When is the mid point?

[burntime]

I have been burning since I was a kid and never remember, you should have half your wood left as of what day? I thought it was Jan 15?

 

[Danno77]

yeah, something like that. Here's a thread I dug up where we discussed it a little bit:

https://www.hearth.com/econtent/index.php/forums/viewthread/51091/#565377

 

[SolarAndWood]

I like to have at least half left on Memorial Day ;-)

 

[Backwoods Savage]

Around here the saying was that you needed half of your wood pile left on Groundhog day. This assured you wood enough to end the burning season but still some wood left to start the next. More modern folks know better and have 2-3 years worth of wood on hand at all times. Some of us have even more.

 

[twitch]

Half your wood and half your hay, you should have on groundhogs day

 

[ISeeDeadBTUs]

I try to have 1/2 left when the fire goes out ~April 1.
I try to have 1/2 right at the same time.

Ending the season with more wood than you started the season with . . . . Priceless!!

 

[Backwoods Savage]

Half your wood and half your hay, you should have on groundhogs day

Thanks Twitch. I had forgotten that old saying.

 

[burntime]

That is easy to remember!

 

[Danno77]

I was worried that I have no hay, but then I remembered that 1/2 of none is none, so I'm gonna be fine.

 

[free75degrees]

This might be more detailed an answer than you wanted, but here goes...

The chart shows how heating degree days play out for 4 cities. The 4 cities are all pretty similar except for Alaska, so this probably gives a decent estimate for where you live. To answer your question with this chart - the halfway point is when half the heating degree days have gone by, so you find 50 on the left axis and follow the horizontal line to where it hits the curve for the city closes to you. Then you drop straight down to get the date.

So like everybody has been saying, the halfway point is somewhere around mid to late January. 75% is early March, etc.

However, I find that this is a little bit off because there are more hours of sunlight in the half of the winter after Jan15 than before (midway point for hours of daylight is Dec.22). That extra sunlight makes a bit of a difference because it heats your house so you use less wood.

 

[burntime]

OK, do you have one for hay? :lol: Seriously, thanks...

 

[Danno77]

Cool chart. I am right on target, then. I have almost gone through 1/4 of my wood. It was a slow start, but this cold snap is making up for it.

 

[precaud]

Yeah, I normally consider Jan 21 to be the halfway point. Ground temps lag air temps and skew the curve to the right of the solstice.

 

[LLigetfa]

According to the EIA, "During an average heating season, residential customers will have already consumed about two-thirds of their heating oil by Groundhog Day".

http://www.newfuelnow.com/twip/february2010/thisweekinpetroleum02122010/

 

[midwestcoast]

Remember that the saying is from the days when running-out of fire wood= freezing & running-out of hay= livestock starve= you starve. So a bit on the conservative side for most of us with back-up heat and a grocery store handy.

 

[CJRages]

Remember that the saying is from the days when running-out of fire wood= freezing & running-out of hay= livestock starve= you starve. So a bit on the conservative side for most of us with back-up heat and a grocery store handy.

Right. If you had 1/2 supply left at Groundhog's day - that is ideal. You will be fine unless the world ends (in which case it won't matter anyway). The probability of needing more than 1/2 supply post-Grounghog's day is minuscule. Think of it like having a 10 run lead going into the 7th inning.

 

[Battenkiller]

You will also get a heat boost if you have lots of southern windows because of the increasing amount of sunlight after the winter solstice (Dec. 20). On sunny days in March, I don't even feed the stove until afternoon. Ten south-facing windows let in a lot of energy. Skews the degree day estimates somewhat.

I try to pay attention to that all season long, actually. I work at home, so I always try to remember to open the blinds and curtains when the sun is out and shut them when it stops shining through.

This year, I gonna go out with wood brick fuel. I can get everything back to normal in my shop and then dial in my heating needs on an hour-by-hour basis through the spring. That should leave me with more cord wood left over than I have ever had. And that's a good thing.

Edit

Should have noticed this before I posted:

However, I find that this is a little bit off because there are more hours of sunlight in the half of the winter after Jan15 than before (midway point for hours of daylight is Dec.22). That extra sunlight makes a bit of a difference because it heats your house so you use less wood.

Nice graph, BTW. ;-)

 

[BrotherBart]

I have to wonder how it is skewed here this year with January showing up in early December. Of course our weather guys are telling us that only once since 1948 has a extra cold December been followed by anything other than a normal January and February, in 1062. But hey! A normal January and a normal February are darn cold and this month has been added to that.

 

[Coach B]

I have to wonder how it is skewed here this year with January showing up in early December.

I remember some weather guys predicting that in a La Nina year like this a cold Dec would likely be followed by a blowtorch January for most below the Mason-Dixon line. We'll see.

 

[Danno77]

Cool chart. I am right on target, then. I have almost gone through 1/4 of my wood. It was a slow start, but this cold snap is making up for it.

There we are. I just loaded the last handful of my first quarter into the woodstove. I like to have the month's worth sitting outside the door, but when this thread came along I still hadn't put december's wood under the overhang, so when i moved the wood I put the rest of one row there (leaving 3/4 of the total supply still stacked in it's original spot)

Just thought I'd post it so that I can compare during future years. According to the spreadsheet I made at the beginning of the season I should have used about 38% of my total supply by the end of december.

Anybody else know how far along you are in your supply for 2010-2011?

 

[midwestcoast]

I've burned through half of what I have. :shut: :shut: , oh, and I should add :shut:

I knew I'd be short though. will just have to fly south sometime in February :coolsmile:
Really, I thought of buying the rest of what I needed, but with nat gas so low this year I may just (oh I can hardly bring myself to say it), I just don't think, well, it wouldn't make much sense, you know, economically, too buy wood, so I might just go ahead & ahh, use the um, furnace :red: You guys'll still talk to me right??

 

[Backwoods Savage]

Danno, we don't worry. We have lots.

 

[wood-fan-atic]

I have more than 3/4 of my 10-11' supply left. My new stove uses much less wood than my old one, so Im gonna wind up way ahead at the end of the burning season. LOTS of ash for next year, and plenty of this years red oak to add to next years supply = :cheese: :cheese: :cheese:

 

[Danno77]

Danno, we don't worry. We have lots.

I'll be able to sleep tonight. I was afraid you were almost out.

 

[SolarAndWood]

Anybody else know how far along you are in your supply for 2010-2011?

Still burning chunks and uglies. Burned about a half cord of the good stuff during the cold snap.