Burning too much in the shoulder season?

[clr8ter]

We have been burning off and on for a month or so, first season burning. It seems like we are going through a lot of wood doing this. (Approaching 1/4 cord and about 3 cord planned for the entire season) We decided instead to use the oil until it gets colder, considering that the stove overheats the room it's in at these temps. Anyone have any thoughts on this?

BTW, I know what the shoulder season is, but why is it called that?

 

[woodsmaster]

I often have to open in window or two in the kitchin where the stove is at during the shoulder season, but I get my wood free. Once I get my new boiler going I wont have to waste this heat. The pile seems to go fast at first
to me.

 

[ansehnlich1]

A few thoughts come to mine. I am in South Pennsylvania and annually plan on burning 6 cords. I burn nearly 24/7, only time the oil heat is on is if I am out of town for a few days.

Shoulder season comes from the hotel/motel and/or resort industry and is the time of year between the highest and lowest periods of business, usually spring and fall.

 

[NH_Wood]

I've been burning for a little of a month. Not sure what I've gone through, because I'm burning uglies which were heaped in a pile. Just about through the 'junk' wood and starting on the main winter wood. I've been burning more than I plan to in future years, simple to practice with the stove and learn how it wants to operate under different weather conditions, different, wood, etc. Lots of folks use their alternate heat source - your oil in this case - to take the chill out of the house in more mild weather, and saving the wood for when temps are colder. Depends on how much wood you have. I'm in the same boat as the previous post - plenty of free wood on hand (four years ahead), so I'm not concerned with using too much wood (but not trying to waste wood either). If you only have 3 cord (or a little less now), you'll need to start thinking about how best to use that amount. Some folks with small homes can get away with 3 cord/year - but, if you have a larger house in a colder climate, 3 cord is likely not enough. As for shoulder season - I figured it had to do with a metaphor for a bell curve of winter temps - where the head is dead of winter and the shoulder are the more mild temps of fall and spring. Just my guess though! Perhaps we are just shouldering the burden of burning in poor conditions :cheese: - Cheers!

 

[SolarAndWood]

Shoulder season is one of the primary reasons I bought a catalytic stove. 500 pounds of mass in the middle of your living space puts out a lot of heat unless it burns very low or you do very small fires.

 

[oldspark]

Just build a small hot fire and let it go out, if done right it should not over heat you and not use too much wood.

 

[ecocavalier02]

Shoulder season is one of the primary reasons I bought a catalytic stove. 500 pounds of mass in the middle of your living space puts out a lot of heat unless it burns very low or you do very small fires.

This makes the shoulder season much more enjoyable with the blaze king. people so oh man your burning already i just turn the thermostat up on the furnacae little to take the chill out. i say yeah me to. i just turn the t stat down for the low burn. with plenty of uglies to burn this yeah i wont use the good wood till its good and cold. enjoying the fruits of my hard work paying off very well this year being very much ahead.

 

[branchburner]

... decided instead to use the oil until it gets colder...

BTW, I know what the shoulder season is, but why is it called that?

I burned a lot more wood in Oct. than I had planned on, too. But I noticed your sig says "many cords of free wood" rather than "many gallons of free oil." I say burn 'em if you got 'em. But only if it's well-seasoned. I can also get all the wood I need, but just have to make sure it's cut/split a year or two ahead. This will be the first winter I actually have more than I need.

If three cords is all you have, save it for winter, especially if the house is getting too warm now.

The shoulders are "off the peak" (the peak being the head), and the term shoulder season comes from the travel industry:
http://hotels.about.com/od/hotelsecrets/qt/shoulder_season.htm

 

[BrotherBart]

"Shoulder seasons" is a term borrowed from the travel industry. It is the periods on either side of a high utilization period. In both the travel industry and wood burning those are Fall and Spring.

 

[Dune]

Your wish to burn three cords may not come true. Either way, is not wood cheaper than oil? If your stove room is too hot, work on distrubuting the heat about the house. A fan or two, on the floor, pointed towards the stove room will help even out the heat. The problem will only get worse, the colder it gets. The shoulder season is when I burn only pine. Pine is free in New Hampshire too. Stock up on a couple cords for next year.

 

[argus66]

ya start getting wood now as well, if u run out late winter if seasoned well some of it my be ready to burn to get u through. or get some bio bricks now while u can. to help.

 

[Backwoods Savage]

We have been burning off and on for a month or so, first season burning. It seems like we are going through a lot of wood doing this. (Approaching 1/4 cord and about 3 cord planned for the entire season) We decided instead to use the oil until it gets colder, considering that the stove overheats the room it's in at these temps. Anyone have any thoughts on this?

BTW, I know what the shoulder season is, but why is it called that?

This actually is a very common problem, especially with new wood burners. Most times it comes from simply putting too much wood in the stove. For example, filling the firebox with wood vs. putting in 2 or 3 small splits. Let those small splits burn and let the fire go out. That makes the wood last longer, the home more comfortable and you get lots of practice restarting the stove.

