There's never enough... is there?

[sixminus1]

My name is Joe, and I'm addicted to fire and wood.

I recently got an insert installed. It's one of the best improvements I've made to my house. Despite some ridiculous screw-ups which caused me to feel ripped off by the installer, I managed to perservere. I fixed the problems, and I have been enjoying the fire enough to forgive him, but not enough to hire him again.

Since I decided to take the plunge into efficient woodburning, I've been obsessed with gathering firewood. I was surprised at how light-heartedly my friends and family initially accepted my fixation on the topic, but, since the weather is getting warmer they've been telling me "enough" more frequently than I would prefer. I try to remind them that I can't have too much wood (as long as I can store it), and that the wood will last a few years if I don't go through all of it this coming winter. I also try to remind them that it's free heat, and that working on the firewood provides me with more exercise than I normally get.

So, that said, I'm asking some "believers" here to reassure me that I'm not out of my mind. Or, if I am out of my mind it's for reasons other than being obsessed with all of this

Also, when I first joined the forum, I promised some pictures. I have a Jotul C350 Winterport installed, and I have 2.5 cords of wood in the backyard, with another 1/2 cord waiting to be split and stacked. My goal is to go around the inside perimiter of my unsightly old fence. I hope this will be enough to get me through next winter without using the heat (natural gas, crappy old furnace).

Notes: My property is 1/10th of an acre (100'x45'), so along the fence is the only place I can stack and still be able to play horseshoes (corner to corner). Also, my insert is a little tilted due to the uneven lower-front edge of my hearth. I'm planning on levelling it out this summer.

Thanks to everyone for contributing so much to this forum -- it is the single most helpful source of reliable woodburning information that I've found. I plan on reading and contributing for many years to come. Keep up the good work!

 

[fossil]

...So, that said, I'm asking some "believers" here to reassure me that I'm not out of my mind. Or, if I am out of my mind it's for reasons other than being obsessed with all of this

If you completely filled your yard with stacked wood so that you had to play horseshoes up on top of it, then I'd begin to get a bit concerned. As it is, I don't think you have anything to worry about...at least in this regard. But then, I'm a Mechanical Engineer, so what do I know about behavior? Ask my wife, she's a Psychologist. No, on second thought, don't ask her...the less attention we bring to her about stockpiling firewood the better...I have somewhere around 11 or 12 cords scattered around right now, and I'm always on the lookout for more. Rick

 

[WOODBUTCHER]

Joe,
You're not out of your mind ! You did give me an idea to climb my roof and take some shots !
Rest assured ....your part of an elite club now. Take a look at this picture from May 2007 (Woodbutcher Hack Fest 07)

WoodButcher

 

[Highbeam]

You'll need much more. I have 6 fresh cords stacked up drying and 3.5 left over from last year. I consumed 6.5 last year burning 24/7 in WA.

Plan on double rows around the perimeter. Stacking in those long straight rows makes it look like more than it actually is ans scares the relatives. If you stack it up in a shed, or more of a cube, you'll find that the sheer volume of the wood doesn't look so large but it's still there.

 

[pinewoodburner]

With 2.5 cords, you don't have enough. It is nice to have two seasons of wood and to be working on the third season, and the best is to already have 3 full seasons of wood. If current prices of heat, oil, natural gas and electricity, keep going up, you could be sitting on a gold mine.

 

[njtuna]

you are not crazy. i am in northern nj. i have a corner property, very open unfortunately. i have 4 cords, with three stacked already, and the 4th half split and half in rounds. nobody burns wood near me. i am the town novelty. everyone walks by and has something to say. i just keep to myself, knowing that my house will be 80 degrees in the winter, at minimal cost (fireplace xtrordinair w/blower), so i wouldn't worry. to me, your yard looks nice with that wood pile. my wife loves the heat, just the storage that is an issue.

 

[stanleyjohn]

Maybe its alittle panic that many wood burners seem to stacking more.I think the days of easy and cheap wood are going to end in the near future.I hope I'm wrong but i see the average price of wood doubling because of future high demand for wood burners.

 

[Carl]

Wood is better than money in the bank so don't let those folks bother you. I have my woodshed full to the top which should last me three years but am still ordering a truck load of 6 cords in log length to work on this summer. My chain saw, splitter, and body need to stay in regular use is my excuse. Wife says I have plenty but maybe not yet. I was thinking of getting a State dead wood permit this fall for a little additional hit. I don't think I am nuts.

 

[burntime]

You are definitely certifiably nuts. Let me help you. Surrender all of your wood to me. I will give you my address, the extra work will help cure the addiction! No, not really, stack 'em if you got 'em I always say! ;-)

 

[savageactor7]

sixminus1from what I see you have a real neat operation going and I would encourage you to keep it up...wood is better than money in the bank. And to serious wood burners/gatherers it is more than just a pursuit, full time wood burning is a way of life...like being Jewish.

As the years go by and you make steady improvements to your home sooner or later the topic will come up ..."where do you get all your money?" well I figure I save 3K a year on what I save heating with wood. I don't want to just survive in the winter...I want to be warm. Hell I'm burning right now and it's May 19, but I've kept the LP beast at bay.

