Mild Winter wood usage

[spike60]

How are you guys doing on wood use this year?

Looking at my wood useage through this mild winter, it really hasn't changed all that much during the core months of Dec-Jan-Feb. I see the reason as once you get to the point that you're keeping the stove going, the actual amount of wood used doesn't vary all that much. So for me, whether the temp is in the 20's or single digits, it doesn't make that much difference in wood use. If you're keeping a fire going, you're feeding the stove. Yeah, you can wind it down a bit and have longer times between adding wood, but it's still a constant burn.

The only situations that really reduce the wood use are when you can let the stove go out, as is going to be the case today with the temp going up to around 60. That's always the case in both the early and late parts of the burning season. There were very few times in the fall when I bothered to reload the stove in the morning, and way more times than normal when there was no need for a fire at all. Wood use in Oct and Nov was way down from the usual. We'll have to see what March brings. The forecast for the next 5 days looks like there won't be much more than a few evening fires needed.

 

[MacLaren]

Spike, has this winter been the warmest you remember?

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[BSD]

we're way down from our usage last year. this year we've been letting the fire die while the kid and wife are out at work/school. i'll come in from the yard around 5 and build a fire to warm the house back up (no insulation). we've used 8 super sacks from our wood pile. so somewhere around 3.5 cords. we'll still burn another half-3/4 cord for the rest of the spring i'm sure. last year we were easily over 6 cords

 

[REJ2]

Never touched a stick of what i cut a year ago. Everything i've burned was down and dry and cut this burning season. Mild aint the word for it.

 

[MacLaren]

Never touched a stick of what i cut a year ago. Everything i've burned was down and dry and cut this burning season. Mild aint the word for it.

I heard that. In my 40 years this is the warmest winter I can recall

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[Whitespider]

I'm way, way down on usage... at least 3-4 cord down from last year... probably more.
Never even dipped into my "cold weather" wood, and we've let the morning fire go out every day except maybe 8 or 10 times.
We don't care for the house temperature to be much over 70[sup]o[/sup]... anything over 73[sup]o[/sup] is flat uncomfortable to us.
I build a fire in the morning when I get up (4-5:00 AM), some days (not always) I've added a few more splits before heading to work (8:00 AM)...
When I get home at night the firebox has been cold and the blower has stopped.
Usually, about 7:00 PM, I'll build another fire, but rarely add to it before bed... the firebox is normally cold in the morning.
Heck, I didn't even light a fire the last two nights, and it was 69[sup]o[/sup] in the house this morning... almost didn't light one 'cause the sun is supposed to shine today (I built a small one, blower will probably shut-down by 9:00 AM).
Didn't eve turn the gas furnace on this year (except for a one evening "test" run).

 

[3fordasho]

It does take "X" amount of wood just to keep the stove going 24/7. That said I've only burned 1.5 cords max thus far. My normal usage would be 2.5-3 cords for ths entire season. Maybe I'll end up this season at 2 cords. This winter I've rarely had to fire up the 2nd stove. I'll alternate between the two but there has only been a few days that both were fired up. I've just started the 2nd row in the wood shed, I think last winter that 2nd row would be gone by now and into the third row.

 

[cmsmoke]

spike60,
My experience this year is exactly the same as yours. My house was sometimes much warmer than need be, but the wife was happy.

 

[Jredsjeep]

in the core season wood usage was about the same, coming in and now coming out of it i am burning half the wood i used to. my wood stove burns less in the "warmer" weather, i assume it pulls less of a draft. either way it works for me since i dont need it to heat nearly so much when its 45 as when its in the teens.

 

[reaperman]

My woodshed is still almost full from fall, maybe a hair over a cord used for the entire winter. Not bad for Minn. I only had to light one fire per day in the evening which burned out sometime during the night. That kept the house warm enough until the next evening. I wont have to fill the woodshed up this fall, yippe! Not my favorite task.

