2nd year with Fireview, using less wood than I thought :-)

[3fordasho]

Looks like the 13+ full cords of hardwood I processed over the last 2 years was a little over kill... I appear to be on track to only use about 3-3.5 cords this season. I guess it helps to be working again, not home durning the day to constantly feed the stove. Even though it has been an unusually cold winter in MN, I've not had to run the natural gas forced air at all - though I have used about 1/2 ton pellets in the back up quadrafire castille. Really loving the wood heat, wife likes it too, especially the 70 deg average temps inside vs the 62 we had with just pellet and natural gas. The radiant heat is great too, really dont miss the blower noise from the castille and drafts from forced air.

The neighbors think I'm nuts with the 13 cord out back ;-) oh yea, the highest nat gas bill has been $60, that's for heating water, cloths dryer and keeping 2 stall and 3 stall garages heated above freezing.

 

[Wet1]

Very nice. I really like that stove. How many sq ft are you heating?

 

[3fordasho]

1000 sq ft main floor, 600 sq ft second floor. Not heating the basement but it stays around 50-55F. Stove went in when I added a
240 sq ft room on the back of the house which is very well insulated. The rest of the house is 100+ years old with
updated windows (fair-good quality- should have spent more) and blown in insulation (could be better).
Typically the stove room will be 3-4 degrees warmer than the rest of the house. I knew a more central location would be ideal but
it was impossible to find a chimney location thru the orginal structure. Even so the soapstone fireview never blows you out of the stove room.

Very nice. I really like that stove. How many sq ft are you heating?

 

[granpajohn]

... keeping 2 stall and 3 stall garages heated above freezing.

Just wondering what is the mechanical reason for this? Or am I missing something? (Please pardon my Southern sensibilities )

 

[Todd]

You're on about par with me. I'm heating 1800 sq ft and have averaged 3 cords per year for the last 3 years. Maybe when they come out with that new upgrade for the Fireview next year it will cut down the wood consumption even more?

 

[3fordasho]

No real good reason, the 3 stall is for the daily drivers and it's nice having the cars at 35F above zero rather than -15, also have water and drain in the floor.
The 2 stall is my work shop and it's nice to avoid the condensation issue (on tools/equipment) when I heat up the shop to work in it, also about $2k worth of autobody paint that should not freeze.

... keeping 2 stall and 3 stall garages heated above freezing.

Just wondering what is the mechanical reason for this? Or am I missing something? (Please pardon my Southern sensibilities )

 

[rickw]

I'm on track to use about 2 cords this year - burning 24/7. I started a little late, about Dec 10.

 

[3fordasho]

Just checked the wood shed and I'll revise my usage estimate down to 3 cords max for the season. I'm at 1.875 cords used to date. Think another 1 1/8" cord will finish out the season? Sure don't mind having the 13 cords processed and stacked.. will insure well seasoned wood going forward. The first year wood was dicey- while nothing was real green I can tell the cat didn't like some of that wood. Also used more wood the first year, not as seasoned, plus a little too much low btu wood like cottonwood and silver maple. This years wood has been 95% red and american elm. Future wood is ash, black walnut, red and white oak with the oh so common elm and boxelder to finish off the wood stacks.

 

[begreen]

That's really respectable, especially for an old house in Minn. IIRC last year you used over twice that amount. Did you also tighten up the house this year or is this a milder winter? Or is this just the wood?

 

[Backwoods Savage]

Looks like the 13+ full cords of hardwood I processed over the last 2 years was a little over kill... I appear to be on track to only use about 3-3.5 cords this season. I guess it helps to be working again, not home durning the day to constantly feed the stove. Even though it has been an unusually cold winter in MN, I've not had to run the natural gas forced air at all - though I have used about 1/2 ton pellets in the back up quadrafire castille. Really loving the wood heat, wife likes it too, especially the 70 deg average temps inside vs the 62 we had with just pellet and natural gas. The radiant heat is great too, really dont miss the blower noise from the castille and drafts from forced air.

The neighbors think I'm nuts with the 13 cord out back ;-) oh yea, the highest nat gas bill has been $60, that's for heating water, cloths dryer and keeping 2 stall and 3 stall garages heated above freezing.

With 13+ cords you are good for 4 years. Fantastic.

Overkill? No such thing!

It's like I tell people, especially at my age, one never knows what might happen and some winter I wouldn't be able to cut any wood. No problem! We have plenty (over 20 cord) so we would have no worries. In addition to that, you will recall gas prices well in excess of $4.00 per gallon and also back in the 70's when there was some gas shortages. Well, what if there would be another gas shortage? I can get by for several winters with no problem.

As I've stated before, it is like, or better than money in the bank.

Also, I'd say you are right in line for the amount that Fireview likes.

 

[3fordasho]

I'll attribute it to several things-

Better wood - Red elm vs cotton wood/silver maple.

Better seasoned wood, the red elm I've been burning this winter was standing dead and then seasoned a good year after splitting.

Not home during the day feed the stove every couple hours. Instead load er up and let it run a longer cycle.

This winter seems colder than last.

No changes to the house but because of the 2009/2010 tax credit, considering some new windows and better insulation.

That's really respectable, especially for an old house in Minn. IIRC last year you used over twice that amount. Did you also tighten up the house this year or is this a milder winter? Or is this just the wood?

 

[begreen]

Cool. Looks like we have a lot to look forward to next winter with our wood stash improvement. (Going from pine/fir/maple mix to locust/alder/cherry mix.)

 

[Highbeam]

Where did you find locust BG? I am set to make a major alder harvest on my woodlot this spring. Red alder is about as good as doug fir from what I've experienced.

 

[begreen]

I scrounged the locust. Saw the tree crews taking it down along the highway and persuaded them to cut some up in stove sized rounds. They were just going to take it to the landfill.