood usage in half but I'm still happy with 1/3 less wood and a lower electric bill.

 

[rmount]

Burned almost 2 cord so far and still have just under a cord in the woodshed, starting to look forward to those occasional March days when the fire can be let to go out during the day.

 

[avason]

Might be the first time in 6 years that I might have to buy some wood. I've gone well over 11 cord. I have plenty on the ground but the snow on the ground won't let me get to it. I was going to get to it this weekend...well try...but we have another #### storm heading our way Saturday. :msp_sad:

 

[Streblerm]

Burned almost 2 cord so far and still have just under a cord in the woodshed, starting to look forward to those occasional March days when the fire can be let to go out during the day.

I hear you there. I have a half cord of slab wood I have been saving just for that. I can fill the stove in the morning and get a good hot fire going. It will reduce to coals pretty quickly. I can close the draft down so i don't overheat the house and I'll still have enough coals left to get another fire going before bed.

That never worked in the old stove. I knew the EPA had to be good for something.

 

[H 2 H]

We've gone through about 3 cords, probably burn about 1 more before the season ends in late April or early May. I cut for 4 cords a year, but if we go over this I dip into next years wood, which has been drying since the summer or autumn.

Do any of you guys keep track of your yearly wood? For about 10 years now, I've been taking photos of the woodshed with whoever might have helped me posing in front of the stacks. I paste these up on the wall of my shop and then make notes on the photo indicating when each cord was burned. My wife thinks I'm nuts but admits it's better than having girlie pictures!

I found my Dad's firewood note book; I'm amazed how much he cut but he did sell firewood (when he retired in 86) for a number of years and I now have his collection of saw's; bar's; chains and cutting supplies and I have several pic's of his stacks

I'll have to find one pic and post it; it was one huge stack 50' x 50' x 5' (square) all Alder all 18" (+/-) length pieces

 

[Larry Ashcraft]

We've used maybe 1.5 cords this year, mostly cottonwood. I have probably 2/3rds of a cord left, plus my hardwood stash for overnighters. We can only burn in the evenings on weekdays since both of us work. Propane keeps the house warm all day on weekdays. Weekends the furnace doesn't go on. We have an EPA stove that heats our little 1500sf house pretty easily. When we retire, I guess the propane man will also.

My woodlot is 1/4 mile away on my own property, plenty of downed cottonwoods from the 2002 drought. I can easily cut, split, haul and stack a half cord on a weekend afternoon if the sun is shining and the wind isn't blowing. I'll probably have one more "firewood day" before spring, just so I'll be ready for the first cold snap in September. I usually don't start working up firewood until October, summer is for gardening and canning.

 

[Ayatollah]

This is our second year without storebought gas. The furnace is still sporting a red tag. But we started out the year with 4 cords of wood; 1 cord of gum, 1 cord of walnut, and two cords of oak. We're down to 1/2 cord now, and I'm stressing a bit. Not only is our use up this year, but my kid bought a house with a zero-clearance openhearth, plus we burned both our insert, and our upstairs open hearth. Normally I'd be picking up craigslist wood, but the economy has driven some people who previously did other things, into the firewood business and getting their supply off craigslist. It's a bit harder to find arleady cured wood now. Still some green, but the choicer hardwoods are being fought over by competing craigslist jackals.
I do have some pecan in the round that was cut over a year ago, but even at 8" long and 1 foot diameter, they are still showing 37 or more percent moisture when split. That ain't gonna work

 

[kmcinms]

Less than a cord, feeding two fireplace inserts. But I do throw yard wood in it during the day sometimes. Love to through the gnarly stuff in when I can tend it a bit. Threw a dried up pine log in one today, burned for 4-5 hours with a piece of gum right next to it. Don't do the pine very often unless it's really dry.
Glad to see all the wood in this thread keeping us warm .

 

[Gologit]

We heat our 1300 sq foot house with a wood stove. It's home made by a blacksmith, very old, brand unknown, and heats the whole house very comfortably.

I started the winter with 2 cords of oak, a cord of cedar, two cords of ponderosa pine, three cords of doug fir, and a cord of almond.

So far I haven't touched the pine or the cedar except for kindling. I still have a cord of oak, two cords of fir, and most of the almond left. That's about normal for us.