# of Cord men?

[Henz]

Well, the heating is nearing the end..Thank god. THis was the first year with a woodstove for me..First I had the Avalon Rainier installed and ran that for two months..Wasent satisfied with the heat output and had it swapped out for the Olympic..Was a good call.
Anyways, I am on my last row of wood. I think I will get through March but that will be it for me..Since I am a 90% woodburner for my heat, I think I burned around 6 cord...This year will be the first year that I will buy logs..I plan on estimating 7 cord a year so I am gonna buy 7 cord of logs and then take another 7 cord off my property to get me cought up for next heating season. I also have a cord of split wood that I havent touched this winter..Should be in good shape..I am estimating 7 cord since we really had a weak start to the winter.. How has everyone else done??

 

[budman]

I would have to say five cords :roll:

 

[burntime]

I started burning in October and will continue until the end of this month. I estimate 4 1/2 cords. I already have 3 and a half cords of all oak and hickory that is going on its second year of seasoning along with a mish mash 3 cords of hardwood that will be about 1 1/2 years seasoned by winter. Thought I was so far ahead...now I gotta hustle to get another 10 cords just in case ;~)

 

[Henz]

another 10 cords! haha..thats funny...its amazing on how fast it really goes..you basically cant ever stop thinking about firewood. ITs not for the lazy-man that is for sure...But I love every part of it!

 

[tradergordo]

3 cords, 95% woodheat (couple days on natural gas when wife was sick and couldn't do the wood thing).
But there's still a couple days left of winter - next year I'd like to have at least 4 cords (a little reserve to carry over to the next season is OK).

 

[Todd]

2.7 cords of oak so far burning pretty much 24/7 since mid Oct. Looks like 3 cords is going to be magic number for this stove per year. Old stove went through 4 cords.

 

[adrpga498]

I figure I've burned 4.5 cords so far. I figure 1/2 to go them I'm done for this year. I'm looking at 3 holz stacked for 2007-08 plus 1 linier cord. Total estimate of wood ready for next year 6 cords. My most recent score was 1.5 cords all red oak. I'm hoping to carry that over for 2008-009 season . I've heard red oak needs 2 years so I'm ok as far as 2007-08. Still looking for more, as some say never enough wood. Ps. having the new splitter makes scrounging, and the entire processing easier.

 

[BrotherBart]

2.7 cords of oak so far burning pretty much 24/7 since mid Oct. Looks like 3 cords is going to be magic number for this stove per year. Old stove went through 4 cords.

Less than three cords? I think I am headed for the phone to call Woodstock!

 

[DiscoInferno]

Around 4 cords burning full time except for two weeks in december. About 1.5 left for next year, plus around 2 I've already scrounged this year and another 2 or so to go. I'd love to store 2 full years worth, but don't have the space. A lot of that remaining 1.5 cords is just not as dry as I would like, a combination of bad stack location and species (red oak).

 

[jpl1nh]

I'd say about 4 1/2 cords, for my 1200+ sq ft, heating 95% with wood. If I can afford it, like to switch from my old Jotul Combifire to a Woodstock Keystone for next winter. That should save 1/2 cord to a cord right there. Also, I burned a lot of lying dead stuf this year. Lots of it punky. Used that on warmer days or for start ups. Used the good stuff, mix of black birch, maple, red and white oak, for the cold weather. And this winter was weird weather wise. Way above normal temps November on, 70 on January 6th here in NH??? wow! However is was also much colder than normal from mid January on. So all told with an efficient stove, better wood and a normal winter, hpoing for 3 to 3 1/2 next year?

 

[babalu87]

3 and maybe 1/4 by the time its over, went through much in the last month or so
Like I have said before our house is VERY efficient, way moreso than Al's

 

[johnsopi]

Burned 3.5 cords heating @ 90% Used oil furnace for the last 10 days because I had a chimney issue so
really need 4 +

 

[RonB]

So far, 4 cords. I have one cord left and another 30 days of heating to do. Heating 1500sq ft main level + 1000 in the basement. 100% wood stove use except for 2 days (out of town). I have an old Vestal pre EPA stove that I will get changed out shortly. My new stove is here but not installed yet. I can't hardly believe that I will be able to burn 1/3 less wood in the new stove. That's what everyone says--we'll see and I'll let you know next year about this time.

 

[kevinlp]

we'll be at about 2.5 - 3 cords when we're all said and done. Heating 700 sq ft. mainly. The bedrooms are closed off during the day (have a 15 month old) at night we have a space heater in each bedroom. Without the addition of a fan in the hallway I can't get the heat into the back backrooms very much at all (with doors open). Still have to convince the Mrs to go for a small corner mount fan....