 

[bcorradi]

I'll probably go through about 5 or 6 cords this year where my normal consumption would be about 9. I'm running an older inefficient ashley stove, but I heat solely with wood. I have off peak electric backup and propane, but they have both been shut off all year.

 

[spike60]

spike60,
My experience this year is exactly the same as yours. My house was sometimes much warmer than need be, but the wife was happy.

I figured a lot of folks would have had a similar experience. It was also much easier to keep the parts of the house away from the stove nice and comfy. And to answer McLaren's question, yeah it was definitely the mildest winter I can remember. Quite a change from a year ago, huh?

I should have mentioned that my overall wood usage is certainly down for the year. But that was all due to Oct-Nov-Early Dec being real mild. 2nd half of Dec and Jan-Feb consumption was close to normal.

 

[Dalmatian90]

1/2 to 3/4 cord less then normal (4 cords)?

That's my guess. Good parts of Jan & Feb that would normally be keeping it stoked 24x7 I was letting the fire go out during the day once the house was warm, and I wasn't getting up at 2am to reload it to keep the house warm overnight.

Bought this place in '99.

It's the second winter in those 13 years that the ponds (bigger one is 1 acre) never froze over more then just a see-through layer of ice. Every other year the ice is enough for at least dogs and deer to walk over. A couple years I could drive a truck on it if I was a risk taker

 

[LazyJ]

In my 18 years of wood heat in the same house this is the first season I've used less than a cord. Three cords is the norm and I was excited last year that I only used a little over two cords. I guess I'm through for the year so I'll have to haul the rick in my garage back out to the shed which is full of 8 cords of 3-5 year old wood and I have 4 cords stacked outside, at least a four year supply.

Geez, I used to struggle to stay a year ahead, now I fear I'll lose some wood to bugs/rot. I'll admit I did some serious insulating and weatherstripping which helped more than I thought.

 

[Jeremy102579]

I only normally burn 3-4 facecords a year.....yeah I know not much

This year, being as I was working 6-7 nights a week I didnt enjoy as many fires as I would have liked.....maybe only went throgh 1.5-2 facecords.......all I had to burn this winter was cottonwood.....guess it was a good winter for burning lower quality wood. Next year I already have 3.5 facecords of pear, norway maple, ash and locust split, stacked and drying out back, and the remaining 1.5 in the florida room from this winter.....all year here to gather more, would like to get 2-3 years ahead if I can.

 

[Somesawguy]

I haven't used as much as normal this year, but I'm glad it hasn't been any worse. There wasn't that much extra this year.

 

[sawkid15]

i think its been slightly warmer.We have burned 2.5 cords so far this year, and we usually burn 5 cords a year. we start the fire around 6:00 at night, and run it hot until 10:00 then we fill it and turn the draft down. a small fire in the morning and the house is warm the rest of the day.

 

[Dan_IN_MN]

I only normally burn 3-4 facecords a year.....yeah I know not much

This year, being as I was working 6-7 nights a week I didnt enjoy as many fires as I would have liked.....maybe only went throgh 1.5-2 facecords.......all I had to burn this winter was cottonwood.....guess it was a good winter for burning lower quality wood. Next year I already have 3.5 facecords of pear, norway maple, ash and locust split, stacked and drying out back, and the remaining 1.5 in the florida room from this winter.....all year here to gather more, would like to get 2-3 years ahead if I can.

So...that would be 1 1/3 cords?

 

[Steve NW WI]

A normal year for me is 8 cords. Last year was about 10. I'm looking at probably 5 cords this year, and not a gallon of propane (most years I'll use 200 gallons or so).

In my case, there was substantial midwinter savings. Instead of 3 fills a day, most of the winter I got by with 2.

One thing I know, I've got pretty much only oak left on the stacks. My "junk" wood took a beating this winter. There's no worries though, I can always find more of it!

Normally, I'd say the best part about this winter was easy access to the woods, but work has kept me from being out there almost as much as last year's snow. Not a bad problem to have, but still a problem.

 

[Jeremy102579]

So...that would be 1 1/3 cords?

could be....i like 3-4 facecords better