How much did you burn this year

[stoveliker]

I have a spread sheet

I think I'm done burning for the year. Maybe a "crisping fire" (to allow me to brush the creosote out of the stove), but not much more.
I burned a bit more generously as I had a full bay from my three-bay three-year shed, and 2 racks of pine at a friend that I could burn. So I burned if it was below 45 F for 24 hrs or more (rather than below 40 F as in previous years).

Yet I did not burn much more wood. Last season I burned 2 cords even (in 5 stacks, oak, oak, ash, cherry, pine), with a little less pine than this year.

This season I burned 1.2 cord of pitch pine, 0.91 cord of red oak, and 0.33 cords of maple (half of which was sticks of 2" dia - what was I thinking back then...) for about 2.1 cords total.

I ran the stove for about 1900 hrs (says the power usage of the fan I run when the cat is hot), using 49.1 kWh in total. Last season this was 2114 hrs

Assuming 76% stove efficiency, and an oil boiler efficiency of 84%, I saved 1014 dollars at $3.32 per gallon (using standard BTU/Cord numbers from some table).

Above my cut off outside temp, I ran the minisplit when needed.
I took 690 kWhs from my bank this winter as per March 1. Last season that was 573 kWh. Assuming the usage is similar (though we had family over for 2 weeks around christmas), that difference should be from the minisplit.

I had a week in February where snow on my panels (fell, thawed a bit but did not slide off and then froze into solid ice) blocked production, and likely added some to our kWh draw.

So, I ran the stove a bit less but used a bit more kWhs from the bank. Despite the higher "stove cut off" temperatures (45 rather than 40 F), I ran it less, evidence of the warmer winter we had.

Due to the "additional external stacks" I had last year and this year I'll again be using 4 year old wood next season, as I will the year there after.

I did realize that I should avoid burning more than one bay a year even if it's a bay of 4 and a bay of 3 years old because that means that 2 years from then I'd be burning wood that's only stacked for 2 years. So I will stay on a three year plan because my shed has finite size and expansion is hard.

 

[Dix]

I've burned about 2 cord so far. I figure another 1/2 to get to May.

Pulling from the "close to the house stash" now. Goal is to leave what's stacked, stay stacked, and top off where I can. (Top of the stack, more air glow, you get the drift).

Smiled a lot as this was dropped off yesterday

 

[thewoodlands]

Shoulder Season Wood (White Pine) once we're done with the stack we're taking from it will be 10 face cord. We usually burn 12 face cord, we started this heating season with 15 face cord stacked but hopefully we can save 4 or 5 for the next heating season.

When we started burning shoulder season wood, it was always 6 face cord a year but since we started taking down the dead pine on the house lot along with the clearing I did for the garage, we decided we would burn more.

Hardwood Used / I'm pretty sure the area I'm getting the hardwood from holds 12 face cord, we have just under 6 face cord left. Last year we saved just under 5 face.

I'm not sure on the pellet count this year but last year it was 70 to 73.

The furnace was turned on 3 times, at the beginning of the year for its fall test run and a few times when we had colder weather but only for 5 minutes each time. Last year we used 1/8 of a tank of oil, this year less.

 

[EbS-P]

Data…I don’t have any. I bet it was more than a cord. Hard to say though as I had a short back of 12-14” pine that fit great N/S in the Drolet.

A lot more than last year. I still have a least 3 years of wood staked. But the tarps are leaky. One stack needs restacked in a different location. Part of me wants to get another load from my tree guy but the other part Says whoa you have at least 4 cords and pine only needs two summers. I need a new woodshed before I get more wood.

 

[DonTee]

We’ve burned about 9 face cords so far. I set aside 12 face cords total, with a lot of extra wood outside the woodshed just in case.

We are heating 100% with wood. On the warmer days I have a quick fire to take the chill off and it will keep the house nice all day. We’ll keep having small fires up until May or so.

We’re planning an addition to the house this year or next. When I do that we’ll most likely add a mini split setup with a heat pump.

 

[bigealta]

I'd guess i'm a little less than normal, but will end up about 3 cords.

The oil burner has only been on for 6 days this season.

 

[Slimdusty]

Right at 4 cords, 90% of that being low btu wood, and about 75 gallons of oil. I am happy with that.

 

[begreen]

We are approaching cutting into the last rack out of 3 cords. I thought I was done, but with 41º this morning I lit a half-load fire. If this is the end of the season for us, then about 2.5 cords burned.

 

[Garbanzo62]

I think I am done too. Started running into MC content issues so I had to back off. Hard to say how much I burned because I ended up taking what was below 20 from various piles. Guessing 1.2 cords total. Predominately Ash. So a good chunk of what I thought I would get into this year is still Staked. I should be in good shape next year.

 

[mpaul]

4 cords so far. Still burning to keep the chill out of the house. Wood is the primary heat source since I don’t pay for it. Free wood beats the price of propane any day.

