I am the stingy old man of the woodpile.

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DavidV

New Member
Hearth Supporter
Nov 20, 2005
792
Richmond VA
So there I was...approaching the burning season and realizing that I only have about 3 cords of seasoned dry wood. I am less than a man....I have been lazy and allowed my wood pile to wither. I have been working hard to get ready for next year but that doesn't change the situation for this year.
I am gona change the programmable thermostat so it uses more heat pump and less gas....when it comes on burt that means it might be colder around here. Tonight I loaded the stove ( will be 30's tonight) but didn't light it. I figured it was still 68 degrees inside so I could wait.....and then maybe not have to load but once tonight. I cant believe I am stingy with wood. I have I have more wood than my first year of burning but not nearly as much as as I did in years since.

Guess I'll be yelling out the back door. " you kids get out of my yard. And stay away from my woodpile."
 
It's funny that when we bump up the thermostat on the furnace, we think of the fuel cost but when we throw another stick on the fire we think only about how much we are saving by not running the furnace.

I never worried about my wood supply until last year. I saw my woodpile starting to dwindle and my supplier didn't deliver as he promised before spring break-up. The firewood of choice here is Black Ash which grow in swamps. Around here, if you don't get your wood out before the ground thaws, it's stuck in the bush until next winter. Cord length rounds sitting in the bush don't dry much and you end up losing a whole year of drying time. I am now having to burn wood I got at the beginning of this year that had less than a full year to season.
 
I just smile every time I look at my wood pile!!!! And I can hardly wait to start cutting wood again in a couple of weeks. That wood will have many years to season too!

I'm not stingy with the wood, but I do try to not waste either.
 
I am only a grumpy and stingy old man when I'm away from my stove or wood stacks!
 
DavidV said:
So there I was...approaching the burning season and realizing that I only have about 3 cords of seasoned dry wood. I am less than a man....I have been lazy and allowed my wood pile to wither.
I cant believe I am stingy with wood. I have I have more wood than my first year of burning but not nearly as much as as I did in years since.
Guess I'll be yelling out the back door. " you kids get out of my yard. And stay away from my woodpile."

Geez, I thought it was just me - thanks for posting, I think you saved me a few bucks in therapy!
 
The amount of wood that I have is relative to how stingy I am with it.

I'm going to hold off on running the stove for a while until it gets much colder.
Not because I'm stingy though. It's because my wife has been complaining in the mornings about how hot the house is.
 
I am not looking forward to getting old, I'm 38 . . . that said I will not do it gracefully. Working to get my diction down, although I think it will come naturally, "Damn kids! Get away from my woodpile, hehhhh. Haven't even had a jelly donought and a cup a ccccoffee."
 
I haven't been that stingy with the wood . . . been running the stove steady now for a few weeks with some breaks when the outside temps have warmed up. Putting in some extra insulation this past Summer was well worth the blood, sweat and tears . . . well mostly sweat since it was August and early September when I did that job.

However, my wife for some reason is convinced I will end up with quite a bit of the wood by the time Spring rolls around . . . I'm of the opposite opinion . . . I think we will be running out as I came into the whole wood burning deal a bit late in the game and pretty much scavenged standing dead wood and some old maple tops that my brother cut last winter. Guess time will tell who's right . . . me or my wife.

In the meantime I'm happily burning away since I figure I would rather be warm now and use the wood than be miserly and try to save it until I really "need" it and end up either being cold or spending additional money on oil.
 
DavidV said:
I cant believe I am stingy with wood.

If you are close or know for sure you don't have enough you kind of have to be stingy.

One thing i've done for some time is segregate my wood. I've got all my "heart of winter wood" and i've got my "fall and spring" wood. When I first started buring I was burning the good stuff in the fall and didn't have squat left in the spring. By separating them it's easier to monitor. Now, if I get to mid Nov. with the fall wood i'm golden, no chance of running out of the good stuff.
 
Don't have to worry much as I have about 18 cord laid up. I also did some wood segregation this summer and have all my free poplar stacked for the shoulder months. I wanted to get a good handle on how much I might burn in a season so I put about two cord in the garage, and the way the weather is going I might have half a cord left over - I mean, it's sunny and 60 today and I have been burning 7/24 the past month. Had a fire last night and it got way too hot in the house. Let it burn out around 8PM and may not even bother with one tonight. Still, I'm ready with the dry oak if needed. (last year was my first to burn and I think I started burning 24/7 somewhere in July just because it was so much fun - well, probably not quite that early. I'm much better prepared this year but I can see why most seasoned burners are in no hurry to begin round the clock fire tending. Love that sunshine and free heat. :coolsmile:
 
Nothing worse than running out of wood. That's why I have 3 years worth and always looking for more. Some people get greedy and waste wood trying to get their house up to 80, then wonder why they ran out in Feb. Not that it ever happened to me. %-P
 
I'm Stingy with my hardwood pile and generous with the pine... Got lots of it!!!
I only use my hardwood stash for my extended burns and when it's real cold!
 
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