When is the halfway point?

[JoeyD]

This is my first season burning and I've been doing a pretty good job keeping the house warm (a little to toasty at times) and fuel oil consumption low. But I'm looking at my wood piles going down and trying to predict when I should be halfway through the wood burning season. At the rate I'm going it looks as if early to mid January I will be halfway through my wood pile.

I'm thinking with fuel prices coming down I may throttle the stove down a bit so I can make it through at least March with a good supply in case we get a late cold snap. Next year will be different. I wasted a lot of wood early playing and learning how to burn. I also plan to have a lot more wood to burn next season but for now I'm trying to figure out where I stand.

BTW I have a Napoleon 1100c and live in South Jersey. My wood supply is all red and white oak.

 

[ansehnlich1]

Hey winter ain't even here yet!

Just keep stuffin' it full, when ya run out, ya run out

Honestly, I had a neighbor, a good ole boy, retired, complained one year about havin' to make fire in JUNE

 

[pen]

Here in NE Pa my rule is October through April. I will not burn May - September, no matter how cold out of pure principle! I love to burn, but 7 months is pleanty.

To give you perspective, I burn the most wood during Jan, Feb, and Early March.

It sounds as though you are about in-line, maybe a little behind. But I agree with "an"
Burn it so you are comfortable, and when you are out, you are out! Don't try to skimp and let the thing build up creosote in the chimney from smoldering.

pen

 

[cmonSTART]

I always figured it to be the same as the statistical coldest point of winter, which here is the third week of January. After that, it starts warming up supposedly.

 

[Jimbob]

~ The end of January here.

 

[Hanko]

about the middle of January. Seems like I had them going for ever. Its been cold here in Michigan

 

[EatenByLimestone]

I guess it depends where in the country you are. May can be kind of chilly here. The best advise I can give is to gather as much as you can during the warm months and if you run out figure out where to find pallets.

Matt

 

[Ithaca]

I read somewhere that groundhog day, Feb 2nd. was what the old timers considered mid-way for burning season.

 

[caber]

I was going to say end of January. Nov and Dec are up and down temp wise. January usually has some warm snaps. But Feb is 24/7 burning. March is is back to 2-3 fires a day. Early April is 1 or 2 to take the chill off.

 

[Vic99]

Joey, I did the same hing you did, I used up a lot of wood last year just trying to figure the stove out. Pallets are the way to go if you start to run out. Just don't fill the stove with them. Start with 1/4 full then work your way up from there because they can be quite dry and burn HOT. Make sure it didn't rain recently. Cut with sawsall or chainsaw, just watch for hitting nails if using chainsaw.

Good luck.

 

[Cearbhaill]

I think probably 99% of first year burners have wood acquisition difficulties and run out or have to buy wood. And buying midseason is a crapshoot as far as what quality wood you end up with- I would get some now, put it in the dryest area I could find, and hope it is ready to use by February.
It's a learning year, anyway. So at least now you know that you need to start getting of hold of next years wood immediately.

As I said, most of us have been there, so you're in good company!

 

[daveswoodhauler]

I go with the 3rd week of January. Just use the below table as a guide to see when the ave temps start to increase again..not exact science, just more as a guide.
I plan on burning Nov1 to end of March.
Third column is the ave high for my area...data is for all of Jan. Midpoint to me is when the average high starts to increase, but seasonal variances can skew

