Famous Annual "How Much Wood Heat Do I Use" Poll

[OhioGregg]

I guess I fit in the #2 category. Last winter, started the wood furnace in the basement on Nov. 1st. Burned till sometime in late March. There was about a week in early March, we had a warm spell, and let the fire go out. Used 4 cords. Cut all wood here on property. We use a couple electric fireplace/woodstove looking heaters to take off the chill in fall/early spring. The propane furnace was not fired at all in the last 2 years.


Gregg,

 

[J.W Younger]

Owb

All wood with a fireplace for power outage backup. Min useage 6.5 cords all well seasoned
white oak, average 7-8 depending on how much I use the shop stove. Have burned over 10
burning off the stump green because wife had furnace installed without notice. Came home one day and there it sat. To make matters worse the gas furnace had been pulled and was sittin on the back porch.
Oh yeah, this was in Oct. Like most of her ideas, its up to me to make em work. Compared to todays prices she did get one heck of a deal tho, 2500 installed with him selling the gas furnace and giving us the 300 he sold it for. You ani't lived till you try and feed an owb for a winter with
green wood.Hell it could have been over 20 cause it never got stacked or split if i could lift it and fit it tru the door.

 

[logbutcher]

All wood with a fireplace for power outage backup. Min useage 6.5 cords all well seasoned
white oak, average 7-8 depending on how much I use the shop stove. Have burned over 10
burning off the stump green because wife had furnace installed without notice. Came home one day and there it sat. To make matters worse the gas furnace had been pulled and was sittin on the back porch.
Oh yeah, this was in Oct. Like most of her ideas, its up to me to make em work. Compared to todays prices she did get one heck of a deal tho, 2500 installed with him selling the gas furnace and giving us the 300 he sold it for. You ani't lived till you try and feed an owb for a winter with
green wood.Hell it could have been over 20 cause it never got stacked or split if i could lift it and fit it tru the door.

OOOOOwweeeeeeeeeeeeee J.W. Whiskey Tango Foxtrot, you got you some troubles.

Numero #1: any oak is dense. Takes some time to get even split oak to dry out.:msp_w00t:

Numero #2 : At no charge, you gotta get The Wife in line. Follow your direction. Give the lady credit, she has initiative and deals well; must be worth something, huh ? Message me for more psych advice. Free, therefore, not worth the price.:msp_ohmy:

Numero #3: I'm slightly dense also. Is the "furnace" the gas one or the OWB ?umpkin2:

Numero #4: You mean to say that you didn't know that OWB means "OUTDOOR Wood Boiler" ? :msp_rolleyes:

Numero #5: What's "..over 20..." ?

Numero #6: Why the H is all the good wood ( oak, hickory, hedge, pecan ) where it's hot and snakes live ? Send that oak here, Downeast, where we really freeze our a$$es off. :mad2:

 

[J.W Younger]

Yeah, guess the reason i call it a furnace is cause it has a tag on it that ses hardy outdoor woodburning furnace. The one sittin on the porch was the one i had fuel for, the one sitting in the yard wus the one i did'nt have fuel for. The over 20 was a possible exaceration on the amount of green wood i stuffed tru the door that 1st winter. That wus over 20 yrs ago, we on top of it now.

 

[Locust Cutter]

2.5

I burn about 5-9 cords/yr (based off of last year being the first winter in my current house w/a now 1yr old P.E. stove). I cut/harvest/scrounge all of my wood myself, all of it hard-wood. This is in addition to having spent $700-800/mo last year in propane as both heating sources were necessary to heat my largely (at that time ) non-insulated old 2700sqft farm house. No about half of the house has been insulated to R-19 standard, so we'll see what the bills are like. I still need to insulate the other half of the house, replace about 4 doors and 14 windows.... One debt at a time. I would hate to know what I would have spent on propane w/o the P.E. Stove installed last Winter.:angry2:

 

[sunfish]

Jotul 118CB in a 1200 sf house, elec heat pump back-up, set at 65f,
(try not to let it run at all).

Two old stoves in a well insulated 1700 sf shop, burn everyday, no back-up there.

Mom and dad's house, small propane space heater for back-up.

Give my brother wood, because I cut too much.

Cut 15-20 full cords a year off our family farm here. 400 acres, no need to go
anywhere else for wood. Stay 1.5-2 years ahead with wood stacked in the dry.

