Shoulder season goes on and on

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realstihl

Minister of Fire
Dec 4, 2007
525
eastern kansas
This weather is crazy here in the midwest. Lows in the 40's and highs in the 50's and 60's. I'm getting ready to go out and split some of my wood into smaller pieces. Hot fire in the morn and let it go out. I'm not complaining but woodburning plans have changed. just a little more work is all.
 
Same here. 28 this morning and supposed to get to 68 today. Good day to sweep the chimney (If the stove ever cools off)
 
I hear ya....To muddy up here in Michigan to even go out and cut wood without making a complete mess. Looks like its coming tomorrow though, just it time for January.
 
Same here in Montana. Warm and windy all December. In fact, I'm going out this afternoon to start cutting up an Ash tree on my neighbor's property that got struck by lightning and blew over last summer for next winter's wood.
 
Yep, looking for a big cold front. They are calling for lows in the teens and highs in the 20s for the beginning of the week. I'm looking forward to enjoying the stove and hoping this brings some fresh ducks down from up north.

fv
 
The unseasonal warmish days make it hard to decide whether or not to burn the stove. If yes, the house gets too hot. If no burn, the propane furnace might run a bit. We haven't yet mastered the "burn a quick fire and let it go out" thing.
 
Looks like some high winds coming which will drop the temperatures big time and also means lots of lake effect snow. However, it appears it will be short lived with the cold as it warms right back up; just maybe not so high as some of you folks are having.
 
I know wtf? It is gonna git real cold here in NEPA next week....so I better not complain :-S
 
Shoulder season is over here in NH, but the temps are certainly still above average. Still cold enough for 3 fires a day, but the fires just have a much easier time keeping the house toasty and I'm never concerned about how fast to reload - I just reload when the coals are burned down well. Cheers!
 
although we do have snow and the area is packed with snowmobilers and skiers, we too are having a mild so far winter.

i would like to personally thank all those who are burning tires and releasing refrigerants into the atmosphere!
keep up the good work!
 
Same here in the mountains of NC. Low 30's at night. Sigh. It did not stop the bride from burning a lot of wood though. We usually go through 1.5 to 2 cords a year. The pile was getting small (as I am planing on building a proper wood shed this spring) and Craigslist saved my tail. I got a full honest cord of aged locust, cut, split and stacked for $100.

Looks like temps plummeting Monday into the teens. I know one mongrel pup who is going to be happily planted by the stove soon.
 
Fortunately my wife is absolutely loving the new stoves. Tuesday it's only going up to 29° so that's about the coldest so fat but today... almost 60 crazy warm. I'm splitting some wood in a few.
 
I just got done topping my stack off by the back door. Brought up some 2 year old Hackberry and 5+ year old hedge. That hackberry will really put on a light show, better than hedge if you can believe that. Doesn't last very long though. 52 deg and wind is blowing 30 mph.
 
It's about 45*F here right now.
I'm not complaining. I've barely burned any of my denser, seasoned firewood (Red Oak, Ash). I'm still burning the Silver Maple, and Red Maple that I gathered early this year.
Unseasonably warm for sure.

One of my neighbors is putting on a new roof today.
 
Welcome to my world... Ironically we got down to just above freezing last night. It's supposed to hit 43F today.
 
It has not been really cold here yet. Our house faces south and it can be 5°F outside and the sun will keep the house at 74 from 10Am to 5Pm. Those freakin cloudy mornings I put in a few extra pieces of wood then the sun pops out and it gets up to 80 quick. On the bright side I have not used much wood this year. Upgrading the insulation to R-50 has also helped with that. I like the cold cloudy days I can keep a small fire burning 24/7
 
NH_Wood said:
Shoulder season is over here in NH, but the temps are certainly still above average. Still cold enough for 3 fires a day, but the fires just have a much easier time keeping the house toasty and I'm never concerned about how fast to reload - I just reload when the coals are burned down well. Cheers!

Almost identical experience here. Saving us a ton of money on oil, since the stove can keep up with heating needs even when I'm not here during the day.
 
Its good and bad for me. Above freezing I try to run just one stove, and it never can heat the whole house. It works, but usually only mid 60's in the stove room and low 60's for most the rest of the house. I dont think inside has hit 70* only a couple times in the last month, and those I think were colder days we fired both stoves up. I could run both but I really hate to mess with both if I dont need too, and I know I dont have quite enough wood to make it through the winter so trying to stretch the supply out. So I'll take it.

What is worse is the rain. It wont quite. Non of my stacks are covered except for what was on the porch thats mostly used up now. This has been a terrible year for drying, I just resplit some of the bigger splits and they were still 25% or slightly more.
 
the outdoor thermometer is showing 47f and its 65 in here without reloading the stove before bedtime last night. gotta love that for this time of year. i spent some time yesterday cutting on an ash tree in a area thats not so easy to get to if theyre was snow on the ground. today ill split the rest of the pieces i hauled in and see how much more i can get done before it gets real cold. i can use all the mild weather for heating but its taking its toll on the skiing, happy new year to all and enjoy some nice weather.
 
Ash_403 said:
Silver Maple, and Red Maple that I gathered
When I think of "gathering" wood, I see a picture of a tribesman making his way back to camp with a big basket full of sticks on his back and a strap going around his head. :lol:
But yeah, it's nice to still be able to burn Cherry and not touch the rows of the heavy duty stuff.


fireview2788 said:
Yep, looking for a big cold front. They are calling for lows in the teens and highs in the 20s for the beginning of the week.
No wood-gettin' for me until it warms back up a bit, later in the week. In the meantime I'm looking forward to kickin' Old Man Winter's arse. I'm testing a new theory... :cheese:
 
Not only warm, but no snow here in New England. It's given me extra time to stock the woodpile near the house.

The skiers aren't too happy. I happen to be a skier too and I'm sure it will come. Feel bad for the upper New England economies that depend on snow for much of their income from skiers/boarders and snowmobilers.

Now that 2012 has finally arrived maybe things will change, but it's 34'F here on the NH border at 9:00AM. I've got the Resolute cruising in the basement, and mellow jazz playing on the first floor.. jammies and good coffee.. money in the bank and wood in the woodpile and a wife that puts up with me most of time. Life is good.
 
Ya'll are making the inventor of the internet feel real good about now.
 
I personally have loved the mild December. There have plenty of days this month when we've done 1 to 2 loads that have kept our house at a comfortable temperature sometimes for several days. Best part: heat pump off!
 
At this rate I'll be 4 years ahead on wood without doing anything at all.

Most years we've gone through 3-4 cords of poorly-seasoned oak. So far this year, with new liner and dry wood, about 2/3 cord of black locust.

Laid back about 6 cords cherry and BL thinking to burn it 2012-13 and 2013-14, but I may not use up the 2011-12 BL!
 
bluedogz, I was thinking somewhat the same thoughts. Yesterday I looked at the little wood pile of what we've cut this year and thinking that with what we've saved so far this year that makes our new pile worth about double what it is.
 
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