How many cords do you burn

[aforbes100]

Biomass 40
500 gallons of storage
3000 sq foot house (5 years old)
2 adults (3 kids)
Live in Maine
Keep the house on 69 (constant) all winter
Use wood only from Mid Oct to Mid May (7 months).

Overall, I am using about 7 cord of wood. Just curious how that stacks up to others.

 

[muncybob]

I would guess that a fairly new house of that size in Maine using 7 cords is decent? Here in PA, we live in a very old house of about 2100 sq ft and burn for about the same peiod as you keeping temps at 70+ most of the time. Based on consumption to this point we will use less than 5 cords this year, but it has been very mild until this last week or so. I'm sure our average winter nights are warmer than yours. I love Maine....in the early autumn!

 

[aforbes100]

Thank you. That sounds about the same. Good comparison. Anyone else.

 

[Pat53]

7-9 cords/year, probably about 7 this year

 

[stee6043]

I have found that burning cords in my boiler leads to nasty fumes and unsightly deposits on my refractory. Besides, I prefer to plug things in with cords. Or I strum them on my six string. Burning them seems like such a waste.

Ha. I just searched the interweb high and low to see if "cord" vs "cords" is even defined. Most wood burners I know use "cord" for both plural and singular when describing an amount of wood. For the life of me I can't confirm which is proper.

Nonetheless, I burn four cord from late October through late March, early April. 3200 sq. feet @ 70 degrees.

 

[Mushroom Man]

Guessing 9 cords. Heating 6000 sq.ft including house, dhw, barn grow rooms, garage and basement. House is 70 degrees, so is basement where storage tank is located. Garage/boiler room is 75 degrees and 3 barn rooms vary (70, 60 50) as insulation and exposure varies.

The lines/piping in the garage clearly should be better insulated. Who needs a 75 degree garage?

I've used almost 6 cords so far and this has been an exceptionally warm year. I am surprised to have used so much wood but I am in a very windy location. Perhaps that is the reason!

I have started to burn some straw (spent mushroom substrate) on top of hardwood coals to extend my fuel but that would not equal a quarter cord of hardwood so far.

I really must do a better job of getting wood dried ahead. My fuel is not well seasoned. I am compensating by splitting smaller.

 

[barkeatr]

USED 4.5 SO far of mainly cherry. Heating 1800 sf of house, upstate NY right on the border of canada. house is extremely high mass and the ups and downs this year have been tough...I probably have burned as much as i would in a cold year. The cherry is also cut too short for my profab gasser and the gassification doesnt work quite like it should. Im not unhappy wiht performance...Im using considerably less wood than with the OWB i had before.

 

[Singed Eyebrows]

I use about 4 cords, burnt less than 2 so far. Medium house in midwest, Randy

 

[maple1]

Typical use with the dirty CC here is about 9 cords, heat & DHW, mid-Oct to mid-May or so. 15 yo 2700 sf 2 story with full unfinished but 95% insulated basement. Think I'm quite a bit under half use so far - I've been trying to improve my burning habits since I got my slippery roof installed and found this place.

We're talking real cords, right?

 

[Singed Eyebrows]

Typical use with the dirty CC here is about 9 cords, heat & DHW, mid-Oct to mid-May or so. 15 yo 2700 sf 2 story with full unfinished but 95% insulated basement. Think I'm quite a bit under half use so far - I've been trying to improve my burning habits since I got my slippery roof installed and found this place.

We're talking real cords, right?

I hope we aren't talking Craigslist cords, where you get 3 cords in a half ton pickup. Randy

 

[dpsfireman]

2 to 3 cord per year
Heating 1800 sq ft raised ranch including fully insulated basement built in 1991 in northeastern Pa at 1650 ft elevation
Passive solar from front windows pointing due south
Biomass 25 with 240 gallons of storage
Electric heating elements in tanks as backup that I almost never let come on
3 heating zones (living, bedrooms, 1/2 finished basement), 2 with programmable thermostats set to 60 degrees night / 70 degrees day
Unfinished basement area heated by leakage from boiler and tanks to an average of 70 degrees

 

[Hydronics]

About 5 cord, fall to spring. Need to finish my solar domestic for the summer to reduce oil use even further.

