How much wood

[firefighterjake]

If I could give advice to a new burner on how much wood to get for their first year, i would tell them 5 cords. I agree with everyone who says to err on the side of caution, but a lot of people dont want to store a whole lot of wood or even have the money to err on the safe side. Yoy may burn more than 5, you may burn less, but i bet it will get you just about all the way through winter. Take that data, and make sure you have enough for the next burning season.

I found that it is very hard to get ahead with your wood supply, mostly because of three factors. Some dont have the room to store it, some dont have the money to buy it right away, or some dont have the land to cut it. This is my third season, and i am just about up to next years supply. Took me three years to do that.

While there are many extenuating factors -- first year with the stove, size of the home, 24/7 vs. occasional burning, etc. . . . I could definitely get behind this advice overall . . . it's a good ballpark figure. As you say, with that much wood it will either get you all the way through the winter and perhaps leave you with some extra wood for the next year or it will get you through most of that winter.

 

[onetracker]

I don't do "non-dictionary chords" . . . for me it's all in cords -- a measurement I can readily tell folks and they know exactly how much wood I have.

I figure 5-6 cords . . .

+1

i bought wood once....oh 15 years ago.... and it was advertised at $75/cord. when it got delivered, on the back of a 1/2 ton pickup, i said 'that's not a cord dude', he said....'yeah it is..its a face cord...that's what we sell up here'. this whole face cord thing is a way to obfuscate and confuse and rip people off. a face cord can be off by 25% depending on log length but a cord is a cord...128 cubic feet.

 

[onetracker]

If I could give advice to a new burner on how much wood to get for their first year, i would tell them 5 cords. I agree with everyone who says to err on the side of caution, but a lot of people dont want to store a whole lot of wood or even have the money to err on the safe side. Yoy may burn more than 5, you may burn less, but i bet it will get you just about all the way through winter. Take that data, and make sure you have enough for the next burning season.

I found that it is very hard to get ahead with your wood supply, mostly because of three factors. Some dont have the room to store it, some dont have the money to buy it right away, or some dont have the land to cut it. This is my third season, and i am just about up to next years supply. Took me three years to do that.

agreed.
i'm 4th year in our current house and i'm just now able to start thinking about getting 2-3 years ahead. previous years i was burning most of what i could cut and split and season. problem now my wife think's i'm off my rocker. but she sure loves to warm her bones near a blazing fire. and sure enough.....she was out there with the chainsaw the other day. yup. only a matter of time now.

 

[fabsroman]

If I could give advice to a new burner on how much wood to get for their first year, i would tell them 5 cords. I agree with everyone who says to err on the side of caution, but a lot of people dont want to store a whole lot of wood or even have the money to err on the safe side. Yoy may burn more than 5, you may burn less, but i bet it will get you just about all the way through winter. Take that data, and make sure you have enough for the next burning season.

I found that it is very hard to get ahead with your wood supply, mostly because of three factors. Some dont have the room to store it, some dont have the money to buy it right away, or some dont have the land to cut it. This is my third season, and i am just about up to next years supply. Took me three years to do that.

agreed.
i'm 4th year in our current house and i'm just now able to start thinking about getting 2-3 years ahead. previous years i was burning most of what i could cut and split and season. problem now my wife think's i'm off my rocker. but she sure loves to warm her bones near a blazing fire. and sure enough.....she was out there with the chainsaw the other day. yup. only a matter of time now.

I just started accumulating wood at the beginning of August and I have about 10 cords on hand right now. I have built racks for 4.5 of the 10 cords, and am working on the remaining racks. However, I need to find a reasonable place to store this stuff. 3 cords is going to go under the deck right by the basement door where the furnace will be located. For now, I am hoping the remainder will fit at the end of the driveway. The really sad thing is that I am having to put the brakes on accumulating any more wood until I get this stuff stacked, and the really sad thing is that I have access to another 4 to 5 cords of wood this weekend, not to mention approximately another 10 cords that clients/friends have in standing trees they want me to take down. I also think that physically and mentally, I need a little break from the firewood scene. Over the last 45 days it seems as though the only thing I have been doing is lifting firewood. I am guessing I am going to be 2 to 3 years ahead before I even get this furnace installed.

Edit to add: The entire reason I decided to reply to your post was to tell you that my wife thinks I am insane. I am really crying about not going and cutting up a 30" white oak this weekend. Part of me wants to, and another part of me does not want to.

 

[CTburning]

This gets talked about every year and there are many variables to consider. From what I have seen most Fireview owners burn between 3-4 cords a year or 9-12 face cords. I have used a Fireview for two full seasons and used my allotted 3 cords by early March each year. I am heating 1625 sq ft from the basement, 425 downstairs and have approx 15 lineal feet of exposed foundation behind the stove sucking up a lot of the heat. I am able to keep the upstairs around 62 without using much oil. Loading more frequently when I am around more on the weekends will get the temp a couple of degrees warmer.

I would recc having at least 12 face cords on hand as you will probably use all of it this winter. It is hard to be discliplined with a Fireview and not burn too much in the shoulder seasons.

 

[onetracker]

we've been in our place 4 years and i'm just now getting situated wood-wise. finally burning 2 year seasoned this year. trying to get 3 years ahead before the snow flies.
i THINK we average about 5 cords total, but probably more counting autumn and spring....i usually scrounge in the woods for limbs and such and try to not start burning the primo seasoned stuff until thanksgiving. i'm also gonna try burning some pine next fall...see if i like it or not. when i read about my bretheren in the west who burn exclusively softwoods (and do just fine i might add) it makes me want to burn up all the f#$%&*g pine i have laying around.

its hard to pinpoint too cuz of my basement shop stove and my wife's studio. more clients/students, more wood consumed.

this year i'll watch it a little more closely and have a realistic estimate of what i've burned. i'm CERTAIN there will be a topic in the forum in april that says..

'so how many cords dija burn this winter?'

OT

 

[egclassic]

I guess I'm in your same situation. I just started burnin' late last year, end of December, so have no idea how much I'm going to need for the entire winter. As could be expected, I had a terrible time acquiring properly seasoned wood that time of year. I struggled getting the wood I had, to burn. I had no choice but to buy my wood by the infamous "face" cord and learned, real fast, that everyones idea of a face cord was different. Well this year I began scrounging my own wood and now have approximately 5-6 cords, all different species. It has now become an addiction, I can't say no if someone tells me they have free wood. But like others have said, what does not get used this year is the begining of next years supply. Get all you can, when you can.