Definitely a colder winter here. The pine logs i had been working on have been buried in snow with no melting for 3 weeks now.
stretching your firewood supply
- Thread starter Megunticook
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I've burned Green Mountain 'Firewood' compressed sawdust logs and been pleased with it. Burns hot when it catches. Usually only one log per load in my case. Also like to cut them into smaller sections and 'fit' them into the tetris crevices.
"coast on the coals" is a great description. 🔥 I do the same and believe it to be an effective method to save fuel.
If you have already done all to burn fuel efficienty, you can only reduce the inside temperature or broaden your fuel supply.
Between two regular burns - after the coasting - I burn "non-logs".
I save the saw dust and chips from firewood processing in barrels. I burn it in brown paper bread bags, paper bags from flower or light cardboard boxes from food. (make sure there is no glue). I mix the saw dust with coffee powder, nutshell and other burnables. The bags or boxes keep the sawdust in some type of shape.
I keep sticks from cutting young trees and bushes. Especially Hazel nut is great stuff. Dries fast and has good energy content.
A trailer like below is equivalent to two face cords, but the energy is high, as the branches have a high lignin content.
Sticks and saw dust work great after a "coasting" between two regular burns of logs.
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I'm pretty compulsive about cutting branches when I cut a tree. Down to about an inch in diameter I use the chainsaw, and thinner than that I'll use loppers until the branch gets really skinny or bushy. This comes from 15 years with a masonry stove. The branches were perfect.
I always use one to three pounds of them on coals when re-loading the stove. They are a pain in the wood shed, because they fall off of stacks and end up on the floor. Right now I'm walking over a depth of about a foot of them. I'm definitely bringing in more of them and using them more. They don't have much of a role in an overnight fire, but I can use a lot of them from now on.
Also I'm finding that my summer cut (I can't remember at what point in the summer this living ash tree I'm burning came down) ash is burning just fine. It seems to have a moisture content of around 25 in the middle of a fresh split, but less toward the edges. Anyway it goes right up on top of coals and is burning well. Eventually I might hit the September cut ash, which will not be as good.
I always use one to three pounds of them on coals when re-loading the stove. They are a pain in the wood shed, because they fall off of stacks and end up on the floor. Right now I'm walking over a depth of about a foot of them. I'm definitely bringing in more of them and using them more. They don't have much of a role in an overnight fire, but I can use a lot of them from now on.
Also I'm finding that my summer cut (I can't remember at what point in the summer this living ash tree I'm burning came down) ash is burning just fine. It seems to have a moisture content of around 25 in the middle of a fresh split, but less toward the edges. Anyway it goes right up on top of coals and is burning well. Eventually I might hit the September cut ash, which will not be as good.
I'll just echo getting a 3 year supply in the shed, and replace it every year...1 summer with a catastrophy (like a broken leg) and you are currently in trouble...but with 3 years in the shed, not so much
Even the most basic mini splits will heat efficiently down to 17 degrees F - set that to a 78 degrees F setting and run that during the day when temperatures warm up (11 am to 4 pm, generally). This will probably correlate when your morning load is less effective at providing heat and you need to keep the house warm while the stove is coaling. Try to cruise the coals to your evening reload (which hopefully then lasts you until you morning burn).
Basically, overwarm the house during the day when the mini split can do its job effectively and efficiently.
Exactly what I did yesterday and today. Progress Hybrid still warm from the morning fire, but won’t reload until dark. Almost up to 32F. Upstairs and downstairs mini splits running. Almost haven’t run them at all this winter. It has hardly been this warm.
It's a myth that modern heat pumps can't keep up with the cold, especially at normal winter temps. The key is sizing the unit properly to the heat loss of the house. It's the same for wood stoves, furnaces, etc. Case in point, my sister got caught by the deep cold that hit NC this winter. The system is undersized for the heating load because the house is uninsulated, not because the units aren't capable. I'm working with her to get this taken care of.
We bought our mini spits with shoulder season in mind, and air conditioning in summer. Though they are fully capable of working at cold temps, they lose efficiency and yep, they are undersized. Great in milder weather. Over 40 or 45 degrees it is super cheap to heat with them. Down at zero F, not so much, gets more expensive than oil at our electric rates once it goes below 0F . It also turns out that the smaller the compressor, the more efficient in general, so our smaller units are more efficient in their intended range.
We ended up using them at night instead of oil before the Progress Hybrid, above zero anyway. Now it’s wood overnight until nights get warm.
We ended up using them at night instead of oil before the Progress Hybrid, above zero anyway. Now it’s wood overnight until nights get warm.
I agree with several of the contributors here: get pallets, find and burn trash wood (even if not perfectly dry), or buy biobricks. You're already doing a lot to make it last with the mini stacks and only burning at night. BTW, I have never head 3+ years of supply laying around; I just don't have the room. I normally have about 1.5 years of wood stacked. I burn one year of wood, add another the next spring and that fall I start burning the half that's been sitting around first, so the 1 year has another 3-4 months to dry in the cold weather and freeze dry.
