We do the same regulate the temp by opening windows. A couple of weeks ago it was cool and I turned on the radiant. The cats, dog and myself knurled up on the floor and took a nap( short lived because the "little woman" came home and the house was 84 degrees). Love wood heat
How long can you hold out?
- Thread starter chainsawaddict
- Start date
Help Support Arborist Forum:
whitemountain
ArboristSite Operative
No shortage of wood here, or shortage of wood to be cut. Just waiting for a reason....
If your home runs anything like mine your wife can give you plenty of reasons.
This can be very good
and very bad 
just depends on what kind of mood she's in.Doc, I'm more than happy to learn about the places you were able to score wood here, if you want to provide any info via PM.
The vast majority of our wood was (is) scored from other people's property.My challenges are: (1) I'm realistically able to get wood on the weekends only as I do not work locally and don't get home until 7-8.. making it a little too late to then drive an hour to get wood, (2) we unfortunately don't own a PU truck or trailer... only an SUV.... so I've had to pass on some rotting and/or infested wood, (3) still very new to all this. We bought our inserts less than 12 months ago... so we ended up getting them around Thanksgiving last year, but weren't fully prepared for the amount of wood needed. If anything, we may have 'rushed' into getting the inserts. Back then, we had never heard of AS or OWBs. Having said that... the inserts, when running, worked great last year and we were able to get the main level up to 72° and the up stairs to 69° with minimal loss over night. That's a lot higher than when the furnaces are running!
Please don't take the above as whinning... we're working on getting better and saving funds to be able to get more needed stuff.. such as a PU or trailer. One of those will help tremendously. Unfortunately, there's nothing I can do about the not working locally and having many other people end up scoring while I'm still at work. Can't tell you how many times I've had something lined up only to later find out... well, this other guy was able to come pick it up during the day today, so it's gone now... or what's left is crap, as the other dude cherry picked the stuff. We're working hard at trying to make contacts and get leads, but we're the noobs trying to bust into this and there are a number of 'veterans' in the area... not to mention the number of local tree companies that sell firewood on the side (a number have added this line of business over the last year to try and supplement the loss of income from their main tree service business).
Here are some pics of the stacks for the '09/'10 winter.
Fronty Owner
ArboristSite Operative
Ill consider it about mid december..
ok, I have a bit of an advantage, it dont get very cold here...
Turkeyslayer
Smells Great
Here are some pics of the stacks for the '09/'10 winter.
How are you gonna clean the chimney with the ladder under the wood pile:monkey: LOL
muncybob
ArboristSite Member
We got the oil-wood boiler. 100k btu. It's the smallest unit they make for wood. Cost was around $10,500. They have less expensive non-stainless steel units too. I picked it up at the factory. Nice thing about it is it's auto lock-out switch over from wood to oil heat. Also supposed to be able to burn higher moisture content wood than other "gassifiers" and without thermal storage. I hope it's all true!
Final tweaks being done today and I think I'll fire her up this week-end no matter what the night time temps are!
I wish I had the wood reserve on hand that some of these pics show on this forum but I started too late!
We actually found that ladder on the property, buried under a LOT of leaves and 'stuff'. Have no idea how long it was buried back there, but given the condition it's in, I didn't want to use it as an actual ladder... so we used it for the wood piles!
Nice new nova! :biggrinbounce2:
Coldfront
Addicted to ArboristSite
We have already had a couple of mornings down in the 30's I have already had one fire to take the chill off, (indoor wood furnace in the basement), I can see where you guys with OWB have to wait longer. I just need a quick fire once in a while to take the chill out.
I've had a half a bin of wood sitting next to the stove all summer long. I just couldn't hold out any more. I guess I got the itch.
TreeClimber57
Addicted to ArboristSite
I just heard today that there may be snow falling by end of this month.. now that is insane.. But I am going to try and hold out!!