 

[cgk]

Newbie here I would say were a 2 we burn wood 24/7 use natural gas for a backup 2or 3 times a year when were gone on weekend snowmobiling trips also heat a two and a half stall shop i do side work out of with natural gas can't burn wood in there with paint fumes :msp_ohmy: we burn about 2 to 2.5 cords a year depending on the winter in our wood stove heating a 1200 square foot home we normally don't fire up the stove till the temp in the house drops down to around 60 but this year with almost a 4 month old baby boy were going to have to start it up a little sooner and don't shut it down till mid april depending on the spring my brother and I cut and split all the wood for him my mom and dad and for us he burns about 4.5 cords a year same as my mom and dad they heat with fire places and natural gas just finished all the wood for this year yesterday we get all of or wood from friends we burn what ever we can get or hands on we just got a new place to cut wood at this year 175 dead standing elm trees plus at another friends place just had his woods logged they removed around 80 to 90 trees so we can go in there and get the tops and a few other junck trees he wood like cut down so it looks like its going to be a busy winter after were done deer hunting

 

[IHDiesel73L]

Five cords seems to be my average. 2 bedroom ranch with some fiberglass in the walls and a measley 6" in the ceiling. My furnace throws a ton of heat but efficiency is poor. The long term plan for the house is to add a second story, and at the same time do 4" of rigid foam on the exterior clad in Hardi-plank. Then also convert to hydronic heat with a gasification boiler and propane as a backup. The square footage will increase from about 900 to just over 1500, but according to my heat loss calcs if I do the insulation right/size the boiler and storage correctly I should be able to heat with just 3 cords a year. It'll also make a HUGE difference in summer AC bills.

 

[Oldtimer]

220 year old farmhouse with minimal modern insulation or glass.

7 cord through the Ashley wood stove- all told- get it myself.

About 500 gallons of K-1 for two monitors.

About $80 in propane for the cellar space heater to ward off frozen water.

Gets cold in my old farmhouse on those -20* nights without 4 heat sources.

 

[zogger]

Biodiesel

I use wood 99.99% for primary heat with an oil fired boiler for backup heat and a separate oil fired water heater. I service and fire the boiler in the fall to ensure it runs, give it one or two heat cycles, then turn the t-stat down to 50 and it won't fire up again unless we leave for a couple of days. The house is an early '80s energy efficient design. It's about 2000 sq ft, single story, concrete slab, earth berm on 3 sides and something like 14" of insulation in the attic space. I throw a few pieces of wood on the fire before leaving for work in the morning and the house is still around 55 when I get home in the evening although the fire's been out for hours.

I started at 5 cord per year when I moved in, down to about 3.5 between switching to a reburning stove and improving insulation. We actually get about as much rain here in central NH as Seattle, most of it in the spring and fall. The first couple of years here, as soon as it got warm I'd be scrambling to scrounge, split, and stack all my wood by July 1 so it'd be plenty dry for winter but that meant working through some pretty miserable weather. Now I've got 2 sheds built and 2 outdoor piles as well which really allows a lot of freedom in sourcing wood. I have considered paying to have log lengths delivered but so far I've been able to find "free" wood every year. FWIW "Free" wood is almost always wood at someone else's location which I need to cut down, cut up, load, haul, dump, split, and stack. I watch the costs and it usually runs between $50 and $75 per cord all said and done.

Not that it was asked, but I've got a homebrew logsplitter with a 4" diameter piston, 2500 psi pump,14 horse B&S powerplant and fits 24" logs. After I went in for back surgery a couple of years ago I had to do something to reduce the workload. I cut to 14" lengths and anything left over goes into the "ends pile" which I use when the heating season begins, probably in a couple of weeks, until maybe mid November. Looks like there's about a cord in the ends pile but I probably won't use it all before I get into the main shed.

I've come to realize I've gotten real serious about wood in just a few short years.

*Special case: I've been making a small amount of biodiesel and mixing it with the heating oil for a few years. This year I'm planning to upscale the biodiesel processing so I can go to 80% BD in the boilers. Hot water uses almost 200 gallons of oil a year and the increasing cost of oil is killing my budget.

Some pics and a little walk through of your biodiesel rig would be cool! Thanks in advance if you don't mind yet another project!

 

[logbutcher]

LOL at #5. I'm at #2..unfortunetly at 10 degrees with wind my furnace kicks on because the stove wont reach the bedrooms on other side of house.

View attachment 201278

Couple of suggestions for moving heat horizontally, and keeping cold BR's.

"Muffin fans" similar to small cooling fans in PC's set in the doorway(s) will move some heat around. They can be switched to go at set temperatures.

Most northern European homes and British Isles don't heat BR's, only areas where they spend time. In Swiss Alps mountain homes' and Norway, BR windows are opened at night throughout the year. Beds have thick--up to one foot ! --down comforters, with flannel sheets. Only your nose gets chilled...and it's romantic :sweet_kissif you need such ). On assignment awhile ago in the Scottish Highlands, they use electric mattress warmers UNDER you. We're one of the few countries with central heat in all homes, and heat rooms where you only sleep.

We've used thick comforters, flannel sheets, and open windows for a long time here Downeast in winter.......love it. You do move fast getting dressed to get the coffee going and load the stoves in the morning. Nice. Try it.

 

[upsnake]

Logbutcher -- I get the not heating the bedroom part, but why the open window part?

 

[Blazin]

15-18 full cord heatin two homes, domestic hot water... and a 30x70 garage kept at 50° unless I'm in there, then it's 70°....CB5648 rules!

 

[Wood Doctor]

6 to 7 Cords

I figure 6 to 7 cords in my own house, depending on winter conditions. One year I got by with 5, but that was a freak about 6 years ago. I heat just over half the house and save about $600 a year on the NG bill.