 

[BIGChrisNH]

Almost 1 cord less than last winter. Very mild here in New Hampshire.

 

[weee123]

Id say almost 2.5 cords. This week will be hitting mid to high 60s with a couple days in the low 70s, but next tuesday and Wednesday will be back to 40s so will continue on burning.

 

[ABMax24]

A little over 2 cords, Ive got a good 2/3 of a cord of birch and tamarack left, thought id never have enough to get through the winter. I'll still need to burn a bit more, but next week looks very warm, will need some the week after though.

 

[TheElementalCashew]

I think I'll end up at around 2 cords burned this season, but we are still running the stove overnight. That's about a cord less than a typical year in NH.

 

[Dataman]

Here in Eastern WA State (Pend Oreille County - Newport WA), it has been one of the Coldest and Warmest Winters I have seen (Moved here in 1994). Went down to -21f for about Week, and lots of 50's with temps to 60's soon. Almost all the pitiful snow is gone (14" max on ground at once point). We normally get 4ft on the ground in normal year. I switched to pellets and normally burn about 3.5 tons. 2.75 tons at most this year. Heat Pump now. Pic is from most snow on Ground in March.

 

[oilcan1001]

About 2 cords for me this year. I'm still burning one, half load at night (shoulder season). I had to use central heat (propane) a few times in January and February but other than that my new Drolet kept us warm and fuzzy all winter.

I want to thank everyone here for sharing your knowledge and answering questions.
Hearth.com is a great resource !!

Cheers

 

[Piney]

Less than the usual 8-10 cord of pine. Not quite 5 this year. We only hit -50 twice. I’ve see these mild winters before. They’re odd ducks. But at least about half of next years wood is split and stacked. Still have a month of 24/7 burning to go but the fire will be lazy.

 

[DonTee]

-50 lol. That’s cold. We didn’t get below zero this winter. Usually for us the coldest day is around -15 or -20F.

 

[Piney]

-50 lol. That’s cold. We didn’t get below zero this winter. Usually for us the coldest day is around -15 or -20F.

My wife’s dad from England has moved in with us. He thinks we live in a frozen hellscape - but we are manipulating him with dogs, quads, snow machines and firearms. It’s working sightly. He has grudgingly admitted there might be a couple redeeming features to life here despite stores being nearly 3 hours (one way) away from us.
The cold isn’t so bad if you know it and have the clothes, and habits, for it.

 

[begreen]

My wife’s dad from England has moved in with us. He thinks we live in a frozen hellscape - but we are manipulating him with dogs, quads, snow machines and firearms. It’s working sightly. He has grudgingly admitted there might be a couple redeeming features to life here despite stores being nearly 3 hours (one way) away from us.
The cold isn’t so bad if you know it and have the clothes, and habits, for it.

The cold is really bad, but it's the darkness that would get to me.

 

[Piney]

Fair comment. The darkness wears a lot of people down. Of course in a month or so we have the opposite problem.

 

[RockyMtnGriz]

The cold is really bad, but it's the darkness that would get to me.

I'm with 'ya except I don't mind the cold. Growing up in the Nor Cal Cascades was far too dark for me. Incessant rain/snow/rain trading off with thick, dark, mountain valley fog just makes me not want to live! Getting to the Rockies where the sun comes up in some fashion every day and it's a frozen dry did wonders for my mood! Staying good and frozen has been a little iffy this winter though.

i usually burn around 7 cords a winter. We've had some -40 mornings, and -20 something days, but just a few this year, and hardly any of the sub-zero strong east winds. In Feb. 2019 I burned at least a couple of cords in a few weeks with the sustained -50 to -70 windchill, so that wind makes a real difference.

I consider winter to be the time when the snow prevents access to the wood out on the property, so that's usually around October to May. If somewhat normal weather persists until the first of June, I'd say I'm on track to burn about 2/3 of normal or 4 1/2 to 5 cords. That's remarkable considering that that includes my DHW, which is going to be a pretty consistent load. I doubt I'll see another (non) winter like this one.

 

[JRHAWK9]

I always find it interesting hearing from those of you who endure real winters. The rest of us are just posers in comparison. Hats off to you guys!

 

[Wildflush]

Just shy of a cord here. Mild winter and no snow. Still having some early morning cold starts to heat the house up. Had a cord delivered yesterday. Seller was generous looks like it will be over a cord.

Happy to have delight savings and more light during the day now. I like stacking wood after work and still have light!

 

[Pinesmoke]

I ran about a cord. Probably 50/50 oak and pine. This was the first winter here and I would say close to normal. I probably would have burned a second one but my wife isn't really comfortable with the new stove so it was out most times I was gone. I've got around 3/4 of a cord of oak stacked for next year and a BUNCH of pine ready to stack so i'm pretty much in spring mode, T says it's supposed to be 78 there tomorrow. Hope to pull the bikes out next week.