Redbug
ArboristSite Member
Nothing warms a house up like free wood. And nothing dirties up the house like the wood stove. Oh well. Propane and electricity are just too expensive to heat full time with. Especially with all the free BTU's just waiting to be used. I would not have a place without a way to burn wood, (or some other cheap/free source of heat). If the power goes out, you are still independant and warm. I have an inverter on my 12v deep cycle batteries to run the blower motor on the wood stove if the power does go out.
I don't split wood. I just cut the bigger logs thin enough to go into the stove. Kinda like thick pancakes 14" high or so.
I don't split wood. I just cut the bigger logs thin enough to go into the stove. Kinda like thick pancakes 14" high or so.
palmrose2
ArboristSite Operative
Im thinking it will help everyone appreciate the wood cutting that goes on around here
Holding off does make it more appreciated. Letting the fire go out in January because there is no more wood in the basement helps to motivate family members to chip in.
I raised 5 children and getting them to help (as teens) was sometimes like pulling teeth. Seeing your breath upon leaving the shower is a great motivator.
Now that it is just my wife and I, it is actually easier to hold off. I enjoy cutting wood but I also enjoy sitting on my backside. I try to hold off as long as possible so I can make a fire in the fall and let it go out in spring.
BIG BEAM
ArboristSite Operative
We do things kinda strange around here.We use oil FHA to take the chill off in the mornings for now.When the weather gets colder we turn up the furnace to take the chill off and load the wood stove and let that heat the house for the rest of the day.When Jan hits we change over to anthracite coal FHA also and run that alone for 2-3 months.In the spring we start with oil and wood again.
Oil this year for spring prepay was 1.55 so I bought 800 gals.We had 918 gals left over from a prepay 4 years ago.I buy oil when the price is low weather I need it or not.
I buy wood cut to 18"(we call it blocked up here) and split it myself.This year we bought 10 face cord and I est. I'll burn about 6-8 face.
So this is what I use for heat in a 1700 sq. ft. seive 1830 cape
3-4 ton coal
6-8 face cord
200 gals of oil
For the last 3 years we just burned coal 7-8 ton a year but last year we started using the Ulefos(wood stove) again.I've bought this stove in 1977 and I'ts like an old freind,nice to be using it again.
So to answer your question we've been turning on the heat for a week or 2 now to take the chill off in the morning.No wood yet!
DON
Oil this year for spring prepay was 1.55 so I bought 800 gals.We had 918 gals left over from a prepay 4 years ago.I buy oil when the price is low weather I need it or not.
I buy wood cut to 18"(we call it blocked up here) and split it myself.This year we bought 10 face cord and I est. I'll burn about 6-8 face.
So this is what I use for heat in a 1700 sq. ft. seive 1830 cape
3-4 ton coal
6-8 face cord
200 gals of oil
For the last 3 years we just burned coal 7-8 ton a year but last year we started using the Ulefos(wood stove) again.I've bought this stove in 1977 and I'ts like an old freind,nice to be using it again.
So to answer your question we've been turning on the heat for a week or 2 now to take the chill off in the morning.No wood yet!
DON
mtfallsmikey
Addicted to ArboristSite
chainsawaddict
ArboristSite Guru
No kidding!! I cant even think about burning wood until I get all these darn tomatoes canned. Picked another bushel today, including a beautiful 3 pound Dr Whyches Yellow!!:jawdrop:
czar800
ArboristSite Guru
I like it warm 75+ in the house. I burn year round with my OWB to heat my hot water. It will be sooner then later I will need the fire to take the chill off on cold mornings.
dean06919
ArboristSite Operative
Must be nice to have some ripe tomatoes. Most of mine are still green!
mtfallsmikey
Addicted to ArboristSite
Well, here's a few ripe ones for 'ya!
mtfallsmikey
Addicted to ArboristSite
Got a 4-point buck, 2 does, 2 fawns feeding off of the tomato scrap pile from canning....then there are the acorns for dessert! What is a Dr. Whyches yellow?...post a pic of it!
My biggest was a 2+ lb. Beefmaster. All of those in the pic in my last post are Mountain Fresh.
Similar threads