I have 3 pallets ready for next year. Another one that is split and needs to be stacked and one more than needs to be split. I intend on having that pallet split by the end of the month.

3-3.5 cords should cover us in a normal year. I was burning as much as I could early in the season since it was my first season. I think opening the windows in september to get the house cold enough to run the stove is not normal.....

 

[hilly]

I think I burned between three and four cords this year. This was the first winter I heated my 2000 sqft. house almost exclusively with wood. My electric and gas bills were far lower than the past two years and the house was so much warmer.
Wood is a lot of work, but most of its outside work and it's all physical. If I weren't splitting or stacking I'd be sitting on my butt, doing not much of anything...keeping warm in the winter is a great motivator!

 

[Gooserider]

Looking like the old smoke dragon will have ate about 6 cords, plus or minus... mostly decent stuff, but some punky old junk as well - considering the wierd winter, I'm disappointed, as I had been guesstimating around 4-5 cords for a normal winter - last year I went through about 3.5 cords, alot of it only semi-dry from the wood guy, but the sweep said we were running the stove to cold. I was trying to run it hotter this year, but almost twice the consumption seems a bit excessive. I'm hoping this year we'll see less crud at cleaning time, if not I'm really going to wonder what's going on.

Perhaps if I can find the right sort of bargain, I can talk the GF into getting a better stove for next year.

Gooserider

 

[DavidJinPa]

I'd say 4 cords here. With all the issues I had stove/chimney wise I think I would of hit 5 easily burning full bore. Can't wait too see how I make out next year since I'll be using coal also... Still gonna keep the wood pile full, that I know

DJ

 

[Henz]

well let me tell you guys, if you are burning under 5 cord and basically heating your house totally with wood dont change a thing! I have probably burnt close to 6 full cord and I have a 1400 sqft house..I also started the end of September but we had at least a solid month of warmer weather that I wasent burning hard in..I have an insulation problem that I am in the process of solving. I hope that next year I will actuay burn alittle less due to increased insulation..

 

[Corey]

If I can get the good stuff...oak and hedge...3 cords will keep the 1500sf ranch toasty and keep the basement 55-ish. May even have a little oak left over for some summer grilling!

Corey

 

[NewtownPA]

I burned 2.0 cords so far. I have 0.5 cord left. It was an "Gore-ish" start to the winter with all the warm weather so that's a contributing factor as to why it was so little.

Adirondackwoodburner, could it be that the Olympic is not as efficient as the Rainier? Maybe your house could use better insulation? Just curious because I have an Avalon Rainier and I am very satisfied with the heat output. <shrug>

 

[begreen]

We've burned 2.5 cords so far. So it looks like we'll end up with our normal average burn of 3 cords by the end of season. The heat pump is taking up the majority of the slack when its above 45. We'll see, spring lasts a long time here. Although we've been in the low 60's it's 38 now and the fire is burning.

 

[Henz]

NewtonPA, yeah, as previously stated, my house is in the process of getting a major upgrade within the insulation dept this summer..I liked my Rainier but I did not like the burntime. I get another 4 hours with the Olympic and that is important when you are heating 90% with wood..I am expecting with the added insulation taht my actual wood consumption will go down next winter..We will see!

 

[NewtownPA]

...but I did not like the burntime.

I know what you mean. It's hard to get an all-night burn; and if you are successful you'll end up with blackened glass. What I do is just put a space heater in my bedroom at night.

I've also been getting better at making a "secondary burn" with my Rainier. I was surprised at how much more heat I can get out of my logs when I adjust for a really good secondary burn. More heat AND longer burn time.

 

[Henz]

yes I agree..One other feature that I like on the olympic is the secondary bypass which basically allows direct vent straight up the chimney totally eliminating any puff-backs and it also allows for a quicker start etc. Woodstoves need to be figured out, that is for sure. I have learned that I get a much better/hotter burn when I load my splits in a N-S direction rather than W-E.. The olympic will handle almost 2x as much fuel which is nice too..Dont get me wrong, I liked the Rainier but didnt think It was going to handle my needs for totally heating my house for the most part.

 

[babalu87]

I am certainly happy that the back of our house, and the majority of its windows, faces due South.
I would bet if I lived across the street on the same 6 acres with the back of the house facing North I would burn another 3/4 to a full cord easyily. Passive solar is a great thing in Winter, in the Summer it sucks but we only have AC upstairs. Casablanca downstairs