How much wood do you burn

[arrow]

As I am a nuts and bolt type, my first thread got me to thinking about actual circumstances that may begin to depict wood burning efficiencies better than statistics. It seems that the sq footage capacity of any given stove are measured in South Carolina someplace ( or so the guy who sold me my stove states) so real life conditions are for me, a better marker. I live in a New England state where we get about 5 to 6000 heating degree days or thereabouts. I have a Quadrafire wood stove which is an epa certified air tube type stove. It is the largest they make (5700) stated to heat over 3000sq ft. I burn mostly oak and start in Oct and go through April. It is my main heating source. After successive 25* days, I must supplement wood heat with the oil burner to keep house between 68-70*. I live in a drafty 2 floor 1800 sq ft log home. The stove is in the cellar. I use about 5 cords per year and have gone through about 4 already. Shoulder months require only 1 load at night and then rebuilding a fire the next night. The hood has helped immensely as this stove has a heat shield on it and most of its heat convects upward. The stove may heat 3000sq ft in S.C. but it barely keeps up here at 1800 sq ft heating 3 floors. The house never gets below 60* even when its 0 outside but this is when we wake up. The stove alone could never get the house up to 68* at these temps. I use 1 tank of oil (275 gal.) per year and a half to mostly heat hot water. Now please understand, I am not trying to brag here as I do not even know just what constitutes "good" or any other marker of efficiency. My usage may suck in comparison to others but in order to rightfully compare this thing, there are certain details that must be given accurately. So, if you are so inclined, what make and type and placement is your stove? how big is your place you are heating, how well insulated is it? where are you? and how much and what type wood do you use?

 

[Tig]

I've also pondered this and I cannot think of a more abstract task than measuring my wood use. My firewood species are random and seasoning can be a bit inconsistent so btu content/output is a crap shoot. On top of that my lengths are inconsistent, so measuring a cord is very subjective. I do buy logs and cut my own wood, but in addittion I receive random donations that are not tracked. Perhaps when things settle down a bit around here I'll get a better handle on this. I'd be interested in hearing how others track this accurately.

 

[MossRoad]

We have 1300~ sq'. Our stove is on an outside wall in the basement, as that was the best place for us to put it. Our house is poorly insulated. I've been burning wood for 4 winters as the primary heat source. I keep the house at or as near to 72 at all times that we are home, as best I can. The first two winters were cold, and I burned 6 cords each winter. Stove only went out 4 times in 6 months for cleanings. The last two winters were warm and I only went through approx. 4 cords each year. Stove went off for days at a time.

As for how many square feet a given stove will heat, that is hocus-pocus in my opinion. All homes are different with different levels of seal, insulations, outside air, heated mass, interior air circulation, etc... my general rule of thumb when selecting our stove was to get the next size up from what they were recommending, and then, since I was putting it in a non-ideal location, increase the size one more time.

I use a mixtue of locust for long burns at night and sassafras for short hot burns when I return home or in the morning. Locust is dense and has a lot more BTUs than most wood. Sassafras is light and burns fast.

With our stove in the basement on an outside wall, I have found that if I keep a fire in it all the time to where the mass of the concrete floor heats up, I don't burn nearly as much wood as I do if I let the fire die way down a couple times a day. We also have a duct over our stove similar to yours (without the nice hood, though) that is 6" in diameter with a high-temperature duct booster fan inside it about 10' from the stove. That pushes air up to the center of the 1st floor. I purchased it from here:
Aero-Flo Industries, Inc. - Axial Fans
It went out during the 4th year. I purchased another one, but upped to an 8" this time.

I hooked that up to a protable thermostat like this:
Portable Thermostat | Thermostats| Northern Tool + Equipment
I mounted it in between the floor joists above the wood stove and about 5' forward of it, and set it to cool the basement room.
So, when the wood burner gets the basement room up to 78 degrees, the thermostat turns the duct booster fan on and pumps the hot air up to the 1st floor.
When the wood burner cools off and the basement room temp drops to about 72, the booster fan turns off and no cold air is pushed up to the 1st floor.
Works great! :thumbsup:

In fact, I forgot about that setup one year and left it plugged in. One day in the spring, I came home and found the booster fan running, even though I hadn't made a fire in several weeks. Apparently, the sunshine into the basement window on a nice day was enough to get the basement up over 78, which kicked on the blower.

