Less wood consumption

[Chas0218]

Over the summer I finished our dining room walls and kitchen. I am a little excited (probably too excited) to see how our house does with heating this year now that we have insulation in all of our walls. We started our re-model/addition going on 3 years this coming April and are about done with the big things. Upon tearing into the old part of the house we found that the cinder block house had no insulation what so ever in the walls. Living in the NE and the Applachian plateaus we get some pretty cold temps throughout the winter. This coupled with some good valley winds it can be downright frigid. Well as of last week it has been a little too warm to run a fire but the last couple nights it has been dipping into the 20s and I lit a couple fires.

I don't know how much wood I'll be going through this winter but I am thinking I might be able to get away with 2 burns per a day vs 3. I think this will bring my wood consumption down 2 cords so I would be burning about 4-5 cords a season. This would be fantastic and allow me to get further ahead over the next year or so. Right now I burn 6-7 cord per a season so I'm looking forward to a little less work and more time to work on other things.

 

[Woody Stover]

Wow, that's a lotta wood! I would think that insulating the block walls is gonna help quite a bit. What did you do, install foam board or what? If you are running two stoves, maybe you are heating a lot of sq.ft?
We are in a similar situation here. Log cabin with no wall insulation, only 1" of a two-layer wall board. Wind gets behind the logs through gaps at the corners, etc, and the wall board becomes a cold thermal mass. I at least need to seal up some of the breaches in the envelope such as electrical outlets, attic access and ceiling light fixtures to reduce the air flow.

With only 1000 sq.ft. to heat, I'm pretty sure I'm under two cords. Never got a good read on usage since I pull from different stacks over the course of a season.

 

[Woodsplitter67]

That is alot of wood.. im well nort of you.. my consumption is between 3 and 4 cords and my home is alot larger.. i hope you have cut your consumption...

 

[MrWhoopee]

I live at 4000 ft. elevation in northern California mountains. Winter lows regularly in the teens, sometimes lower. Two storey 1800 sq. ft. house, 2x4 framing with r-12 in the walls, r-30 ceilings, mostly single pane windows which I cover with plastic shrink film. I burn 3-4.5 cords/yr.

 

[peakbagger]

insulating the spaces in the blocks on a cinder block wall does not really have a lot of benefit to cost. The R value of concrete is next to 0 and the continuous sections of concrete at the joints carry most of the heat out the building.Far better to spend the money putting isoboard foam over the entire wall.

 

[HisTreeNut]

We re-sided our house this past year and have about 1 1/4" foam insulation behind the siding. Huge difference in the summer keeping the heat out...our lone window A/C unit kept the humidity in the house 10%-15% lower than the outside.
We have only built a few fires so far (mainly at night to keep the chill out of the house) and are not burning 24/7 yet. The house in general feels a lot warmer and the stove seems to blow heat for a couple hours more than it used to. Burning scrap wood, we have to load a little more often & it seems like we are getting a little more smoke in the house but I figured that as the house is significantly tighter than it used to be. That being said, leaving the stove door cracked open longer (at least 1-2 minutes) seems to do the trick. I am also curious if we will burn less wood also...I think we will as well.
We burn about 4-ish cord per year.

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[billb3]

Four or five courses of concrete block (sometimes clay bricks ) is common here (older houses, pre-WWII) on top of basement walls made of local stone and/or mortar. They can be ice cold when it is cold out.

 

[Woody Stover]

curious if we will burn less wood also...I think we will as well.
We burn about 4-ish cord per year.

I'll lay five bucks on three cords this year, what with the foam, plus 'climate amelioration'...

 

[Chas0218]

Wow, that's a lotta wood! I would think that insulating the block walls is gonna help quite a bit. What did you do, install foam board or what? If you are running two stoves, maybe you are heating a lot of sq.ft?
We are in a similar situation here. Log cabin with no wall insulation, only 1" of a two-layer wall board. Wind gets behind the logs through gaps at the corners, etc, and the wall board becomes a cold thermal mass. I at least need to seal up some of the breaches in the envelope such as electrical outlets, attic access and ceiling light fixtures to reduce the air flow.
View attachment 250876
With only 1000 sq.ft. to heat, I'm pretty sure I'm under two cords. Never got a good read on usage since I pull from different stacks over the course of a season.

Only running 1 stove I went through 6 cords my first year and 5 cords my 2nd year. I'm hoping this 3rd year I will be down to 4.

