three year plan is a joke

[Woody Stover]

Would you feel better if we called it a dry wood plan? I am lucky to have hundreds of dead standing oak that will season in months not years.

If I can get use of a super-windy spot near here, I may be on the 'three-month plan." Not banking on that, though; The closer the wood is to equilibrium, the harder it is to get rid of the remaining moisture. Also, if I get a bad drying summer like last year, that throws a monkey wrench in the proceedings, as well. All the stoves I feed are cats (mine and relatives',) and I want wood that's dry, dry, dry.

 

[red oak]

Just because we talk about the 3 year plan does not mean you have to stop! We've had from 3 years to 8 years on hand and it varies a lot from year to year. But the goal is to have a minimum of 3 years ahead at all times. The benefits are tremendous.

In addition, new people do not have to shoot for the 3 years all at once. That is a lot of work. It may take you 3 or 4 years to get that far ahead but then it is all easy from that point on.

Took me years to get 4 years ahead. Cut a little extra each year until I was two years ahead, then Hurricane Sandy came through last year and dropped wood everywhere. Now I just have to replace what I burn each year.

 

[Flatbedford]

I am set up for about 13 cords max on my 1/4 acre. That allows a 3 year plan if I restock as I burn through the winter. I am going to find a way to add space for a few more cords this year. Between the snow, extreme cold and some family illness, I learned this winter that I need more seasoned wood on hand. I'm almost 1/3 cord into my 2015/16 stash now with at least a month more burning to go. Luckily the 15/16 wood is Black Locust and Ash that has been c/s/s for 2+ years already. I can refill it with some Ash this spring and be OK in fall 2015. If I took from next year, I'd not be able to replace it for the fall. I'm thinking 4 years is much more secure, Especially if I'm working with Red Oak.

 

[Dune]

I'm pretty much on the same page. Considering I burned about 8 cord this year, I think getting 24 in one year is going to be tough. I'm hoping to get 16 cord this spring, which should minimally be two harsh winters and hoping that mild weather may get me close to three.

Are you heating a barn as well as a house? If not you would do well to insulate and weatherstrip.

 

[brant2000]

Are you heating a barn as well as a house? If not you would do well to insulate and weatherstrip.

Nope, just the house, hot tub and DHW. Not that it was insulated beyond code, but the house was just built in 2010, so it's fairly tight. My setup tends to overheat my basement (about 5 degrees above the rest of the house), so I am losing some efficiency there. All-in-all, I'm fine with the amount of wood I go through. I still save thousands a year over any other heating sources.

 

[STIHLY DAN]

Are you heating a barn as well as a house? If not you would do well to insulate and weatherstrip.

How much do you burn a year, and do you use any other source of heat?

 

[Ashful]

Are you heating a barn as well as a house? If not you would do well to insulate and weatherstrip.

I read this as you assuming 8 cords of wood is too much to heat a house? If I burned 8 cords, I could probably get my oil usage down to 600 gallons for the year... maybe.

 

[WiscWoody]

I've only burned 3 1/2 cords and two hundred gallons of propane in a 3,100 sq ft house in bone cold NW Wisconsin...where we still have 3 feet of snow in the woods. I've been heating the house since the first week of October and have a fire going now. Sometimes I'll be talking to a person who heats with wood up here and they'll say they've used something like 14 cord of wood and I'll say, HS! That's a lot of wood! But as time goes on you figure out that their talking face cords! Lol!

 

[Charlie2]

I used a wheelbarrow load every two days, found this forum, bought a new stove that will use half that, now working on four cords of staggered dryness, of course had to build additional shelters for said wood ----------damn, I think my wife is right, I've lost my frigging mind.

 

[Dune]

How much do you burn a year, and do you use any other source of heat?

Four cord of at least 3 year old wood. More if a lot of it is pine.

No other source.

My house is only 1200 ft and I did put a lot of new doors and extra layers of insulation in the attic and the floor.

 

[STIHLY DAN]

I've only burned 3 1/2 cords and two hundred gallons of propane in a 3,100 sq ft house in bone cold NW Wisconsin...where we still have 3 feet of snow in the woods. I've been heating the house since the first week of October and have a fire going now. Sometimes I'll be talking to a person who heats with wood up here and they'll say they've used something like 14 cord of wood and I'll say, HS! That's a lot of wood! But as time goes on you figure out that their talking face cords! Lol!

That's damn good, Whats your trick?

