How do ya'll track your wood usage?

[Longknife]

Just wondering how everyone tracks their wood usage? Obviously it’s not rocket science and doesn’t have to be complicated, but I’m just wondering what methods some might use… other then eyeing their pile at the start of the season and then at the end of the season.

Because I bring my wood into the house by a little more than a 1/3 of a face cord at a time, from various locations (wood shed or drying piles), and sometimes top up my shed from offsite drying locations throughout the season, tracking my usage can be difficult if I don’t record it as I go. I reckon a face cord (4’ high x 8’ long x 16” deep) to be 1/3 of a bush cord, as do most people I know in the area. I use a small garden trailer for each load, that when filled about level, fills my rolling wood box just about right. I log each trailer load into a spreadsheet and record date, wood type(s), load type and location the wood was pulled from. It automatically calculates a total and running tally. The totals are given in “high, “low” and “avg” values. These values were determined by measuring a full trailer load numerous times. It could do more measurements to get a bigger sample size, but I figure this is close enough. A trailer load is a value of “1” which the calculations are based off of. A (heaping) wheelbarrow load, used for when I don’t have time for a full load, or don’t want to bring a full load into the house (like at the beginning and end of the season) is given a value of .45, which is about right.

I’ve made fairly sophisticated spreadsheets for other things in the past (by my standards), but this was done in a hurry and I haven’t bothered to update it. Eventually I’d like to import other datasets, like the outside and inside temperature values, which my smart thermostat records, and build graphs and charts showing correlations and trends and whatnot. I also plan on having dedicated columns for each wood type so I can input the percentage of each per load, and then track how much I’m burning of each type. Just for curiosity more than anything, but I might be able to tie that in with the other data. As it is, I just record types if they are a significant part of the load and I don’t account for how much they represent of the load.

Below is a snapshot from last year:

 

[HammerheadC4]

I count how many cords I have stacked in the beginning of the burning season, then I count how many are left at the end of the season.
And seeing how the season is 5 or 6 months long, sometimes I forget if I started with 13 or 15 cords.
Maybe I should make a note somewhere, but then again, I'd probably lose the note.

 

[iLoveWood]

Been burning for 5 years now. By luck of a good winter I survived my first with about a cord. Now I know i average 2-3 cords a year. I collect and split/stack like crazy hoping to be done by april. Then I watch my stacks diminish all winter praying I wont run out. I usually have 1/3rd cord left at the end of the season. Last winter was brutal with a lot of windfalls, im 2 cords ahead, things are looking warm for years to come.

 

[shoot-straight]

I have 4 bays in my shed that are 8x8 each. Typically I burn through a little less than 2, but depends on year and type of wood that's inside.

Right now I'm 2/3 through one bay of mostly light wood. My other is full of locust, oak and ash. I'm right on target I think.

 

[sportbikerider78]

Ummm.....I just look at the 5 cord I stack and then count what is left over in the Spring. No value for me in doing anything different.

 

[Longknife]

Ummm.....I just look at the 5 cord I stack and then count what is left over in the Spring. No value for me in doing anything different.

Yeah, I get that that is what most people will do when they have a set amount at the start and don't add to it.

I'm a bit of an analytics guy, if for fun than anything. However, given the dynamic nature of my winter's wood supply (not always, but most years), I figured at least this way I could put a fairly accurate number as to what I'm burning year to year.

 

[CentralVAWoodHeat]

Ummm.....I just look at the 5 cord I stack and then count what is left over in the Spring. No value for me in doing anything different.

+1

 

[Easy Livin’ 3000]

Just wondering how everyone tracks their wood usage? Obviously it’s not rocket science and doesn’t have to be complicated, but I’m just wondering what methods some might use… other then eyeing their pile at the start of the season and then at the end of the season.

Because I bring my wood into the house by a little more than a 1/3 of a face cord at a time, from various locations (wood shed or drying piles), and sometimes top up my shed from offsite drying locations throughout the season, tracking my usage can be difficult if I don’t record it as I go. I reckon a face cord (4’ high x 8’ long x 16” deep) to be 1/3 of a bush cord, as do most people I know in the area. I use a small garden trailer for each load, that when filled about level, fills my rolling wood box just about right. I log each trailer load into a spreadsheet and record date, wood type(s), load type and location the wood was pulled from. It automatically calculates a total and running tally. The totals are given in “high, “low” and “avg” values. These values were determined by measuring a full trailer load numerous times. It could do more measurements to get a bigger sample size, but I figure this is close enough. A trailer load is a value of “1” which the calculations are based off of. A (heaping) wheelbarrow load, used for when I don’t have time for a full load, or don’t want to bring a full load into the house (like at the beginning and end of the season) is given a value of .45, which is about right.

