When to stop burning....

I have bigger house..2500sq.ft.
I may run it till April..who knows.
I don't like to hear the heat pump.
Anyways I don't overheat the house because it's a cat stove.
A load every 20-24 hours in the shoulder.
Sometimes at 16 hours..depends on the weather!

Here in SW Washimgton state we burn until mid April or so, depends on how cool it is. If one quick fire gets the house too warm we stop burning.

As with all stove decisions we have an exact criteria; I stop burning when the wife tells me to.

We shut down one stove this week, it usually only burns when the lows are well below freezing. The second stove will probably burn till mid-April. In April the average highs are near 60 and lows around 40 but we are near the water and need the stove going to keep the dampness out of the house.

Next week is supposed to have highs below freezing for a couple of days. May have to relight the second stove.

KaptJaq

When the weather tells me it is time to stop. But i put all my tools that deal with the stove up by about June.

I think I had a fire last June. Now that my furnace works, I may just turn it on when needed in the summer.

Outdoor temps are not the whole story.
With a slab foundation, shady location, house like mine; I have found that the mass of the structure cools progressively through the winter, and similarly, requires more warmth to come up to temp in the spring.

This rule applies to all structures, (as a mass), in varying degrees.

So, on a beautiful spring day, (hi temp 72F, e.g.), the indoors will be quite cool. On the same temp autumn day, the indoors will be comfortable. This, despite the (much) stronger sun rays in May than in October. I have observed this by the speed with which the indoor temp falls...progressively greater as the winter goes on.

So...We here are likely to delay fall burning into November, but continue into late April. All plus-or-minus of course.

I don't put up my stove tools into the barn until May, in spite of our mild climate.

ETA: the OP criteria of daytime temps in the mid 40s would not fly here at all. Baltimore's average hi temp for today, the middle of Feb, is already 45F...
http://www.nws.noaa.gov/climate/getclimate.php?wfo=lwx

I used to stop burning when overnight temps are in 30's-40's, and daytime temps were high 40's into the 50's.
Always end up going down to one fire at night when shoulder seasons take hold and are here to stay. Then taper in or off depending on which shoulder season.
The lil woman likes it warmer than I, and I will try and keep it comfortable for her best I can. Also depends on how long winter decides to hold on or not, at the end of the season. Last year was a non winter, and seemed to avg the 40's here, with some ok lows at night. The few winters before, seemed to start late, but also finish late. Seen a few members those winters run out of dry wood due to winter holding on longer than usual. This year is the first near normal as I can recall winter that I can remember in a few years. Curious to see how long it will hold on or not.

So many variables... If you have supplemental heat, fuel cost, climate, construction, etc.

Here we have inexpensive natural gas primary heat, a small house that gets great solar gain and a small lot that won't easily store 3 years of 24/7 wood. We usually limit burning to weekends and evenings when daytime temps are below 40. We typically are done by early march.

gerry100 said:

Maybe a not a useful exercise because there are too many variables, but I'm still interested in when people end their heating season.

In my case, when the daytime temps are consistently in the mid 40s or above and the nightime temps are above freezing the season is over. Reason being is that we're too warm inside during the day and I don't like start/stop burning even with an EPA stove and chimney liner.

Last few years I've been ending the season the 1st week in March, which gives me 2-3 more weeks.( this nicely coincides with going out to the woodlot to work on 14/15 wood)

Click to expand...

We don't have a furnace so we stop burning when the house stays warm enough without a fire. Most years our last fires will be in early May.

I find it interesting as it sounds like you start cutting wood in March. That is when we stop cutting wood! March is when the sap is running, spring birds returning and other critters coming out of hibernation so we tend to want to not be disturbing them at this time of the year. We do our splitting and stacking in March/April. Our wood cutting usually begins December 1. Today I cut 3 loads but probably won't cut much more at all this year. But then we probably have enough on hand right now to go through the winter of 2021-2022; maybe more, maybe less. We may also get rid of some of the wood yet this spring or next fall, but we like to have plenty on hand. If something goes wrong so I can't cut some year, no problem as we still have plenty of wood. Besides, with my age creeping up a bit, who knows how much longer I'll be able to do the cutting? So we try to be prepared.

Now that Im heating my domestic water with wood. NEVER!
Bye bye oil man

I usually stop burning when the house plants start drooping and the children are panting.....seems to always coincide with late March/early April. I think it has something to do with the return of the robins or something....

HotCoals said:

I don't like to hear the heat pump.

Click to expand...

Exactly. If the hot water heater which runs the hydronic heat system comes on, the stove stays lit

When daytime temps are in mid 50's. Everyday though, not like this crazy weather we're having right now!

I stop burning when my wife is warm without the stove!
Actually some early May and late September nights may need a cozy fire.

When its warm inside. Technically it does not end for us because when it gets chilly we use the stove weather it be spring fall summer winter. Rarely in summer but it does happen.

Pete

This is my first season. I started wanting fires in the evening around Halloween, which in my area has the same average temperatures as early April so I'm guessing that's the cutoff for me.

I stop when the inside temp tells me to stop. By early May we're usually wrapping it up.

I'll heat with wood if it's below 60 or so outside. It may be just a small fire to knock off the chill, but I can't stand to hear that furnace kick on.

When I am not cold inside the house.

Typically this is sometime around April or May . . . but a few years back I actually built a small fire in the house on July 3rd as it was surprisingly nippy that morning.

I'm going to burn all summer! I'll turn the AC to MAX cold, and then light a fire to take the chill out!

Main determinant for me is inside temps (read: wife), not necessarily outside conditions. I've already stopped 24/7 burning a few weeks ago. Still have early PM and overnight fires. Typically all burning ceases in the April timeframe, but in the past we've had to light up in May.

In Oregon, it's legal to light up anytime now right? Oh wait, wrong forum!!