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

[RPrice]

I burn about 2 - 3 cords of Utah juniper depending on the year and how much we are home to stoke the fire. Last year I think the highest natural gas (backup furnace) bill we had was about $10! The minimum monthly charge for natural gas here is $5.16/month, even if you don't use any. We do use a space heater in the bathroom on many winter mornings (furthest from wood stove).

Anyway, it's variable, depending on the weather and the work schedules that keep us away from sticking wood in the stove. Last year we were here a lot and able to keep the fire going most days.

Good thread, thanks!

Oh, our house is about 2100 square feet.

 

[logbutcher]

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.

Are you sure this isn't cover for a meth lab ? :canny:

 

[727sunset]

Either #1 or 2

In the house we're burning about 3.5 cord each winter and heat primarily with wood. There is propane available in the event I go away. Last year the propane bill including BBQ usage was 80 some dollars so it really didn't see much use.
The garage is heated as well and it burns 1.5 - 2 cords.
I also supply a widow with her annual needs which generally amounts to 2 cords.
All the wood comes from storm damage and cleaning up local bush lots within a mile from home.

 

[SPDRMNKY]

#2 I guess...and we play a game called "keep the electric furnace from coming on"...we win most times, unless the wind kicks up and the temps go subzero...limestone blocks and leaded glass aren't great insulators

6-8 cord a year through a wood/coal beauty...heat exchanger really helps

...you can buy wood? ...like have someone else split and stack it? ...it really is the future!

 

[Chris-PA]

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.

Yeah, our place is about 175 years old, actually two different structures connected together in the 1950s. Without a blower no heat gets from the stove to our bedroom - but I like a cold bedroom. The main part is log and stone, and the kids rooms are up in the half-attic. There's no insulation in the end wall above the logs, and very little in the half-attic spaces. Old sashes and single glazed windows. I'm happy if I can keep the air from actually moving through it (and if I don't finish rebuilding the window I pulled out that won't be too easy). Thankfully it does not get as cold here. Man did this place use a lot of oil, but not any more.

 

[hardy steve]

9 cords all bucked by myself.With occasional nephew's help.OWB runs year round water heat also.Same as most gas furnace only runs if we leave home for a trip.

 

[1project2many]

Are you sure this isn't cover for a meth lab ?

Lol. No meth lab here. Brewing BD and filtering oil is pretty mild. That Meth stuff's downright dangerous in too many ways. But I did have to file papers when I bought my Lye and Methanol promising I wasn't a terrorist or drug dealer intent on illegal activities. I'll stick to workaholism, anyway. It's a socially acceptable condition.

 

[myzamboni]

I'm a hybrid of #2 and #3. The T-stat is at 65 and I scrounge all my wood. Only burn ~1.5 cord/year as my 'deep' winter is y'alls shoulder season. The best part is my Gas/Electric bill is never over $80:msp_biggrin:

 

[CharlieG]

#2

 

[Hoytster]

#2

I have been averaging 6 -7 full 4x4x8 cords a year that I cut, haul home, and split myself. I burn it all in a Buck model 21 wood stove insert. Needless to say, I usually spend a good 30 minutes each night bringing wood into the house during the winter and have to empty the stove of ashes every 2 days. I have a forced air oil furnace as a backup that usually goes through two 250 gallon tanks a year. My house is old and drafty, and the women likes it warm. Can't wait to put in a forced air wood furnace!

 

[DavdH]

#1 1-2 cord. Temperate climate, we get frost and can see snow. No other heat source agree with #5.

 

[VTWoodchuck]

#1 for me, about 10 cords a year I cut and split myself off my land.
(first post!)

 

[Eric Modell]

4 to 5 cords a year, no backup. We have a electric space heater in the bathroom or it will freeze. We use the cook stove in mild weather in the morning.

I do not quite understand the green seasoned deal. We burn what is down dead going bad or easy to get too.

Last year, I was out of wood and burned a beautiful live green oak that was encroaching on our field. It burned great, and we did not noticed the diminished btu value.

 

[battlefordguy]

hello
we heat upto 3500+ sq ft. keep part of the house cooler at times. use 15 -22 cord each year. varies based on how much we heat our 1200sq ft 2 nd living room.
burn pine, based on available woods.
pretty much just use N gas in the summer for dhw.


---
I am here: http://maps.google.com/maps?ll=53.052515,-105.963442

 

[howellhandmade]

2.5 I guess. I set the gas central heat thermostat at 66-ish, but so long as I keep the insert stoked it never comes on and the gas bill doesn't rise much above summer levels. I cut/scrounge all my wood. I use 5-6 cords in a winter, gas bills were $3-400/month in the cold months before I put in the insert and stay around $100 with it. If I paid $200/cord it would be a wash at best, and I wouldn't get the exercise.

 

[J.W Younger]

Bout 20 ricks give r take a few sticks.

 

[abckidsdad]

#1 here

My OWB is my only source of heat right now. I have a oil furnace in the basement but it has not worked in two years, and I don't plan on fixin it. I've had my OWB for four years now and have not paid for any wood, I've had several tree companys drop off and found lots of free wood. I've learned how to cut and split some pretty big rounds this way, lol. I have a fireplace too but the eartquake knocked my chimney down, I've rebuilt the chimney but still need to have it lined.

The nice thing is this is the year that my OWB pays for its self, free heat starts some time this season!

 

[genesis5521]

Ok boys and girls, here 'tis, the famous annual how much you heat with wood poll.
Why you ask ? This is the firewood forum on AS. Unlike other forums here, users of firewood compete with other fossil options for heating. From the posts, e.g. "why are those firewood sellers cheating me," or "what kind of moisture meter do I need to tell if the firewood I bought is really truly seasoned," or "why don't I have my firewood ready in October," it seems that many barely use this wood heat resource. Includes OWB, wood furnace, wood stove (NO pellets, corn, biobricks, or roadkill)So, tell the g's honest truth.....

1. 100% wood heat, NO central furnace or ANY backup, AND I harvest/scrounge ALL the firewood.
2. 99 and xx % wood heat with some minor space heating backup, AND harvest scrounge most of the firewood.
3. Most of heating by wood "up from" a central furnace set at ~ 65 F. Buy all firewood C/S/D.
4. Heat with wood only for weekends, romance, entertainment. Buy it all....
5. Wood is heavy, dirty, inefficient. I'm rich and lazy. I'm here just for laughs.

I'm a 2. I burn 5 full cord (15 face cords) a year. Use less than 200 gallons of LP gas for cooking on a gas stove. I have 15 full cords (45 face cords, a three year supply) on hand. I'm 65 now and wanna get a 20 year supply (100 full cords, 300 face cords) cut, split and stacked within the next 3 years, so as I get older, I won't have to worry about having to collect firewood. I just enjoy being out in the woods, and I enjoy making firewood ! ! !

Don <><

 

[ccarpen4753]

Im a 2. Primary wood, secondary EdenPure electric heater. Have a small stove so itll burn out over night, use electric just to keep it tollerable until fire is going. Cut,split all my own wood. Use about 2-3cords a year.

 

[JBinKC]

#2
I have both electric baseboard, oil filled electric space heaters and propane furnace backup but use the wood stove for 98%+ of my heating needs. In an average year I use about 2 1/3 cords of scrounged hardwood a year.