Three cord for your area might be a bit on the light side. If you have a small home and it is well insulated, you might get by if the winter is not too seriously cold. On the other hand, if you plan on burning 3 cords of wood this winter, you should already have 6-9 cords cut, split and stacked.

This brings another point too. If you have only this year's wood supply on hand, there is a great chance that the wood is not as dry as it should be. If so, you will burn a lot more wood to get the same amount of heat. Once folks burn a whole winter with good dry wood they are really amazed at the difference in how it burns. It burns so easy, there is less smoke, less problems getting the wood started burning and the chimney stays much cleaner too.

I well remember a winter when we had to burn freshly cut wood. I had been injured and just could not get wood around and hoped to be able to do it before winter but just could not handle it. I was forced to buy. I got freshly cut white ash. Well, the good part is that it was white ash as that is about the best chance for burning it green. We got through the winter and did not freeze but were never very comfortable. We had to clean the chimney several times and we burned a lot more wood. If memory serves me (not too often any more), we at that time averaged about 6 cord per winter but that winter I think we burned maybe 7 1/2 cord. Fortunately it was not a really cold winter.

Shoulder season means different things to different people. Lots of theories. Just think Spring and Fall.

 

[clr8ter]

Well, by "many cords of free wood", I meant about 10-12. Currently, I have about 3-4 available to burn. Meaning, trees dropped May '09, cut Aug-Sept, split & stacked Christmas week '09. (Yeah, I'd like it drier) The rest were dropped this summer, being split now. I was told by the previous owners when we bought this house last spring, they used 3 cord & 200 gal of oil. (The oil useage was verified.) Other people with similar houses told me to expect to use about 3 cord as well. I'm beginning to doubt.

The small hot fire & let it go out sounds like a plan, though

 

[branchburner]

Other people with similar houses told me to expect to use about 3 cord as well. I'm beginning to doubt.

Another way to look at it is just keep on burning and don't worry - if you run out, you'll be using oil in the spring instead of in the fall, that's all. Better to run the burner than to burn green wood, but you can always scrounge dead limbs and hardwood pallets. If you enjoy scavenging, you'll never have to burn oil again.

My house is small, though leaky. I burn at least 4 cord, and I'm down to zero gallons of oil per year. I've used up my "fall pine" already, so I'm into the two-year hardwood now - it's hot in here! (but we like it that way).

I will have plenty of pine for spring. I discovered last year that if my shoulder-pine was only marginally dry in the fall, if I stacked it (not too tight) in the barn, it sufficiently dried out during winter. Craigslist posts for pine will often yield partially seasoned wood that just needs a few months to dry out. Search now, and you can be set for spring. (Just be sure the wood is covered - the key is loose, criss-cross stacking).

 

[bobforsaken]

I'm burning for the first time this year... we had a bit of a cold snap where I was burning 24/7.. I have about 7 cord with about 4 split this summer.. So I'll be burning a bit green this year even though the wood has been 3-5 foot lengths for a year or two. So far I burning my old Pine (several years old but recently split) and some punky poplar that I'm guessing has been down for a year plus, but recently split. (about 24% on fresh split) with occasional Oak and Beech uglies to refresh the coal bed. (I find if I don't do this and use just pine and poplar I lose a coal bed and can't run on the Cat)

With that I was burning about 10-12 splits in a 24 hour period and keeping the house in the 80's (so I started heating my garage with it as well.).. Most of what I have would be considered Junk, so I'm not worried particularly about using it now... To be more frugal, I can have a fire at night, load up the stove and burn overnight... that puts enough heat into my concrete slab that the house remains comfortable all day... then I can start another fire when the sun goes down and do it again.. I'm going to try that to bring down my consumption but I was having fun experimenting with 24/7 burning (and getting my wife involved).


No propane yet this year.

 

[Auctioneer]

We have been burning off and on for a month or so, first season burning. It seems like we are going through a lot of wood doing this. (Approaching 1/4 cord and about 3 cord planned for the entire season) We decided instead to use the oil until it gets colder, considering that the stove overheats the room it's in at these temps. Anyone have any thoughts on this?

BTW, I know what the shoulder season is, but why is it called that?

Me Too

 

[stejus]

Every fall I go out in the woods and pull back fallen limbs and downed trees for the next season. This is my shoulder season wood. Usually get a coal bed going and then throw in the small rounds. Almost time for the splits though.

 

[n3pro]

I rather sweat and use more now risking running out now at the beginning of the season because I've been waiting several months to burn wood and I'm much more positive about the added work. By the end of the season I'm tired of dragging wood in, loading the stove, pulling splinters out, killing bugs, cleaning the mess, etc; so if I would run out i'd be much more ready to use the furnace then rather then now.

So far third year burning and I have not ran out yet. For me I burn wood because I want to not because I have too which skews my opinion, the financials of it are just an added benefit.

 

[gyrfalcon]

Let those small splits burn and let the fire go out. That makes the wood last longer, the home more comfortable and you get lots of practice restarting the stove.

Bingo. That's what I do. I keep boxes of splittling debris around, and if there's the slightest bit of red coals in the firebox by the time I get a little chilly, I can just toss those in and get a fire going again. It's a bit of a pain, and a lot of temperature swings, but I'd rather that than use up way too much wood burning constantly and making the room too hot for comfort.