I’ve made fairly sophisticated spreadsheets for other things in the past (by my standards), but this was done in a hurry and I haven’t bothered to update it. Eventually I’d like to import other datasets, like the outside and inside temperature values, which my smart thermostat records, and build graphs and charts showing correlations and trends and whatnot. I also plan on having dedicated columns for each wood type so I can input the percentage of each per load, and then track how much I’m burning of each type. Just for curiosity more than anything, but I might be able to tie that in with the other data. As it is, I just record types if they are a significant part of the load and I don’t account for how much they represent of the load.

Below is a snapshot from last year:

View attachment 219019

I thought about doing something like this, but it gave me a headache, so I didn't.

Now, I just save all the ashes and weigh them at the end of the season.

 

[JRHAWK9]

I weigh every loading and enter it into a spreadsheet. This is the summary part of the spreadsheet for this year so far:

 

[Longknife]

I weigh every loading and enter it into a spreadsheet. This is the summary part of the spreadsheet for this year so far:

View attachment 219056

I like it!

 

[Longknife]

I weigh every loading and enter it into a spreadsheet. This is the summary part of the spreadsheet for this year so far:

View attachment 219056

I've never tried to figure out what not running my heat pump/electric furnace has saved me. I've ball parked it at an extremely low $1000 a year (we have some of the highest electric rates in North America), but I'm pretty sure that's very conservative. I can't see a practical way of weighing my wood!

 

[Tar12]

I save 2K a year on propane....I stay at a min.3-4 yr ahead...thats all I need to know...

 

[CentralVAWoodHeat]

I save 2K a year on propane....I stay at a min.3-4 yr ahead...thats all I need to know...

Very similar here. Even if I bought all my wood each year, my annual heating bill would be $600 as opposed to $2-3k with propane and electricity.

 

[toddnic]

Mine is much simpler than your spreadsheet. I have my wood C/S/S on pallets. Each stack is four pallets long and are stacked 6 feet high. So, it is 16 feet x 4 feet x 6 feet = 384 cubic feet. This is approximately 3 cords. I monitor my stacks to see how much I'm using.

 

[Manly]

I use a drone with scaled cameras to plot my pile dimensions size at the start of the season. Data from the drone is sent to and loaded into a custom written program that will calculate the exact amount of wood in the pile. The drone is programed to do a weekly fly over to update the dimensional size of the pile and feed the data back to the program. As data is updated each week an algorithm in the program calculates usage, graphs it and also graphs the prediction of future demand and longevity of supply. In situations where the program or the drone crashes, Mrs. Manly will go out and look at the wood pile, and if she feels its looking low, she will give Mr. Manly a stern warning. This is how the Manly Clan rolls wood.

 

[Firefighter938]

 

[Longknife]

I save 2K a year on propane....I stay at a min.3-4 yr ahead...thats all I need to know...

Man, I'd love to be able to get 3-4 years ahead. I'd need one hell of a wood shed and a whole lot of time to get the work done though....

 

[jwfirebird]

would be nice to get ahead for once, but hard to find the time for one these days. going to be screwed this year i think i only had what i burned in the old stoves which wasent as much because i only burned weekends. but i have been using the one after work alot so going to be tough to figure. more of the good enough type with log lenghths and the pile. i used to make two rows the length of the shed 24x6 tall, last year went 2-50 ftx4 tall piles because i had some trees come down in my trails, dont look like much left though for only being half done

 

[JRHAWK9]

would be nice to get ahead for once, but hard to find the time for one these days. going to be screwed this year i think i only had what i burned in the old stoves which wasent as much because i only burned weekends. but i have been using the one after work alot so going to be tough to figure. more of the good enough type with log lenghths and the pile. i used to make two rows the length of the shed 24x6 tall, last year went 2-50 ftx4 tall piles because i had some trees come down in my trails, dont look like much left though for only being half done

say, I may be wrong and I may have actually asked you this already on here, but your screen name sounds familiar and I believe I may have seen you on various fbody/LS1 forums over the years....??

 

[Tar12]

Man, I'd love to be able to get 3-4 years ahead. I'd need one hell of a wood shed and a whole lot of time to get the work done though....

