Wood Usage

[MEngineer24]

I'm curious about how much wood you are using in a month. I understand that this can vary based on home, weather, stove/setup. I'm working on my burning knowledge and am curious if I'm using more than required. Currently, at least here in my area it has been below 32F most of the month of January. I have went through about 3/4 a cord or so. This is hardwood mix (red oak, white oak, cherry, ash, black locust). I'm heating a 2000sqft living space in a ranch style home. The wood stove room is 75-80F and the remainder of the home is 70-75F.

 

[firefighterjake]

I've never really needed to calculate how much wood I've burned in a month or even in a year. I've always had more than enough. That said, I am pretty sure due to the mild winter and mild temps that I have burned far less wood this year than in previous years.

 

[ClintonH]

I'll run through a cord of good hardwood per month in hard winter. 1886 2-story farmhouse, poorly insulated in parts, ~2500 sqft. Stove room around 77+, upstairs slave thermostat for the geo set to 65.

 

[MEngineer24]

I'll run through a cord of good hardwood per month in hard winter. 1886 2-story farmhouse, poorly insulated in parts, ~2500 sqft. Stove room around 77+, upstairs slave thermostat for the geo set to 65.

Good to know. I'm in a 1979 era ranch style. Decent home insulation but the windows need replacing. Most of the jam seals anyhow. Seems like I'm burning reasonable.

 

[hickoryhoarder]

If your house is 70-75 most of the time that sounds like excess heating. And at those temperatures indoor humidity is lower, leading to higher susceptibility to colds and flu.

Because wood stoves are radiant heat, good comfort is often found at 66-68 degrees, a much different feeling at that air temperature than a forced air furnace.

So I'd say you're using more wood than necessary.

 

[Caw]

This is a pretty standard temp distribution for us +/- a few degrees when burning 24/7. Stove is in the living room but the TV is in the den. The bedroom is the master which is right at the top of the steps so it's the warmest bedroom. The kids rooms are a few degrees cooler. We sometimes close our door overnight for comfort. The display temp is the avg if the den/kitchen/dining room which are the 3 coldest rooms and that avg is what's used to activate the heat pump if needed... that's set at 60 and only comes on overnight at 4-5 am if it's below 10 degrees.

For us 68-70 feels nice. We can wear short sleeves and be comfy without socks or slippers. 65 is nice for sleeping. Being in the stove room other than passing through when it gets to like 76+ is oppressive. Different strokes though.

 

[buc74]

We load our stove (1.8 box) 21/4 times a day. Keeps the most of the house 68f except for the back bedroom. So like 2 face cords I'm guessing a month. Windows are 60 years old with minimal insulation. To me seems like your not using all that much wood for a 2000 sq. ft. ranch. Plus your keeping it nice and toasty, a bit warm for us though.

 

[BigJ273]

I’d say about a half cord, maybe a little more. Cherry and oak. We don’t burn 24/7 though. Mainly at night and weekends.

 

[kennyp2339]

Maybe just a hair over a full cord since the season started, I think I started 24/7 mid Nov here.

 

[cheapheatnow]

1 cord per month here.

 

[MEngineer24]

Thanks for weighing in! I appreciate it and I'm currently stockpiling for next year between the snow storms. Looking like I'll need to stash 7 cords to be on the safe side/get ahead.

 

[NickW]

2400sf, about 3 cord since Oct 2nd. About 1 cord softwood, 2 hardwood so far. Earliest first fire I can remember, first full season with the new EPA stove. Softwoods are great for shoulder season and season faster than hardwood. Once I'm into 24/7 hardwood it's probably 3/4-1 cord a month depending on the weather.

 

[MMH]

I had 4.3 cords of pine for this year css. I begin burning usually September-October ish, 24/7 burning by late October-November ish and will burn through April-may ish. 1952 sq ft single level open plan built in 2013, usually keep the house between 68-74F; I’m not even through half of the 4.3 cords (I’m about 80-85% through 1st row) although this has been a very mild winter here. Winter of 19/20 I’m guessing we did 4-5 cords.

 

[ABMax24]

We started burning full time mid October, and already 3 cords in, last year we did just over 4 cords. With the -40 weather we are having right now I'll knock out a face cord in under a week. This is burning an equal percentage of spruce, pine and white birch. I would be surprised if we burn less than 5 cords this winter.