That is alot of wood.. im well nort of you.. my consumption is between 3 and 4 cords and my home is alot larger.. i hope you have cut your consumption...

Me too! Lol.

insulating the spaces in the blocks on a cinder block wall does not really have a lot of benefit to cost. The R value of concrete is next to 0 and the continuous sections of concrete at the joints carry most of the heat out the building.Far better to spend the money putting isoboard foam over the entire wall.

I have 1" foam board on the outside and R15 on the inside walls (where there wasn't anything before) so in essence I should have an R20 to meet the NYS Energy conservation code in the old part of the dwelling. Before I insulated the inside all I had was the r5 insulation on the exterior.

All in all 2 fires per a day right now with outdoor 20* is keeping the house no colder than 66* so I am beyond happy.

 

[Chas0218]

An update to the 13* overnight the house was 67 upstairs and 70 downstairs. Our bedroom was 64 even being over the stove (keeping our door shut helps keep it cooler).

Right now after 2 hours of burn the downstairs is 70* the upstairs is 66* with an outside temp of 17*. It is tough to compare to Feb. temps being that the ground is still a little warmer than it is in Feb. right now but still I am hopeful that maybe if I don't burn as much wood now it will save me some later.

 

[Woodsplitter67]

An update to the 13* overnight the house was 67 upstairs and 70 downstairs. Our bedroom was 64 even being over the stove (keeping our door shut helps keep it cooler).

Right now after 2 hours of burn the downstairs is 70* the upstairs is 66* with an outside temp of 17*. It is tough to compare to Feb. temps being that the ground is still a little warmer than it is in Feb. right now but still I am hopeful that maybe if I don't burn as much wood now it will save me some later.

yes.. if you not burning as much now this should translate to the shoulder season in the fall also and this will affect your overall would consumption for the year making it less.. if your home is as warm as you like it now and your not burning as much than your going to be ahead.. there are a couple of other factors like the kined of wood your butning and over all winter temps.. but you can get a general outlook

 

[Woody Stover]

Another positive indication might be that you don't lose house temp as quickly as you did previously, at the end of a load..

 

[Chas0218]

A little update for everyone, I have been burning 24/7 for close to a month and if my math is right I have gone through about 1/2 of a cord of wood where as last year I was burning about 1 cord a month. For me this is great news although I will be burning 3 fires starting soon I was still able to cut out 1 full cord if not more come spring. I will continue to update the thread throughout the winter just as an FYI but our home is staying much more comfortable with less fires. Last night with the wind the house definitely cooled off quicker than usual. We had a morning temp upstairs of 67* and the downstairs temp of 70* which is completely acceptable for my family.

 

[Woody Stover]

A little update for everyone, I have been burning 24/7 for close to a month and if my math is right I have gone through about 1/2 of a cord of wood where as last year I was burning about 1 cord a month. For me this is great news although I will be burning 3 fires starting soon I was still able to cut out 1 full cord if not more come spring. I will continue to update the thread throughout the winter just as an FYI but our home is staying much more comfortable with less fires. Last night with the wind the house definitely cooled off quicker than usual. We had a morning temp upstairs of 67* and the downstairs temp of 70* which is completely acceptable for my family.

That's good news on the reduced wood usage.
If you have an infrared thermometer gun, you can walk around the house and see where the cold air is coming in, and work on those areas.
Don't let your dog see the laser targeting dot or he might go nuts trying to eat it, like my boy does.

 

[blades]

ya but it's great fun- dogs get some excercise and i do not need to freeze outside.

 

[Woody Stover]

ya but it's great fun- dogs get some excercise and i do not need to freeze outside.

Yeah, it's fun but he stirs up a lot of dust. My wife walks him up and down the ravines in the woods every morning, while I stay inside and stoke the stove.

 

[HisTreeNut]

I'll lay five bucks on three cords this year, what with the foam, plus 'climate amelioration'...

Update for us so far also...we are definitively burning less wood. Last year burning 24/7, the kiddos were bringing in wood 2x per week and the far side of the house was always chilly. Burning just soft wood...we basically have been burning 2x per day (Actually night) and,bringing,in wood 1x per week. We have been building a fire just after the kiddos go to bed & I stoke it up before I leave for work. The wifey lets it die out because the house is so warm.
Currently, we have been doing 24/7 burning because the last few nights as we have gotten into the teens and the daytime,highs have been on the 30's. The far side of the house is about 64 degrees which is 4 degrees warmer than it ever has been. I am very pleased so far...I am thinking that the 3 cord guess will be spot on. [emoji6] [emoji6][emoji6][emoji6]

Oh, here's 5 bucks for you...