 

[huffdawg]

I have used just 2 face cord in the last month , only heating a 900 ² ft shop with 16' ceiling and a bachelor suite up top. and DHW .

Huff

 

[huffdawg]

Biomass 40
500 gallons of storage
3000 sq foot house (5 years old)
2 adults (3 kids)
Live in Maine
Keep the house on 69 (constant) all winter
Use wood only from Mid Oct to Mid May (7 months).

Overall, I am using about 7 cord of wood. Just curious how that stacks up to others.

I would be getting a divorce if my house was kept @ 69 °F

Huff

 

[Gasifier]

My first year with this system, have lots to learn. Of course, that is an everyday for the rest of my life thing. ;-)

Wood Gun E100 S.S.
400 gallons of storage
4000 sq foot house with decent insulation and 900sq foot garage with excellent ins.
2 adults (4 kids)
Live in Northern NY
Keep the house about 70 °F average all winter, garage 45 °F
Also heat DHW.
Began heating Oct 1, will heat to May 1. (Maybe DHW throughout summer.)

So far I have used 3 full cord and probably another full face cord. And it has been a mild winter so far.

 

[nate379]

I figured it out this weekend when I was trucking wood to the house from out back.

So far I have burned right around 2 cords.

I heat just the house with wood, which is 1400sq ft. The attached garage is heated off the nat gas boiler along with DHW.

My brother's wife's uncle has a large dairy farm (http://www.maine.gov/tools/whatsnew/index.php?topic=Agriculture+News&id=135562&v=Article) He heats house, shop, milking parlor and an indoor swimming pool off a large outdoor boiler. Goes through around 100 cords a year.

 

[laynes69]

We have burned around 2.5 cords since october. 2400 sq ft Victorian, 10' ceilings up and down plus a 1200 sq ft dungeon for a basement which is heated from the radiant heat from the furnace. Maybe 5 will be burned this year. Last year we burned 6.5 cords, little attic insulation. That's been fixed this year.

 

[barkeatr]

i assume most of these replies are using zero for feuls other than wood, unless its mentioned.

 

[huffdawg]

i assume most of these replies are using zero for feuls other than wood, unless its mentioned.

Do you harvest Maple syrup Barkeater . I'm assuming this from your signature.

 

[barkeatr]

we do produce maple syrup..we have a small operation, although its tough to sell it here with so much on the market. I think this facebook link will work. https://www.facebook.com/#!/pages/Stonewall-Farms-Maple-Syrup/178106018896634

 

[huffdawg]

we do produce maple syrup..we have a small operation, although its tough to sell it here with so much on the market. I think this facebook link will work. https://www.facebook.com/#!/pages/Stonewall-Farms-Maple-Syrup/178106018896634

Here it costs $20.00 for a 750ml bottle of pure maple syrup. My friend makes it from the bigleaf maple but I dont think it is as good as sugar maple

 

[barkeatr]

i suppose we are off topic in a bad way, and even talking about selling things....but if I have our measurement conversion right, our syrup us half your cost. I need to find a connection to some farmers markets out west. they tell us our syrup is good..and it could very well be ( who am i to judge?) because i tend to concentrated it just slightly more than the standard. prolly best to PM me if you have any questions...nice looking place in your avatar photo!

 

[ISeeDeadBTUs]

My brother's wife's uncle has a large dairy farm (http://www.maine.gov/tools/whatsnew/index.php?topic=Agriculture+News&id=135562&v=Article) He heats house, shop, milking parlor and an indoor swimming pool off a large outdoor boiler. Goes through around 100 cords a year.

Dayuummnn!

That's all there is to say. Just, Damn!!

 

[Gasifier]

i assume most of these replies are using zero for feuls other than wood, unless its mentioned.

Yup. I started October 1st with 1/4 tank of fuel oil. Still have a 1/4 tank now. A beautiful thing.

 

[muncybob]

Same here basically, only use oil when we are away from home for a few days. Wood is 99% of our fuel for heat and DHW...and a warmer house these days than we had before.