How much less this year? - Mid Atlantic

Plan on about double what you burned this year. Some years I burned this much wood by the end of December.

Although it has certainly been a more mild winter than normal here in NH, I think the 'huge amount' of saved wood is overstated. I might, if I'm lucky, save 1/2 cord over last year. I have to heat 3000sqft with the stove, so even if it's in the 30's outside, I still need to burn a full load to keep the house warm. I just haven't experienced the kind of saving in wood that other folks have stated - I can't believe the the milder winter we've had this year could have resulted in me burning 1/2 of my normal 5 cord. Cheers!

Well, I may be party crashing, but here in Mi., I was looking in the shed today and I should have about 1/2 cord of wood left from what I expected to burn by the end of Feb.
Very unusual.
If this keeps up, and it looks like it will, I'll have a full cord left by mid-May when we stop burning. Heck, we may not even HAVE to burn until mid-May at this rate.

I've figured out that my savings is measured in oil, not wood. I will pretty much burn the same amount of wood regardless in winter, but this year the furnace ran a lot less.

I can't compare to last year since I got the install this past mid december. But I can safely say that I burned about 1 1/2 to 1 3/4 cords over that span and I have alittle less than a 1/2 cord for this year. I have worked since then, ccs wood for next year, and I have roughly 3 1/2 ready. Everything here on out will go toward 2012/2013, and my goal is at least another 3-5 cords by summers end to really get ahead. Call tree services, have notes or business card in your vehicle to leave at someones house that may have had a tree taken down, and check out your bureau of forestry.

i've cut my usage for most of the season so far considerably. partly because i'm only burning my little jotul. it burns so much less than my summit i have in the basement and i'm only heating the upstairs instead of the downstairs too (kids are gone now). it stays pretty much @ 60 degrees down there so no need to light a fire unless it pushes 55. i've learned a valuable lesson from this year though.....when i cut or buy, all the wood is going to be 18" or less makes it a lot easier getting wood for the jotul. all one length that the smaller stove can use makes it good for both of them. i think the summit takes up to 21 i wont have to "sort" it next year......well, maybe the year after cause i'll have so much left over.

cass

If you are like me and your wood stove produces only part of the heat for your house, then you might not burn any more next year. I have tried to keep the wood stove burning most of the time to keep the baseboard electric heat from coming on too much. Sure, the warm weather has caused me to slack off sometimes, but only a little. The resto fthe time I am not sure how much more I could have burned because I have had a fire going whenever my schedule has allowed.

That said I have burned only half of the wood I expected to burn this winter, but this is my first full year with this stove so I was only guessing. I have burned maybe two cords but have been figuring on four per winter.

Not sure how much less wood, probably quite a bit being I was short on wood to begin with...it's gonna be close...figure I started out with about 3 cords at best. I did burn more Oil than last years total, and I've still got 5 moths to go (I go July 1 - June 30 on my calculations)...the weather was too warm for the stove (short on wood)....but yet, needed to heat the house a little...fire up the furnace.

MetMan said:

I've figured out that my savings is measured in oil, not wood. I will pretty much burn the same amount of wood regardless in winter, but this year the furnace ran a lot less.

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+1. My house is a little oversized for my stove. In a normal winter the oil burner would have to supplement the stove during the colder times. Since we havnt had many colder times, the oil burner hasn't kicked on as much.

This doesn't answer your question exactly but I seem to be burning at least 2/3 of the wood I normally would in a average cold winter. What I am finding is the house is getting alot warmer with the milder temperatures than usual. (for example 74/76 vs. 66/68). I normally burn close to 5 cords. We still got March but I would say I will burn close to 4 cords this year.

Not in the Mid Atlantic but we're also having a mild winter here. If things keep up I could save about a cord over my normal usage. It's not close to over here though, we still have March, April and some of May ahead of us.

NH_Wood said:

Although it has certainly been a more mild winter than normal here in NH, I think the 'huge amount' of saved wood is overstated. I might, if I'm lucky, save 1/2 cord over last year. I have to heat 3000sqft with the stove, so even if it's in the 30's outside, I still need to burn a full load to keep the house warm. I just haven't experienced the kind of saving in wood that other folks have stated - I can't believe the the milder winter we've had this year could have resulted in me burning 1/2 of my normal 5 cord. Cheers!