Anyhow, I like this setup.
If I had my druthers, I would have put the woodburner more centrally located in the basment and run two ducts up to the 1st floor... one to the living room and the other to that central location I mentioned. The bedrooms always stay comfortable at night for sleeping with just the warmth of the floor above the room where the wood burner is.

Hope that helps.

 

[MossRoad]

I've also pondered this and I cannot tbink of a more abstract task than measuring my wood use. My firewood species are random and seasoning can be a bit inconsistent so btu content/output is a crap shoot. On top of that my lengths are inconsistent, so measuring a cord is very subjective. I do buy logs and cut my own wood, but in adittion I receive random donations that are not tracked. Perhaps when things settle down a bit around here I'll get a better handle on this. I'd be interested in hearing how others track this accurately.

I'm fortunate in the we own our own wood lot and I selectively harvest locust and sassafras.
I tried cherry from windfall, but it burns too fast.
I tried maple from a gift tree from a friend. It burns too fast.

Here's a link to a handy chart that lists wood species, BTU's etc...
wood heat value (BTU)

Also, I use a Holz Hausen method to store my wood. I'm basing my consuption on the sq' that it contains assuming I measure it correctly each year. I guess I am within 10% of my estimates of personal usage.



Here's a link to a better description of it.
http://www.tractorbynet.com/forums/rural-living/185238-where-do-you-keep-your.html#post2111819

 

[dave1949]

I've also pondered this and I cannot think of a more abstract task than measuring my wood use. My firewood species are random and seasoning can be a bit inconsistent so btu content/output is a crap shoot. On top of that my lengths are inconsistent, so measuring a cord is very subjective. I do buy logs and cut my own wood, but in addittion I receive random donations that are not tracked. Perhaps when things settle down a bit around here I'll get a better handle on this. I'd be interested in hearing how others track this accurately.

Good point. I've never burned the same pile of wood twice. :laughing: I have a firewood place in the garage that I stack with wood by the end of summer. It will hold about one cord of wood which so far, has been enough to get me through the winters. This winter I have used more wood than the past several. Not much left in my pile right now.

 

[hr3]

I burn 4 cord a year,, House is 3000 sf. Inside temp averages 74 all winter,, doesn't matter the outside temp.. "up to 20 below"...

 

[GBOUTDOORS]

Looks like we will burn 2 1/2 to 3 cord this year with the new stove. We are heating 2644 sq. feet on two floors from the middle of the lower level. I cut my wood at 16" and stack it on 4'x20' pallets 4' high so each pallet holds 2 1/2 cord. I can tell at any given point how much we have used just by looking out at the the empty space on the working pallet. We keep the temp. Lower level at 72 and main floor around 68.

 

[jpm1]

I have a Central Boiler, Classic Outside Wood Furnace that circulates hot water to a heat exchanger providing hot forced air through the house. My house is 24' x 42', with a 10' by 16' enclosed porch and a full cellar which is kept about 68 degrees. The Upstairs is kept around 72 -76 degrees. I fired about the second week of September and expect to shut it down around the second week of May. I cut wood approx. 22" long and i use about 12 face cord of wood a heating season.
(measured as follows: 22" long, 4 feet high and 8'long) Best of all i load most of the time once a day and clean out the ashes when the fire goes out in May. Im very happy with my heating unit and in our family we have 8 or 9 of these units. . . . John

 

[DieselnHooters]

I'm fortunate in the we own our own wood lot and I selectively harvest locust and sassafras.
I tried cherry from windfall, but it burns too fast.
I tried maple from a gift tree from a friend. It burns too fast.

Here's a link to a handy chart that lists wood species, BTU's etc...
wood heat value (BTU)

Also, I use a Holz Hausen method to store my wood. I'm basing my consuption on the sq' that it contains assuming I measure it correctly each year. I guess I am within 10% of my estimates of personal usage.
View attachment 307072


Here's a link to a better description of it.
http://www.tractorbynet.com/forums/rural-living/185238-where-do-you-keep-your.html#post2111819

Sassafras and locust must be quite something if maple is fast burning in comparison, never heard of those up here , judging from your woodpile they do look potent just from the color

good thread :thumbsup:

 

[arrow]

I burn 4 cord a year,, House is 3000 sf. Inside temp averages 74 all winter,, doesn't matter the outside temp.. "up to 20 below"...

Don't forget to tell us what your stove is, where its at and how well insulated your house is.