1 7:18 AM 4:25 PM 32°F 12°F 22°F 58°F (1966) -13°F (1964)
2 7:18 AM 4:25 PM 32°F 12°F 22°F 57°F (1979) -11°F (1968)
3 7:18 AM 4:26 PM 32°F 12°F 22°F 59°F (1979) -10°F (1968)
4 7:18 AM 4:27 PM 32°F 12°F 22°F 59°F (2000) -8°F (1981)
5 7:18 AM 4:28 PM 32°F 12°F 22°F 59°F (2000) -12°F (1969)
6 7:18 AM 4:29 PM 32°F 11°F 22°F 59°F (2007) -15°F (1972)
7 7:18 AM 4:30 PM 32°F 11°F 21°F 64°F (2007) -14°F (1976)
8 7:17 AM 4:31 PM 32°F 11°F 21°F 53°F (1979) -9°F (1973)
9 7:17 AM 4:32 PM 32°F 11°F 21°F 55°F (1978) -17°F (1968)
10 7:17 AM 4:33 PM 32°F 11°F 21°F 55°F (1978) -13°F (1968)
11 7:17 AM 4:34 PM 32°F 11°F 21°F 56°F (1983) -18°F (1988)
12 7:16 AM 4:36 PM 32°F 10°F 21°F 56°F (1975) -20°F (1988)
13 7:16 AM 4:37 PM 31°F 10°F 21°F 49°F (2006) -14°F (1981)
14 7:16 AM 4:38 PM 31°F 10°F 21°F 57°F (1972) -14°F (1974)
15 7:15 AM 4:39 PM 31°F 10°F 21°F 58°F (2005) -20°F (1988)
16 7:15 AM 4:40 PM 31°F 10°F 21°F 49°F (1962) -18°F (1988)
17 7:14 AM 4:41 PM 31°F 10°F 21°F 47°F (1990) -20°F (1971)
18 7:14 AM 4:43 PM 31°F 10°F 21°F 54°F (1990) -19°F (1974)
19 7:13 AM 4:44 PM 31°F 10°F 21°F 58°F (1973) -22°F (1971)
20 7:12 AM 4:45 PM 31°F 10°F 21°F 56°F (1996) -19°F (1970)
21 7:12 AM 4:46 PM 31°F 10°F 20°F 54°F (2006) -18°F (1994)
22 7:11 AM 4:48 PM 31°F 10°F 20°F 56°F (2006) -25°F (1984)
23 7:10 AM 4:49 PM 31°F 10°F 20°F 53°F (1973) -23°F (1984)
24 7:10 AM 4:50 PM 31°F 10°F 21°F 56°F (1967) -18°F (1961)
25 7:09 AM 4:51 PM 32°F 10°F 21°F 55°F (1967) -12°F (2005)
26 7:08 AM 4:53 PM 32°F 10°F 21°F 52°F (1990) -7°F (2004)
27 7:07 AM 4:54 PM 32°F 10°F 21°F 57°F (1978) -23°F (1994)
28 7:06 AM 4:55 PM 32°F 10°F 21°F 60°F (1974) -23°F (1994)
29 7:05 AM 4:57 PM 32°F 10°F 21°F 54°F (2002) -14°F (2003)
30 7:04 AM 4:58 PM 32°F 10°F 21°F 59°F (2002) -12°F (2005)
31 7:03 AM 4:59 PM 32°F 10°F 21°F 49°F (1974) -10°F (1965)

 

[Backwoods Savage]

Halfway point is actually in January, but......You should have half of your wood pile left on Groundhog day. This ensures you have some dry wood to start the next season with.

As for me, I absolutely must have a minimum of half of my wood pile left on May 1! This ensures I have enough for next year. However, we do have enough on hand to run through 2014 and part of 2015 so far! Nice.

 

[Cearbhaill]

However, we do have enough on hand to run through 2014 and part of 2015 so far! Nice.

Now that's just mean :lol:

Reminds me of the torture scene in Swimming With Sharks where the guy paper cut Kevin Spacey then threw lemon juice and salt on the wounds :bug:

 

[Redox]

I read somewhere that groundhog day, Feb 2nd. was what the old timers considered mid-way for burning season.

Seconded!

Chris

 

[mtarbert]

Yeppers....it is Groundhog day....has been for two hundred years and will be even after this Al Gore phase the psudo intelectuals have imposed on the world.
Mike

 

[eba1225]

Joey,

I was like you last year, as last year was my first year. I found that, as others have already stated, Groundhog day is a good guess as to the middle of the burn season.


Erik

BTW, Where in SJ are you I grew up there, half way between Wilm. De and A.C.?

 

[Bubbavh]

This is my first season burning and I've been doing a pretty good job keeping the house warm (a little to toasty at times) and fuel oil consumption low. But I'm looking at my wood piles going down and trying to predict when I should be halfway through the wood burning season. At the rate I'm going it looks as if early to mid January I will be halfway through my wood pile.

I'm thinking with fuel prices coming down I may throttle the stove down a bit so I can make it through at least March with a good supply in case we get a late cold snap. Next year will be different. I wasted a lot of wood early playing and learning how to burn. I also plan to have a lot more wood to burn next season but for now I'm trying to figure out where I stand.

BTW I have a Napoleon 1100c and live in South Jersey. My wood supply is all red and white oak.

Where bouts in South Jersey? You need to get some of the free pine people are afraid to burn to help out for the warmer days to save your Oak supply. If you are anywhere in my area I can get you in touch with a friend who sells some pretty dry wood and won't cheat you on the cord size.

 

[FatttFire]

I would say half way would be sometime in like April! I might have some pine laying around that you can have to get you through the tough times, and you can trade me a small amount of red/ white oak for the pine, just being the nice guy I am ! ;-)