How much wood do i need

[terry205]

I live in Alabama in the middle of the state about how many cords of wood will i need to heat my 1300 sq foot home with a lopi revere . This may be a dum question but i need a smart answer. Thanks to everyone

 

[newburner]

Certainly not a dumb question. As a new burner myself, I had the same one.

I started out by asking people in my area that I knew burned. Then I would take their answers and apply it to my situation (home size, other heat sources etc)

Last summer I came to the "educated conclusion" that I would need about 4 cords here in Massachusetts. Unfortunately, I was only able to acquire 2 good dry cords before supply ran out. I thought I'd be way short so I went out and bought a ton of biobricks to supplement.

Turns out, based on consumption so far, we'll have wood and bricks to last us to April 1! I have found that we used just under 1/4 cord in November, right now it looks like we are going to get out of December with using just over 1/4 cord. That leaves us with 1/2 cord for each of the next three months.

Also, we bought 50 pkgs of biobricks (1 ton) and we are only using 4-5 pkgs a month. At that rate, we should get 10 months out of a ton!

Also, keep in mind that wood heat is our primary source of heat so while its not a true 24/7 burn, we are burning whenever we are cold, day or night.

So, to answer your question, I would say that if we can get by with 2 cords, I'm sure you can do with less? I hope I was able to decrease the size of your ballpark.

 

[terry205]

Thank you very much. The world is full of good people. Thanks for being one

 

[TheRambler]

Depends on your exact location, are you in the foothills? I grew up in MS and my brother lives in AL. Assuming average insulation i would say plan on 2-3 cords. Chances are you will not go over two, but its always good to have extra your first year

 

[Wood Duck]

Up here in PA four cords per winter is enough for me to burn from some time in November thru almost the end of march, burning my small stove whenever I am at home to keep it going, which is about 16 or 20 / 7 rather than 24/7. In Alabama I predict three cords per winter.

If you can stack 9 cords outside you'll be two years ahead and always burn seasoned firewood, which is a huge difference.

 

[gzecc]

Without being able to get truly seasoned wood, I would conservatively say get 4 cords delivered. Stay away from oak and 2 should be ready for next year if split and stacked in single rows off the ground, and two for the following. Next year scrounge and or buy two more prior to December.

 

[toddnic]

I'm in western North Carolina at about 4,000 ft. elevation. I use about 3 1/2 cords each winter and heat 98% with wood. The house is about 2,000 sq. ft. Depending upon how insulated your house is and where you are located in Alabama, you should be able to get by with 2 to 3 cords of wood. Do you have dry wood? That will be the real issue trying to get through your first year. Thankfully I had a neighbor this past year that let me have a couple of cords of really dry wood to make it through the winter.

 

[prezes13]

For this year I have 2-2.5 cords of wood 1 ton of Eco Bricks and a tank of oil. Right now I am burning oil. It's relatively warm in ct so according to my nest thermostat I run my furnace 3-4 hours a day.

 

[richmhv]

Hard to project for Alabama. Here in NY I think I will go through 4-5 cords over the winter. That's with the stove room near 74-75 24/7 and the oil heat st at 64 so it won't come on unless we get an attack of below zero stuff. I would say 2 to 3 since from what I have heard daytime highs are at least in the 40's and the season should be considerably shorter than what we have in the northeast.

 

[terry205]

Thank you all for the reply .I have about 1 cord of dry now and about 2 just cut an drying for next year. So i think i will cut 3 more to get ahead of the game.Just a quick note how much dry time do i need . Please forgive my grammer an spelling i paid for 4 college degrees for my familey but did not get one myself.

 

[Kevin Dolan]

Thank you all for the reply .I have about 1 cord of dry now and about 2 just cut an drying for next year. So i think i will cut 3 more to get ahead of the game.Just a quick note how much dry time do i need . Please forgive my grammer an spelling i paid for 4 college degrees for my familey but did not get one myself.

Terry don't apologise for the gramer or spelling as you can see from my post!! Wood drying times depend on the kind of wood and when it was cut split and stacked. One year is what I would consder minimum split and stacked but that is a generalization, depends on where you live but one year should be a guide.

 

[EatenByLimestone]

There are lots of variables to what you'd need. So many things come into play. Where your house is situated and how exposed it is... How well insulated your house is. The species of wood that you burn... How quickly you learn to operate your stove efficiently. There are many, many more variables too. I'd give the basic 1 cord per month of winter as a starting point. You'll end up burning more wood as you learn your stove and less as you get used to it. Any extra you have will be burnt next year.

It really is good advice to get a few years ahead if possible. Really dry wood burns and heats much better than wood with a high moisture content.