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+1. My house is around 3000 sq. ft. and I burn on average around 5 cord. I probably burn around 3 cord so far this entire season. So ailanthus, I would say you will need close to double what you used this year if your going to make it your primary heat, as that is what we do.....Try to get a year or two ahead, you'll thank yourself for it. Trust us......

Ive burned about a cord less and about 100 gallons of oil less compared to last year, I think last year was unusally cold though.

I've burnt about the same as previous years, but the house is even warmer and my heat pump has been shut off. Typical years it would be on but set at 64°, so the warm winter allowed me to save on electricity.
My shed is sized for a severe winter plus 10%. I always collect enough to refill the shed plus a truckload or 2 and I"m have enough rounds for another 1.5 seasons not counting what's left in the shed.
Good advice to keep ahead of your need by at least a year or 2 and don't assume that next winter will be mild.

Last winter was the first winter I ever used a wood stove, and we actually had a fairly cold winter. I planned on burning 3 cord last year, but actually only burned 2-1/2 cord from late November to early March...burning the stove 24 - 7.

This winter, I was again planning on 3 cord, but started the stove later than last year due to the mild temps...fired it up in early December. I was burning 24 - 7 until last Thursday...I let the stove burn out because we went away for the weekend. I'm not sure if I will fire it up again considering the forecasted temps...we'll have to wait and see what the temps do over the next few weeks. But, so far this year I have burned a little less than 1-1/2 cord.

I am about 3/4 cord savings at the moment compared to last year, but on the same token I have been letting the heat pump run more than usual but our electric bill is still lower than normal.

The local oil/gas companies are hurting big time in our area.

mellow said:

The local oil/gas companies are hurting big time in our area.

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I feel bad for the local businesses that distribute the oil/gas, but not for the greedy corporations that market it......no sympathy for them whatsoever!!

Half the wood I used last year.

ailanthus said:

So, I'm brand new to the forum & have only been burning wood since early-January - thank you all for all of the expertise you've shared with me already. I'm very curious how much less percentage-wise people in the mid-atlantic have been burning this winter with the mild weather we've been having. Trying to plan (& stack) for next year.

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Welcome to the forum ailanthus.

Indeed almost everyone in the States has enjoyed a much warmer than usual winter this year. Winter is not over yet but the worst should be past. I expect one big storm yet this winter and fear it will be ice. I pray I am wrong.


As for planning on the wood supply, pay not much attention to how much wood you've burned so far but go more by what others normally burn. Regardless, if you can get 2 years ahead on your wood supply you will really be a much happier person. That is because, as you know wood needs time to dry. If you try to burn wood that is not dry enough..... Let's just say that I've not been very successful in making water burn just yet. If I can conquer this, I'll let you know how it is done. Until that time, get yourself 2 or even better, 3 years ahead on your wood supply. This will assure you have good wood that is ready to burn. If everyone did this 99% of all wood burning problems would be solved! In addition to that, once you get ahead so you are burning good dry wood, you will burn less but get more heat from the wood you burn.

Good luck, and for sure get next year's wood on hand, split and stacked as soon as you possibly can. You will reap the benefits next winter.

Much more for me. For the past 3 years, we've burned about 5 to 5 1/2 cord of hardwood. This year, we're burning 95% pine. Gone thru 6 cord so far. Probably 1 more before spring. Of course, the house temps are 77F MINIMUM at all times (we like it warm).

Just got another 8 cord of pine from a neighbor down the road. He has an OWB but doesn't like burning pine in it. So much the better for me! Add that to my stores and I've got 3+ years supply...in just pine. That will give my oak stacks another year or two to really season well.

Our perception of a mild winter is often shaped by snowfall than by actual temperature. I was surprised to find that in the SE PA area, both 2001/2002 and 2006/2007 were slightly milder than this season so far, although you'd have to go back to the 1950s before that for an equally mild season. February looks set to change those numbers, with 60s forecast this week, it really should be a record breaking winter.

For me, burning wood only when I'm home all day, power outages, sick days and snow days factor more into my heating demand than actual temperature, even if I look at my propane use, there is no detectable pattern with weather.

TE