I supply firewood to another dozen or so steady customers for heating and make bundles for campers, so my total firewood preparation is about 20 cords a year. Great exercise and it keeps me in shape. Every year the species I bring in varies. This year I received a bunch of rejected logs from a local sawmill after I repaired several of their chainsaws. Most of it was walnut, so I thought best not to complain.

Good synergy! :msp_thumbsup:

 

[J.W Younger]

15-18 full cord heatin two homes, domestic hot water... and a 30x70 garage kept at 50° unless I'm in there, then it's 70°....CB5648 rules!

Not bad considerin where you live. If it got as cold here I'm thinkin at least 10 heating my 2000ft space and water. I do burn yr round for the DHW tho...

 

[abob30]

I burn about 2 cords a year in a 1400 sq ft cape cod with 2 levels. The oil fired forced air furnace is set at 65 degrees. Last year I burned about 50 gals. I cut, split and stack my firewood from friends and scrounged sources. It has been real steady processing wood since Hurricane Irene blew through the area. I have to say, making firewood in 84 degree weather is not my favorite thing to do but I feel like you have to get it while it's available. Actually enjoy it from Nov through April though. Have about 5 cords on hand and more to come.

 

[1project2many]

Some pics and a little walk through of your biodiesel rig would be cool! Thanks in advance if you don't mind yet another project!

Well, there's not much to take pictures of right now. It's downright primitive. Really just a couple of old drums with removable tops. Any fluid transfer is done with a 5 gallon "bucket pump" and manual labor. Methoxide is mixed outside by hand in an old stainless pressure cooker using a steel rod to break up the lye crystals. Glycerine is scooped out of the reactor drum with an old shovel. I can get about 50 gals of fuel processed before my back really starts to complain. New processor will be better. I'll get pics as I build it this winter.

 

[logbutcher]

Logbutcher -- I get the not heating the bedroom part, but why the open window part?

Good question Snake.

One is the 'idea' of sleeping with fresh air. The BR door is closed so the heat loss is minimal out of the BR.

The other reason is more cerebral and a kind of OCD: we like to think that we're camping each night in winter. The many many nights for me outside on climbs or camping, or with units in another life. Who-the-H knows why we do arational things.:msp_unsure:

In any case, it's a nice feeling to wake in a cold room, lightweight thick comforter over flannels. Ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhh......

If you know that there's a warm place immediately beside the wood stoves downstairs, it's quite comfy. No stoicism here.

 

[upsnake]

Gotcha,


Cept in the morning I would never want to get out of bed. Hahah

 

[lampmfg]

#2

With our VaporFire furnaces that are 85% overall efficient and 99% combustion efficient most people including myself use only 3-5 cords of wood to heat their home/season and that's what makes our furnace very special. To top it off we also have the clean burn of less than 1 gr. emissions/hr.

What is the impact on total wood consumption/yr. if you use a super efficient furnace like our Vapor Fire?

Here are the important numbers that need to be examined: 1 gal. #2 fuel oil = 140,000 BTUs; 1 gal. propane - 91,500 BTU's; 1 cord paper birch wood = 21 M BTU's; 1 cord red oak = 25 M BTU's.

VaporFire furnaces were tested to have an overall efficiency as high as 85%, 99.4% combustion efficiency, less than 1 gr/hr of emissions, 99% smokeless burn cycles, internal flue temperatures 285-400 degrees F., and external flue temperatures 150-250 degrees F. VaporFire furnaces have been used for over 25 years with no condensation issues whatsoever, because the flue temperatures are still high enough to support a natural draft system when installed according to our written directions.

A good estimate for oil usage for a heating season would be 500-1,000 gal., with lots of variables. We'll take a look at an average home using 750 gal. of oil for the heating season. 750 gal = 105 M BTU's. If a wood furnace was 100% overall efficient, which is not possible, it would take : 105 M BTU's /21M=5 cords of birch or 105 BTU's/25M=4.2 cords of oak.

Our VaporFire furnace at 82% average overall efficiency would be; 105 M BTU's/(21Mx82%) = 6.09 cords of birch or 105 M BTU's/(25 M x 82%) = 5.12 cords of oak.

Most manufacturers struggle to hit 60% overall efficiency, but we'll look at their results based on 60%. 105 M BTU's/(21M x 60%) = 8.33 cords of birch or 105 M BTU's/ (25M x 60%) = 7 cords of oak.

Therefore, as you can see, using our efficient VaporFire furnaces will, without a doubt, use less wood to deliver the same amount of BTU's you'd require in oil or propane for the heating season then a less efficient furnace would. The other big advantages are minimal air pollution, longer more even burns, and minimal creosote accumulation from 99% smokeless burn cycles. The safely aspect is also huge in saving homes and lives.

I'm quite sure alot of manufacturers will be very surprised to see their furnace test results when regulations come into effect in 2013-14. They're not going to believe how much air pollution and wasted wood their so called efficient furnaces have produced. Many manufacturers will have to fold or redesign their furnaces quickly. I'm thankful that I invested the time, effort and money in preliminary testing so that our company is prepared for the future. We knew the regulations were forthcoming.