Will i burn more this year?

[Lynch]

i burned less than 2 1/2 cords last year. but it had only seasoned for about 6 months.
vs this years wood i bought and stacked at the same time as last years wood. so it has a good 2 summers of drying time on it. i made it throught last year pretty good some hard starts with wet wood but made it.

so now that this years stock should be much better will it burn up much faster too?
will i need to bring in more than the 2 1/2 cords?
what do you think.

 

[BrowningBAR]

My situation is a little different since my heat loss is so atrocious. But, I expect to burn the same amount or less with more stove power this year than I did last year. I was using a pre-EPA Vigilant which ate a lot of wood. Also, I am hoping that I am only using two stoves (the 30 and the Defiant) during the majority of the winter as opposed running three stoves.

I went through about eight cords last year and I would like to make it through the winter burning seven. But, if I burn more, so be it. The goal is to be warm and not have to wake up to a cold house.

Jesus. I'm an idiot. I thought the thread ask "will YOU burn more"... Sigh. Sorry.

 

[jeff_t]

In theory, you should burn less. You won't be wasting BTUs evaporating water from wet wood. Considering how mild the last winter was, though, I'd plan on burning more.

 

[BrotherBart]

It shouldn't burn up faster. You will be able to have more consistent controllable burns in the lil stove in the house. If it is good dry hardwood.

 

[rdust]

Last winter was mild I'd plan to burn

In theory, you should burn less. You won't be wasting BTUs evaporating water from wet wood. Considering how mild the last winter was, though, I'd plan on burning more.

x2, I'm also going to say more due to the warm winter we had last year.

 

[realstihl]

Last winter was mild I'd plan to burn


x2, I'm also going to say more due to the warm winter we had last year.

Last winter was a dud here in the midwest. I'm pretty sure I'll burn more, unless we get another dud of a winter.

 

[Wood Duck]

I agree you'll burn more. Better wood means you burn less (you can use less air and still maintain a hot fire when you have dry wood), but the weather will probably be colder this year which will increase the wood you burn. On balance, I think it will end up with more wood burnt by most of us in the east and midwest. I am not sure how last winter was in the west.

 

[Backwoods Savage]

i burned less than 2 1/2 cords last year. but it had only seasoned for about 6 months.
vs this years wood i bought and stacked at the same time as last years wood. so it has a good 2 summers of drying time on it. i made it throught last year pretty good some hard starts with wet wood but made it.

so now that this years stock should be much better will it burn up much faster too?
will i need to bring in more than the 2 1/2 cords?
what do you think.

I can imagine the fighting of the stove and fire you did last winter. That surely is not fun. You have not mentioned what kind of wood you have and knowing that would help us a lot. For example, if it were oak, you will fight it again this winter. If it was maple, you are in great shape. As you no doubt know, different woods dry differently. Oak is super slow but once it is dry, it is hard to beat. In addition, was that wood all split? Drying starts only when the wood gets split.

If you have good wood, you may or may not go through more wood. Because of the mild winter last year it is normal to suspect you will burn more. But I can guarantee that you will get more heat from your wood once it is dry. I've said it many times and still hold to it: burn dry wood and you will burn less and get more heat. In addition, you won't have creosote problems if you burn dry wood. We have no problem burning wood that has been split and stacked out in the wind for 6 years or more. The wood we will burn this coming winter was cut during the winter of 2008-2009 and it mostly white ash.

 

[MarkinNC]

You get more heat with your 2 year seasoned wood. It will light easier and you'll get longer burns. Your glass should stay clean. I burned oak last year that was seasoned a little over a year and it ran great. I will see how much better 2 year oak is, the MC may drop a couple of points more. Fret not, your wood should run great.

I found I did a lot of night time fall fires in year 2 to take the chill out of the house. So you could use more wood just for this reason alone.

 

[BurnIt13]

I am in an almost exact situation as the OP. My house is 1600sqft and poorly insulated (attic only). It has new windows+doors and does not have many drafts.

Last year I burned 2.5 cords of poorly seasoned oak that had a MC in the mid 20's. It was my first year burning with my own stove too so I'm sure I lost some wood to the lack of experience.

I have 3 cords of oak ready to go now that has a MC in the upper teens. I'm hoping with my increased experience and better wood I won't burn more than 3 cords this year if it an average winter.

If it is a colder than average winter I may end up buying some compressed logs to supplement.

 

[Jags]

This is not an answer to your question - just noticing something out of order. With your comment about 6 mo seasoned wood and hard starts have you inspected the stack yet? Highly questionable wood can make a dangerous mess out of your stack in pretty short order. **Just a community service bulletin.**

 

[Lynch]

to answer a few questions...... the wood is maple, ash and some yellow birch. a good 70% of it is maple.
last year was about the same for wood type but more yellow and white birch.

chimney works good not a problem, sweep it many times last year. draft is pretty good tho.


i havent check MC but most all the bark is falling off so that and the fact it has been out there for over 14 months
it should be good

 

[Backwoods Savage]

Lynch, as you get better and get your wood way ahead of when you need it, you will find you need less wood and you'll get more heat. The cleaning of the chimney will become less and less needed. This is one reason we recommend having a 3 year wood supply on hand. It is tough getting to that point but once you get there it is smooth sailing from then on.

 

[My Oslo heats my home]

I'm actually excited this year about my wood rotation. Since last winter was so warm I was able to dry 2.5 cords of unused oak one year longer.
If I was to say something like this to my wife, she'd think I'm nuts.

 

[firefighterjake]

Voting for "you will burn more wood this winter" . . . simply because last winter was so mild . . . even for Fort Kent. Even if you factor in better seasoned wood and that you know your stove better and can run it more efficiently -- it's hard to not think of just how mild last winter was here in Maine.