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[Woody Stover]

Update for us so far also...we are definitively burning less wood. Last year burning 24/7, the kiddos were bringing in wood 2x per week and the far side of the house was always chilly. Burning just soft wood...we basically have been burning 2x per day (Actually night) and,bringing,in wood 1x per week
Oh, here's 5 bucks for you...
[emoji385][emoji385][emoji385][emoji385][emoji385]

Less hauling wood and loading the stove is always a good thing. Thanks for the five bucks; Now I can go out and buy some of those foam electrical outlet draft sealers.

 

[weatherguy]

We did have a cold December last year in the northeast but I usually burn 4 cords, it usually evens out, cold dec, mild jan , cold Feb, we could still have a 2015 end of winter that made up for a mild beginning, that's why I always plan on 5 cords just in case no matter the start

 

[Chas0218]

Update for us so far also...we are definitively burning less wood. Last year burning 24/7, the kiddos were bringing in wood 2x per week and the far side of the house was always chilly. Burning just soft wood...we basically have been burning 2x per day (Actually night) and,bringing,in wood 1x per week. We have been building a fire just after the kiddos go to bed & I stoke it up before I leave for work. The wifey lets it die out because the house is so warm.
Currently, we have been doing 24/7 burning because the last few nights as we have gotten into the teens and the daytime,highs have been on the 30's. The far side of the house is about 64 degrees which is 4 degrees warmer than it ever has been. I am very pleased so far...I am thinking that the 3 cord guess will be spot on. [emoji6] [emoji6][emoji6][emoji6]

Oh, here's 5 bucks for you...


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Those are some impressive deer, I got one with a drop tine for the first time this year. He had all sorts of junk hanging off the rack. My biggest is a 161" 10 point. The drop tine buck scored 134", it wasn't real wide but main beams were long and was pretty heavy. I hunt NY and we have done pretty well on our property over the years but nothing compared to what you have hanging there.

The 3 fires isn't really full on fires the 3rd is a mid fire stoke before I go to bed and throw on a few logs. I'm really surprised by how much wood I have left in my racks right now, if this cold weather sticks around I will definitely be going through wood this year.

 

[Grizzerbear]

Those are some impressive bucks histreenut. Is that a all black squirrel to the right. Ive seen em before but pretty rare. Very cool.

 

[Woody Stover]

Here I thought your "Tree Nut" name was referring to firewood., but turns out it's because you've spent so much time in a tree stand.

 

[Sawset]

Those are some impressive deer, I got one with a drop tine for the first time this year. He had all sorts of junk hanging off the rack. My biggest is a 161" 10 point. The drop tine buck scored 134", it wasn't real wide but main beams were long and was pretty heavy. I hunt NY and we have done pretty well on our property over the years but nothing compared to what you have hanging there.

The 3 fires isn't really full on fires the 3rd is a mid fire stoke before I go to bed and throw on a few logs. I'm really surprised by how much wood I have left in my racks right now, if this cold weather sticks around I will definitely be going through wood this year.

Windmill blowin 45, temp thirty below, I was freezin to death, then it started to snow
So I got down from the tree stand start headin for the truck
And that's when I seen it there, the turdy point buck

 

[HisTreeNut]

Truth be told...I am not much of a hunter and haven't since I was a teenager. That is an internet photo of "5 bucks" that I was trying to be humorous to @Woody Stover with (my original posting in his reply have the money emojis in it...he is quick on the responses). My family gets most of our deer with motor vehicles unfortunately.
That being said, my son loves hunting and he got his first this year. About an 80 pound button buck...he named him "Jack."

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[Woody Stover]

Woody ...he is quick on the responses

Yeah, plenty of time to loaf on the internet and stay on top of the forums, if you only have half a job.

Truth be told...I am not much of a hunter

Like your son, my brother was the only one of us that ended up doing much hunting or fishing. This fall, he arrowed his best buck so far, twelve-pointer that dressed out at 180# and green-scored 167+. I'm so proud.
He said his freezer was about empty..