Of course, this only works if you've got really dry wood that ignites easily from a scraps fire.

I'm also actually wishing I had more punky wood to burn because that's just perfect for shoulder season.

 

[dlaurinaitis]

We have been burning off and on for a month or so, first season burning. It seems like we are going through a lot of wood doing this. (Approaching 1/4 cord and about 3 cord planned for the entire season) We decided instead to use the oil until it gets colder, considering that the stove overheats the room it's in at these temps. Anyone have any thoughts on this?

BTW, I know what the shoulder season is, but why is it called that?

I read this today and thought that I'm in this boat too. So, I decided to hold off for cooler weather.

Now, I'm sitting here with my thermostat at 70 degrees, with the furnace running, wonderring why I'm not burning. Its a catch 22.

Tommarrow night I think ill be back to blazing away. Screw it. Heat is heat no matter what month it is.

 

[oldspark]

Burn baby burn!

 

[gyrfalcon]

We have been burning off and on for a month or so, first season burning. It seems like we are going through a lot of wood doing this. (Approaching 1/4 cord and about 3 cord planned for the entire season) We decided instead to use the oil until it gets colder, considering that the stove overheats the room it's in at these temps. Anyone have any thoughts on this?

BTW, I know what the shoulder season is, but why is it called that?

I read this today and thought that I'm in this boat too. So, I decided to hold off for cooler weather.

Now, I'm sitting here with my thermostat at 70 degrees, with the furnace running, wonderring why I'm not burning. Its a catch 22.

Tommarrow night I think ill be back to blazing away. Screw it. Heat is heat no matter what month it is.

My goal is not to pay the oil bastards a single penny if I can possibly manage it, no matter how convenient it is, and even if it was cheap, which it isn't and never will be again. It irks me no end that the boiler has to be allowed to turn itself on for a few minutes every day just to keep its pipes working, just in case the temperature outside should plunge into the double-digit minuses and my stove can't cope. Grrr. It's the sound of burning dollar bills, as far as I'm concerned.

 

[Jeb1heat]

N3pro has a great attitude toward burning. It's been said alot, but having properly seasoned wood is key. You just can't overstate it. My first year burning I went through alot of wood, didn't get the heat I needed, and was even questioning my stove choice. The same set up after another year (it was oak) was like night and day. The last of that wood in the 3rd season was even better. No questions about the stove, small efficient fires during shoulder, and more efficient use of wood overall. And easier! I'm sure it could be attributed to the experience. You can go through alot of wood in the shoulder if you are struggling with startups and getting to optimum burns. Seeing the difference confirmed for me that it's all about wood prep. The whole thing's a a process and the stove, the wood, the winter temps, etc. all have an impact. Burning good seasoned wood for a full season will give you the feel for what quantity you need. I'm in Jersey, and I burn 2.5/year, so you'll need at least 5 in southern NH

 

[gyrfalcon]

N3pro has a great attitude toward burning. It's been said alot, but having properly seasoned wood is key. You just can't overstate it. My first year burning I went through alot of wood, didn't get the heat I needed, and was even questioning my stove choice. The same set up after another year (it was oak) was like night and day. The last of that wood in the 3rd season was even better. No questions about the stove, small efficient fires during shoulder, and more efficient use of wood overall. And easier! I'm sure it could be attributed to the experience. You can go through alot of wood in the shoulder if you are struggling with startups and getting to optimum burns. Seeing the difference confirmed for me that it's all about wood prep. The whole thing's a a process and the stove, the wood, the winter temps, etc. all have an impact. Burning good seasoned wood for a full season will give you the feel for what quantity you need. I'm in Jersey, and I burn 2.5/year, so you'll need at least 5 in southern NH

Depends entirely on the size and layout of the house, how well insulated it is, and what your expectations/demand are for whole-house heating without too many cold spots. I'm in VT in a moderately well insultated fairly small old farmhouse, and I get by just fine for me with about 2 1/2 cords a year, but not everybody would put up with a cold kitchen and no heat on 2nd floor.

 

[branchburner]

It's been said alot, but having properly seasoned wood is key. You just can't overstate it. My first year burning I went through alot of wood, didn't get the heat I needed, and was even questioning my stove choice. The same set up after another year (it was oak) was like night and day.

You can go through alot of wood in the shoulder if you are struggling with startups and getting to optimum burns. Seeing the difference confirmed for me that it's all about wood prep.

Yup. Yesterday I tried burning some wood, oak and pine, that was marginal. Today was two-year seasoned maple and ash. Same amount of wood both days, slightly cooler outdoor temps today. Boy, is it hot in the house now! Yesterday I used too much wood to get not enough heat. Today I foolishly loaded the stove like it was January, burning the good stuff instead of the punky pine I've finished using up.

It is truly amazing to look into a stove that has a seemingly decent fire going and to feel very little heat, and then the next day have what seems like the same fire just blast you out of the room. The difference is that secondary combustion, barely happening yesterday, gave me 2x the heat today for the same volume of fuel.