One suggestion I should have taken 20+ years ago is to build a wood shed. I just used landscape timbers with green iron posts and a tarp all these years. Now that I have a shed, my wood is MUCH dryer and it's giving off a LOT more heat. The wind blowing through and the extra distance between the wet forest floor and the stacked wood makes a big difference.
One suggestion I should have taken 20+ years ago is to build a wood shed. I just used landscape timbers with green iron posts and a tarp all these years. Now that I have a shed, my wood is MUCH dryer and it's giving off a LOT more heat. The wind blowing through and the extra distance between the wet forest floor and the stacked wood makes a big difference.
Pfft...heck I have at least 5 years worth here...and I know people that have a lot more than that!! (Private use...not intended for sale)
I do sell a bit now and again, but not much.
My more recent higher standards for dry firewood, along with a more modern stove which demands those high standards means I'm going to have to break my long standing golden rule of firewood going forward: touch each piece of wood as few times as possible.
I'm going to be moving wood around a whole lot more in order to have the driest wood in the most accessible area. I've currently got a glut of wood cut last fall on pallets, which was kind of an exception, but I'm going to have to be doing this sort of thing a lot more, stacking lots of wood outdoors and a year ahead in order to move it into the shed.
I guess it's a down-side of this new Progress Hybrid, which I otherwise love: it wants dry wood. I used to think that as long as the wood was in the shed early in the summer it was fine -- and it was with my old pre-2020 EPA tube stove Jotul.
The ash I'm burning now, definitely planned to be the buffer/extra/next year's wood, was cut and stacked in the shed in early-mid summer, and it's ash. Not as dry as I'd like. Got to up my game.
I'm going to be moving wood around a whole lot more in order to have the driest wood in the most accessible area. I've currently got a glut of wood cut last fall on pallets, which was kind of an exception, but I'm going to have to be doing this sort of thing a lot more, stacking lots of wood outdoors and a year ahead in order to move it into the shed.
I guess it's a down-side of this new Progress Hybrid, which I otherwise love: it wants dry wood. I used to think that as long as the wood was in the shed early in the summer it was fine -- and it was with my old pre-2020 EPA tube stove Jotul.
The ash I'm burning now, definitely planned to be the buffer/extra/next year's wood, was cut and stacked in the shed in early-mid summer, and it's ash. Not as dry as I'd like. Got to up my game.
I also have found that my cat stove just gets better and better with drier and drier wood, and what I could get away with in a tube stove just isn't appreciated by a cat stove.
Moisture boils out of wood when burnt and cools the cat, limiting the amount of heat produced. The drier the wood the less steam produced and hotter cat temps=more stove heat. It really goes for any stove but it’s much more noticeable in catalyst stoves. I’m on the 3 year plan with wood.
I need a new plan period.
LOL....I've got a good plan, and a system to produce. Just need to get my ducks all in a row. Firewood and non firewood related.
LOL....I've got a good plan, and a system to produce. Just need to get my ducks all in a row. Firewood and non firewood related.
EbS-P
Minister of Fire
This is really good advice. Someone needs to market a super eco mode thermostat. One that learns your house’s heating and heat loss profile. And can predict heating needs using online weather forecasts. See where this is going.
User gets to set the maximum drift from set temp. 5 degrees is really noticeable but again this is eco mode. For example I set at 70. It will allow the house to heat up beyond that to a max of 75 while the temps are warm.
You need a bigger shed. If I had a way to move full IBC totes that’s what I would do.
Yea. I always try to stay 3 or more ahead. Nothing burns like 5 year old oak
I am burning some 5yo CSS'd red oak right now...I'm glad the real cold weather is past because this stuff has been disappointing...have had ash that lasts longer...it's almost like it's too dry! (My splits average 5 lbs, so they aren't tiny)
Also for me this year, but the mistake made was stacking 3 rows deep, and the pieces from the middle of the stack just aren't ready. This is the last year I'll have that problem. I got a little behind during a major house renovation, but am 4 years ahead now and things are better every year.
I stack 3 deep on plastic pallets and top cover only. Middle row ends up good but I am on a little bit of a hill and always seem to have a westerly breeze around which probably helps out a little.
I stack 5 rows deep in my shed, 7.5-6.5 ft tall,.3-4" between the rows. Works fine for me.
So I think it should work,.but you have to keep some flow between them. You can use some branches at 3/4 of the height to tie the rows together.
So I think it should work,.but you have to keep some flow between them. You can use some branches at 3/4 of the height to tie the rows together.
I no longer worry about running out as I am easily staying 3-4 years ahead..it has not always been this way but I made the push to make it happen..I am blessed with plenty of storage space..
I got a ton of pine last spring from storm damage and it helped tremendously to get ahead on hard wood ,I'm going to do the same this spring and let my rough cut 3by 9 inch oak season another year ,they were construction cut offs destined for the dumpster, I retired so no more of them,I will miss bringing truck beds full of them home from work,uhh the good old days,
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