 

[firefighterjake]

Thank you all for the reply .I have about 1 cord of dry now and about 2 just cut an drying for next year. So i think i will cut 3 more to get ahead of the game.Just a quick note how much dry time do i need . Please forgive my grammer an spelling i paid for 4 college degrees for my familey but did not get one myself.

I must admit I am sometimes guilty of pointing out grammar or spelling mistakes with folks . . . but usually only if there's an opportunity to have a bit of fun with folks (i.e. I have to really resist posting something like "Talk to them, go on moonlit walks on beaches, etc." when I read thread titles that pop up with names like "Wood I'd Please"). I will however be quick to the chase whenever I see someone being snobby about someone else's grammar or spelling . . . and in their post or Facebook comment that Grammar Nazi makes their own grammar or spelling mistake.

So, what I'm trying to say here . . . no worries . . . be yourself . . . your posts are fine and completely legible (unlike one former member who I swear was writing a whole new language since I had to have others translate what he was trying to say). Besides . . . there is formal school learning and then there is the real world learning . . . I have met folks who are quite brilliant in their area of study, but lack any commonsense or real world application of skills.

Welcome to hearth.com.

 

[xman23]

We burn on weekends, since I had a lot of wood, I never paid a lot of attention to what we use. But my wife says it takes 24 splits a day. I never checked, but it sounds reasonably.

 

[Hogwildz]

You could start with 3 or 4 cords, and see what is left over at the end of the season.
Then multiply what you used x 3 and get that much ahead at least.

 

[Kevin Dolan]

We burn on weekends, since I had a lot of wood, I never paid a lot of attention to what we use. But my wife says it takes 24 splits a day. I never checked, but it sounds reasonably.

If my wife said 24 splits per day I woud salute and keep em coming.
Only tough day was yesterday

 

[markam]

I live in Alabama in the middle of the state about how many cords of wood will i need to heat my 1300 sq foot home with a lopi revere . This may be a dum question but i need a smart answer. Thanks to everyone

Since I only use the insert when the temperature is below freezing for the entire day, I would use exactly zero sticks of wood if I lived where you do

I lived in Mississippi for a couple of years and never used heat and basically wore shorts all winter. I guess southerners really do have thinner blood.

 

[F4jock]

Problem is there are so many variables that it's nearly impossible to answer this accurately. Best thing to do is get replies from your neighbors with similar homes in similar condition.

 

[Wood Duck]

I'd get as much firewood as you can this winter, and stack it is a sunny, windy spot. Cover the top of the stack if you can, and keep the wood off the ground and free of leaves and other junk. It should be pretty good in one year, and definitely ready to go in two years. That is the big advantage of being at least two years ahead - you always are burning seasoned wood and don't have to worry about running out of seasoned wood during the winter.

 

[dlavigne7324]

Certainly not a dumb question. As a new burner myself, I had the same one.

I started out by asking people in my area that I knew burned. Then I would take their answers and apply it to my situation (home size, other heat sources etc)

Last summer I came to the "educated conclusion" that I would need about 4 cords here in Massachusetts. Unfortunately, I was only able to acquire 2 good dry cords before supply ran out. I thought I'd be way short so I went out and bought a ton of biobricks to supplement.

Turns out, based on consumption so far, we'll have wood and bricks to last us to April 1! I have found that we used just under 1/4 cord in November, right now it looks like we are going to get out of December with using just over 1/4 cord. That leaves us with 1/2 cord for each of the next three months.

Also, we bought 50 pkgs of biobricks (1 ton) and we are only using 4-5 pkgs a month. At that rate, we should get 10 months out of a ton!

Also, keep in mind that wood heat is our primary source of heat so while its not a true 24/7 burn, we are burning whenever we are cold, day or night.

So, to answer your question, I would say that if we can get by with 2 cords, I'm sure you can do with less? I hope I was able to decrease the size of your ballpark.

It's been a very mild winter so far

 

[xman23]

If my wife said 24 splits per day I woud salute and keep em coming.
Only tough day was yesterday

I think she was counting them to plan when she would run out of wood just outside the door from the stove. I can keep 6-8 days of wood there, but more than likely it's a days worth. When that's out you need to carry wood up one full flight from a years supply is under a side porch.

 

[Kevin Dolan]

I think she was counting them to plan when she would run out of wood just outside the door from the stove. I can keep 6-8 days of wood there, but more than likely it's a days worth. When that's out you need to carry wood up one full flight from a years supply is under a side porch.

Tom we keep a weeks supply up on the porch which is nice and yesterday I counted 12 splits put on.
So far for us this winter has been very mild, so not much wood burned.