I am wondering about my wood consumption, I have a 3000 sf 10 year old well insulated house and the outside temps are approx 10F (-12C)and I keep it around 74 (23C) inside. I have a woodgun 180 and burn approx 20 pieces of dry maple 5" X 24" in 24 hours (2 loadings of 10 sticks). Does this sound high?
Wood consumption
- Thread starter mark123
- Start date
-
Active since 1995, Hearth.com is THE place on the internet for free information and advice about wood stoves, pellet stoves and other energy saving equipment.
We strive to provide opinions, articles, discussions and history related to Hearth Products and in a more general sense, energy issues.
We promote the EFFICIENT, RESPONSIBLE, CLEAN and SAFE use of all fuels, whether renewable or fossil.
- Status
That sounds high to me but you do see lower average temps then we do here in CT. Try to reduce your loadings (don't fill the firebox unless necessary) to your match your expected demand and load it 3 or more times a day if possible. Ideally you'll have a minimum amount of wood in it at all times to reduce idling.
maple1
Minister of Fire
It's -22c here this morning. 20 year old 2700 sq.ft. two storey. So far I've been burning about two full loads a day, I measured my firebox at about 3 cu.ft. of useable space when I got it. I might burn a bit more today, the wind is supposed to pick up. Our stats aren't set quite as high as yours though.
stee6043
Minister of Fire
This is about exactly where I'm at, both in house size and wood consumption.
The cold windy nights I usually had another armful before I go to bed, other then that I fill twice a day.
K
Sounds good to low to me. Only way to know for sure would be to weigh what you burn for the day.
Been sub zero here and very windy. I have been at 180-195 lbs a day for the last few days.
gg
Been sub zero here and very windy. I have been at 180-195 lbs a day for the last few days.
gg
The Weimar
Member
Ahahhaa, shave the back, Now that I am up and running again, the wife keeps it cranked up warm, 3000 sf colonial with 625 sf garage that has 10' ceilings and its 72 degrees, -8 on the thermometer this morn and I load er up at 6 and 6.....
jebatty
Minister of Fire
That's neither high nor low. Rather, it's all about the btus. Since you have a Wood Gun, I assume you have well seasoned wood, although I think Wood Gun advertises moisture content up to 30% is OK, so maybe slightly less than well seasoned wood is OK, but I will assume 20% moisture content. Take you average 20 pieces of wood and weigh them, multiply the lbs x 6050 to get the approximate btu available heat content, divide by 24, multiply by 0.85 for heat losses (btus not going to heat your house) and you will have the approximate btus/hr that are heating your house. Divide that by 3000 and you have btuh/sq ft.
If I make a rough assumption that 20 pieces of your 24" wood weigh about 180 lbs, then 180 x 6050 / 24 x 0.85 = 38,569 btuh, which also equals 12.9 btuh/sq ft. Now, that looks to me like your house is well insulated and your wood consumption probably is quite low compared to an average house in similar temperature conditions.
Whether those btus are actually high or low depends on your house heat loss (size, construction, insulation, etc.) in the weather conditions (temperature, wind, passive solar, sunny, cloudy, etc.) you are facing. It is impossible to generalize whether any particular amount of wood burned is high or low without knowing a whole lot more about your situation.
maple1
Minister of Fire
Well I didn't burn any more yesterday than I did the previous days - but might today. It's warmed up from -20c to -10c at wakeup. Actually, holy crap, after just peaking at the thermometer it's all the way up to -5c now. But I think I will be lighting earlier today and very soon - the wind picked up last night, blowing pretty good, and no sun. The one weather 'thing' I hate more than any other is wind - it really sucks the heat out of the place, and can do damage if bad enough. Maybe we shouldn't have built on this open hilltop...
Our temps are similar to yours maple 1, much warmer here today than the last few. I weighed my first load today at 147 lbs and it must be pretty dry, all cracked, wood/boiler room is usually around 80F 27C, cut a year ago . I calculated the density to be 42.5 lb/cf and read somewhere that sugar maple is 44 at 20%. My sample stick was 6" X 23" and weighed 16 lbs
i heat a 3224 soft Two-story house with a basement with only a wood stove in the basement I blt a metal box that the sides hang down 4' and right at the ceiling I brough out a 6" flex pipe ran it over 7' and into the return side of my heat pump and just turn the fan on it keeps the entire house 68 to 70and I burn around 20 pic a day too. Depending on the wood. I just did this last week so now that I know works I'm going to take the box back down weld all the cracks and somehow find away to put a return air filter at the base of the box
My house insulation consists on of 6 inches of cellulose basement walls 3 1/2 inches of cellulose on the second story walls and the roof is insulated with spray foam and also I had to insulate the floor of the upstairs with the stray foam. Before. InsuLaying the house I caulked both sides of every stud in the house it is the tightest house ever that I've ever been in I no both argument s about air leakage and decided I was going with less is best I will find out in a few yrs being I just finished the house
Don't do this, it is very dangerous. You stand the chance of pulling carbon monoxide through your heating system. I have seen it happen were families have gone to hospital and heard of others that have died.
- Status
Similar threads
- Locked