 

[WiscWoody]

Well, it must be that I like it cool in the home. 65-67 is fine with me. At night I let the temp go down to 60 and start the day with a fire to raise the temperature again. I count the basement, which has ICF poured walls in the footage but it's only heated by radiant heat from above so that stays at 50-54 in the winter. And one more thing is I insulated and sealed the house myself. It's pretty tight according to a blower door test done two years ago and I used high density insulation to fill the six inch walls all around and R50 blown wool fiberglass in the attic. My electric isn't much either ranging from 230 KWh to 330 KWh a month, last months being 244 KWh. Plus it's only me and two dogs living here, a big factor I'm sure!

 

[Backwoods Savage]

I read this as you assuming 8 cords of wood is too much to heat a house? If I burned 8 cords, I could probably get my oil usage down to 600 gallons for the year... maybe.

Well, we used to heat less than 1000 sq ft and I not so fondly recall one winter when we put 7 1/2 cord through our stove and still almost tested our frosticals. Needless to say, it was a drafty old house.

 

[Ashful]

Needless to say, it was a drafty old house.

Yep! There's no question there's one big down side to old houses. But, my drafty old house has been standing 240 years, and will probably be here 240 more. Long after the tightly-built houses of today fall to the ground, and long after people fully realize the health implications of living in a house full of chemical-laden carpets and synthetics, with too-few air changes per hour.

 

[WiscWoody]

Yep! There's no question there's one big down side to old houses. But, my drafty old house has been standing 240 years, and will probably be here 240 more. Long after the tightly-built houses of today fall to the ground, and long after people fully realize the health implications of living in a house full of chemical-laden carpets and synthetics, with too-few air changes per hour.

Wow! 240 yo! Cool! I've never been out east and prolly never will since family is in Cally. I thought your hearth looked like it was from an old, old house.

 

[lindnova]

Nope, just the house, hot tub and DHW. Not that it was insulated beyond code, but the house was just built in 2010, so it's fairly tight. My setup tends to overheat my basement (about 5 degrees above the rest of the house), so I am losing some efficiency there. All-in-all, I'm fine with the amount of wood I go through. I still save thousands a year over any other heating sources.

I don' t think you are out of line. I have a similar setup with an outdoor furnace. I heat a 1500 SF ranch style house at 68° with basement and a 1200 SF garage at 56° plus DHW. My basement is usually 2 degrees warmer with the in floor heat. I went thru maybe a little over 10 cord this year - never really measure it exactly. I burned about 4 cord of box elder and lighter stuff and the rest a mix of oak, elm, cherry, maple. I do burn seasoned wood with over 12" split and don't have too much smoke. Sure saves vs. propane.

I have between 30 and 40 cords stacked up around the property and plenty more dead elms and oaks to cut before next fall. It was nice this past winter to not worry about running out plus I sold a few loads to bail people out that ran out.

 

[Ashful]

Wow! 240 yo! Cool! I've never been out east and prolly never will since family is in Cally. I thought your hearth looked like it was from an old, old house.

Old, yes, but not extraordinarily old for around here. The oldest house we have owned was in our family from 1692 until the early 1990's, and I have had grandparents / uncles living in several others dating to the 1740's. If you enjoy Rev. war history, this is the place to be... but the latest DIY / renovation craze has really done a lot of damage to most of these old houses.

 

[WiscWoody]

Old, yes, but not extraordinarily old for around here. The oldest house we have owned was in our family from 1692 until the early 1990's, and I have had grandparents / uncles living in several others dating to the 1740's. If you enjoy Rev. war history, this is the place to be... but the latest DIY / renovation craze has really done a lot of damage to most of these old houses.

I'd really like to get out there and see Philly, DC and Boston. I sometimes think if not for the dogs I'd just hop in the car and go somewhere, lol

 

[Seasoned Oak]

My setup tends to overheat my basement (about 5 degrees above the rest of the house), so I am losing some efficiency there..

Thats pretty good. My basement must be about 90 to get my living room above to 75. And the floor above that to 68.

 

[Apprentice_GM]

I'm a big believer in 3 summers worth of seasoning before burning, 2 at a minimum. I burn big splits though (600mm long / 5kg) that might need an extra summer compared to others doing 300mm long and much smaller cross sectional areas.
I have the room, and the more I can get ahead, the less I have to burn, so the less work overall which is a big factor for me - I'm highly energy-efficient (my substitute phrase for "lazy" ) Well seasoned wood just starts burning more easily, burns hotter and so much cleaner - my neighbour didn't know I burned for the first 3 years after he moved in because he never saw or smelled smoke. Here's a video of my 3 year seasoned wood burning smokelessly:

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I guess I am a bit luckier than you guys in much colder areas, it rarely gets below 0 C and never snows here so I can burn 3 cords a winter and keep the house toasty as. We usually only burn late afternoons and overnight vs 24hr.