Back in the day when I ran a boiler there was times....and I am not B.S.ing you one bit....that I would cut and haul home and feed straight into the boiler... That Woodmaster would burn anything I threw in it but that came at a price....heavy wood consumption! Now it is super easy to stay ahead with a cat stove as I started off with the same mind set as if I still had a boiler....cut...cut...cut...hell I had enough left over from the boiler to run the cat stove 2 years easy! So I decided to go ahead and run with it and get way ahead and cruise. While at it I have become very selective in what I cut and how I split it to maximize the benefits of this cat stove.I am still learning and fine tuning my program...when these trucks roll with the 14k dump trailer/and tandem trailer we don't go to play. In a days time I can haul enough home to run close to 2 months of burning. If its big stuff the Bobcat comes along but I try to primarily process logged tree tops...they process faster.

 

[jwfirebird]

say, I may be wrong and I may have actually asked you this already on here, but your screen name sounds familiar and I believe I may have seen you on various fbody/LS1 forums over the years....??

was never on that one, only car forum i cared about was the gmforum, was on fsc and a couple other things, not that one though, worked up to mod there but had a disagreement with the admin about being able to answer how i like instead of his pc dribble tech answers so now i dont help anyone with the car stuff really, he only kept wanted the people who go along with his beliefs on how things should be done, which was like 50/50 right. i have been a electronics tech for about 20 years and did car stuff on the side about 25 years. but i dont help people on the internet anymore because its not appreciated when you give your time free

 

[Longknife]

Back in the day when I ran a boiler there was times....and I am not B.S.ing you one bit....that I would cut and haul home and feed straight into the boiler... That Woodmaster would burn anything I threw in it but that came at a price....heavy wood consumption! Now it is super easy to stay ahead with a cat stove as I started off with the same mind set as if I still had a boiler....cut...cut...cut...hell I had enough left over from the boiler to run the cat stove 2 years easy! So I decided to go ahead and run with it and get way ahead and cruise. While at it I have become very selective in what I cut and how I split it to maximize the benefits of this cat stove.I am still learning and fine tuning my program...when these trucks roll with the 14k dump trailer/and tandem trailer we don't go to play. In a days time I can haul enough home to run close to 2 months of burning. If its big stuff the Bobcat comes along but I try to primarily process logged tree tops...they process faster.

I could probably be selective and cut wood off easily accessible sites where I have both access to heavy equipment and the ability to get it to the wood.

Keeping up with the trees at home is a challenge though with a demanding job, 3 kids, and nothing but my little tractor and a chainsaw to get the wood down and bucked. Plus there's all the limbs to deal with at home, and burning is not always the easiest.

My first year in the house, when I didn't have much experience with the stove, or a season prior to prep wood, I was taking down standing dead tamarack, splitting it,shaking the snow off, and burning it the same day. I had to keep the fire stoked and rolling pretty good to keep it burning half decent but the house stayed warm and the furnace never came on.

 

[Longknife]

was never on that one, only car forum i cared about was the gmforum, was on fsc and a couple other things, not that one though, worked up to mod there but had a disagreement with the admin about being able to answer how i like instead of his pc dribble tech answers so now i dont help anyone with the car stuff really, he only kept wanted the people who go along with his beliefs on how things should be done, which was like 50/50 right. i have been a electronics tech for about 20 years and did car stuff on the side about 25 years. but i dont help people on the internet anymore because its not appreciated when you give your time free

I just wanted to thank you for your advice on dealing with people on the internet.

 

[JRHAWK9]

was never on that one, only car forum i cared about was the gmforum, was on fsc and a couple other things, not that one though, worked up to mod there but had a disagreement with the admin about being able to answer how i like instead of his pc dribble tech answers so now i dont help anyone with the car stuff really, he only kept wanted the people who go along with his beliefs on how things should be done, which was like 50/50 right. i have been a electronics tech for about 20 years and did car stuff on the side about 25 years. but i dont help people on the internet anymore because its not appreciated when you give your time free

I think I may know where the name recognition came from......how about the Can Am forum(s)??? I see you have an Outlander, as do I.

 

[Tar12]

I could probably be selective and cut wood off easily accessible sites where I have both access to heavy equipment and the ability to get it to the wood.

Keeping up with the trees at home is a challenge though with a demanding job, 3 kids, and nothing but my little tractor and a chainsaw to get the wood down and bucked. Plus there's all the limbs to deal with at home, and burning is not always the easiest.

My first year in the house, when I didn't have much experience with the stove, or a season prior to prep wood, I was taking down standing dead tamarack, splitting it,shaking the snow off, and burning it the same day. I had to keep the fire stoked and rolling pretty good to keep it burning half decent but the house stayed warm and the furnace never came on.

You deal with a entirely different set of circumstances up there! I can cut year round here most years and we do not get any where near the snow fall you get! or cold!