- Nov 27, 2012
- 0
Question:
I live in lower Michigan and am moving to the U.P. in October. The home is heated with a woodstove, a couple of propane space heaters and a wood furnace which will accept 4' logs and is also propane supplied for backup and for starting the logs. I am told that all of these appliances is overkill and the house is easily heated most of the time just with the woodstove. (house is 1700 sq ft single level ranch) Having never used wood heating before I have two questions. Were having 10 cords of seasoned wood delivered for the winter, however what do most people use for kindling?? A large supply would also be needed for winter. Do they use bark off of the wood or further split the wood into smaller chunks??? With a proper fire before bedtime do most people find in necessary to get up in the middle of the night and throw a few more logs in?? Although I don't know the brand of the wood stove I know it is of recent manufacture in 1993 and seems to be in good shape.
Answer:
10 cords is a lot of wood..then again, the UP is a cold place. If the house is well insulated and the stove is efficient, then you might get by with as little as 5 or 6. A large furnace like that that takes four foot logs will tend to eat the wood up a little faster....but is sure to distribute the heat throughout the home. It is nice to have a good supply of kindling - makes starting fires much easier. Sometimes a local sawmill or lumber yard will give you scraps for little or nothing. Cedar and other softwoods are great for starting. You can also use dry branches, although it's tough to collect and store large quantities of these. Even if you have lots of kindling, you'll still need to use an axe or splitting mall to make some in-between sizes to place on top of the smaller sticks. Then check out the articles on starting a fire at https://www.hearth.com/what/specific.html
Link: Hearth.com Articles
I live in lower Michigan and am moving to the U.P. in October. The home is heated with a woodstove, a couple of propane space heaters and a wood furnace which will accept 4' logs and is also propane supplied for backup and for starting the logs. I am told that all of these appliances is overkill and the house is easily heated most of the time just with the woodstove. (house is 1700 sq ft single level ranch) Having never used wood heating before I have two questions. Were having 10 cords of seasoned wood delivered for the winter, however what do most people use for kindling?? A large supply would also be needed for winter. Do they use bark off of the wood or further split the wood into smaller chunks??? With a proper fire before bedtime do most people find in necessary to get up in the middle of the night and throw a few more logs in?? Although I don't know the brand of the wood stove I know it is of recent manufacture in 1993 and seems to be in good shape.
Answer:
10 cords is a lot of wood..then again, the UP is a cold place. If the house is well insulated and the stove is efficient, then you might get by with as little as 5 or 6. A large furnace like that that takes four foot logs will tend to eat the wood up a little faster....but is sure to distribute the heat throughout the home. It is nice to have a good supply of kindling - makes starting fires much easier. Sometimes a local sawmill or lumber yard will give you scraps for little or nothing. Cedar and other softwoods are great for starting. You can also use dry branches, although it's tough to collect and store large quantities of these. Even if you have lots of kindling, you'll still need to use an axe or splitting mall to make some in-between sizes to place on top of the smaller sticks. Then check out the articles on starting a fire at https://www.hearth.com/what/specific.html
Link: Hearth.com Articles