 

[kenny chaos]

You're out of your mind for hanging 'that' picture over such a purdy fireplace. I'm sending the picture police. You just keep cutting and splitting.

 

[sixminus1]

You're out of your mind for hanging 'that' picture over such a purdy fireplace. I'm sending the picture police. You just keep cutting and splitting.

Ouch! I just got that picture!

My girlfriend wanted something to put above the mantle, so we got that picture. I'm a firm believer in the saying "when the women are happy, everyone's happy. when the women are miserable, everyone's miserable".

I would be just as satisfied with a bikini of the month calendar... but you can imagine how that would go over with my better half. And, I think the painting matches the rest of the room (that could just mean that my living room is hideous )

I'm a programmer, and a self-proclaimed fire addict... not an interior designer.

Does the picture somehow ruin the feng shui of the fireplace?

 

[kenny chaos]

You're out of your mind for hanging 'that' picture over such a purdy fireplace. I'm sending the picture police. You just keep cutting and splitting.

Does the picture somehow ruin the feng shui of the fireplace?

Exactly.
But as you say, if the gf is happy, it's not so bad after all. It's down right sweet!
Wish the wife would let me have another gf. Some guys have all the luck, even with bad taste in art

 

[njtomatoguy]

The hearth looks very nice, and if it makes her happy, that painting is perfect!

I just got this saw to hang by my stove.

And the other pic is my stash-hopefully 2 + yrs

 

[mtarbert]

I'm Not an Interior designer and have never stayed in a Holiday Inn but, Trash the painting and get the calender hung ASAP.
Just one mans opinion.
mike

 

[kenny chaos]

[quote author="njtomatoguy" date="1211252949"]The hearth looks very nice, and if it makes her happy, that painting is perfect!

I just got this saw to hang by my stove.

Hanging a big saw by the stove is like the guy that drives a corvette
All in fun-
Chaos

 

[fossil]

I'd suggest you send the gf to me here in Oregon, and she can bring the painting with her...but I'm afraid my wife wouldn't like the painting. Rick

 

[sixminus1]

Wow, either gf and I have absolutely no taste, or there's a thread-jacking in progress...(or both).

This sounds like a good start of another topic: "What's above your mantle?"

 

[fossil]

For the record, sm1, seriously, I think it looks terrific. The stove, the stonework & mantle are very "country traditional" looking to me, and that particular picture complements the whole theme quite well, IMHO. Nice job putting that very pleasing, warm ensemble of elements together. My hat's off to both of you. Rick

 

[BrotherBart]

For the record, sm1, seriously, I think it looks terrific. The stove, the stonework & mantle are very "country traditional" looking to me, and that particular picture complements the whole theme quite well, IMHO. Nice job putting that very pleasing, warm ensemble of elements together. My hat's off to both of you. Rick

This news just in. fossil has won the East Pascatooie primary in a landslide.

 

[fossil]

For the record, sm1, seriously, I think it looks terrific. The stove, the stonework & mantle are very "country traditional" looking to me, and that particular picture complements the whole theme quite well, IMHO. Nice job putting that very pleasing, warm ensemble of elements together. My hat's off to both of you. Rick

This news just in. fossil has won the East Pascatooie primary in a landslide.

Dang! I guess I better figure out just where that is! Rick

 

[njtomatoguy]

The hearth looks very nice, and if it makes her happy, that painting is perfect!

I just got this saw to hang by my stove.

Hanging a big saw by the stove is like the guy that drives a corvette
All in fun-
Chaos

Kenny, i'll do one better- it was a gift. my Dad gave it to me, cause Mom won't let him hang it above his fireplace.

When I asked him why he was giving it to me, he mumbled something about picking your battles and being married 35 yrs!

 

[kenny chaos]

Wow, either gf and I have absolutely no taste, or there's a thread-jacking in progress...(or both).

This sounds like a good start of another topic: "What's above your mantle?"

What's hanging over my mantle is the same thing hanging over this thread, a lot of hot air. But seriously, send your gf over to that other guy because she does have bad taste. She's with you ain't she?

Sorry-
Chaos

(hard day dealing with reality which this thread is not. thanks for being a good sport)

 

[stanleyjohn]

I wouldnt mind a pic over the mantel if my wife would get rid of the zillions of nick nacks she has around the house!My computer room(den)is off limits thank god!

 

[BrotherBart]

OK, this thread has gone to hell in a hand basket so I will tell my painting story. I worked for a company that had millions of dollars in collectible artworks. You got to go deep in the bowels of the complex and tell the curator (yep, actually paid one) what you wanted hung in your office. Most was, to put it kindly, somewhat abstract.

One day I was in my bosses office and he had this really awful painting on the wall. I commented "Some of this crap you have to choose from is really weird, isn't it?". He replied "Yeah. That is why I brought that one that my wife painted from home. She painted it when she was in her 'cubist' period of painting.".

Talk about a silence that you could cut with a knife. Don't know how many promotions that crack cost me.