This fall, we finally blew in more insulation in our attic to make up for 22 years of settling. We also have really dry wood, even though half of it is poplar (the rest is mostly birch with some buckthorn, cherry, and ash).
Blowing in insulation is a pretty nasty job, and I remember thinking "this had *&%(*& well better be worth it".
So far this heating season, we've burned less than two cords. If we continue on that track, we'll burn less than four cords for the entire season. That would be the least ever for a full season.
Our previous house was less than half the square footage of this one. We heated it with a conventional wood furnace, and burned 7-8 cords of hardwood per year with no wood heat for DHW or a hot tub.
We're pretty happy with how this has all turned out.
There's still room for improvement. We have a few thermopane panels that have failed, including two patio doors. I still have more to learn about how to get the most efficient burns. I'm also looking forward to the day (if ever) when we're done cleaning up deadfalls and damaged trees and can have a year of nothing but clean hardwood to burn - maybe we can get to a three cord year.
Blowing in insulation is a pretty nasty job, and I remember thinking "this had *&%(*& well better be worth it".
So far this heating season, we've burned less than two cords. If we continue on that track, we'll burn less than four cords for the entire season. That would be the least ever for a full season.
Our previous house was less than half the square footage of this one. We heated it with a conventional wood furnace, and burned 7-8 cords of hardwood per year with no wood heat for DHW or a hot tub.
We're pretty happy with how this has all turned out.
There's still room for improvement. We have a few thermopane panels that have failed, including two patio doors. I still have more to learn about how to get the most efficient burns. I'm also looking forward to the day (if ever) when we're done cleaning up deadfalls and damaged trees and can have a year of nothing but clean hardwood to burn - maybe we can get to a three cord year.