Cord Count So Far (Orono: how much, house, living in)

[221B]

For those who heat with wood, we're curious as to how much wood has been used so far, since it appears to be a colder-than-normal winter. If possible, some comparisons to this time in past years would be also be instructive.
Thanks!

[Submariner]

I do not have any records of how much firewood we had burned through for any given date in previous years. I only keep track of how much firewood we go through total for each season.

Today it looks like we have gone through about 1 1/3 cord so far this heating season.

[slyfox2]

I keep five cords on hand, but I usually use about 4. I think I've burned about the same as last year so far, but much less than the winter before that. I'm about 1/3 of the way through it the 4 that I normally use( about 1 1/3 cords, just like Submariner). Next week is what we normally call the halfway point. Of course, I thought that Submariner was running a small nuclear power plant in his house, not a molecular power plant.

If you don't have at leas half of what you started with on February 1, you will probably run out by June. Yeah.... June! Last burning last year was June 15. First burn this year was about October 5.

[221B]

Originally Posted by slyfox2

I keep five cords on hand, but I usually use about 4. I think I've burned about the same as last year so far, but much less than the winter before that. I'm about 1/3 of the way through it the 4 that I normally use( about 1 1/3 cords, just like Submariner). Next week is what we normally call the halfway point. Of course, I thought that Submariner was running a small nuclear power plant in his house, not a molecular power plant.

If you don't have at leas half of what you started with on February 1, you will probably run out by June. Yeah.... June! Last burning last year was June 15. First burn this year was about October 5.

Hmmm, so Feb 1 is considered the "½ way point. That is good to know to help keep track!
I can't remember, are you also exclusively using wood to heat your home, slyfox?

[SportFury59]

It probably depends on the type of wood stove you have. The guys on the wood burning sites claim to use a lot less wood with their newer EPA catylic (sp) stoves than with the older stoves they had.

I'm not in Maine but I think we have almost similar temps. It's going below zero again here tonight. I have an older pre-EPA wood furnace (Johnson Energy Systems), in service since about 1985, and I love it. No hassles. Start fire in morning and just keep feeding it. I heat 2400 sq. ft. with no problem.

I figure I burn 5 cords a season. Doesn't matter on temps. It all evens out.
Last week my son-in-law dropped me off 14 bundles of oak slab wood. That'll be my '14-'15 season wood.
Son-in-law owns logging operation/saw mill (lucky me)....

[Submariner]

I think the proper method of tracking our need for heat, is by using 'degree-days'.

There is a UM-Orono Thermo-Dynamics Professor that I hear talking about Degree-days on a regular basis. He is on a radio program called 'Hot and Cold', every Saturday morning from 8am to 10am 103.9FM.

Here is a pile of degree-day stats collected from different locations in Maine.
Degree Days | Maine: An Encyclopedia

If you go through that data, you will see the average weekly need for heat and the variations.

[Northern Maine Land Man]

That would be Professor Emeritus Dick Hill, puncturer of false theories and measurer of hot water.

[maureenb]

Your question touches a sore spot...

I have a super efficient, super small (900 sq') home. One and one half cords of wood has done the job nicely since 2009. Sure enough, this year, the cold year, I went into the winter with an unplanned deficit of wood (grisly details). I began the heating season with a cord and plans to be a wood miser; still, I'm looking at running out the end of February. I am counting sticks o' wood at this point. And grateful for any sunshine. And totally embarrassed.

First winter I was here I lived in an wicked drafty old farmhouse that I closed down to a few rooms & heated with two wood stoves. I burned four plus cords of wood there.

I can't imagine living in Maine without a wood stove.

[slyfox2]

Originally Posted by 221B

Hmmm, so Feb 1 is considered the "½ way point. That is good to know to help keep track!
I can't remember, are you also exclusively using wood to heat your home, slyfox?

I have Electric baseboard backup throughout the whole house. And I keep some sections of the house at about 45-50 using the electric backup. But in the areas where I live, I heat with wood exclusively except when I'm away. Right now its 2f outside, and about 74 F inside. I use a Pacific Energy Summit wood stove in the living room downstairs to heat about 1600 square feet most of the time. It heats the open concept(HGTV) living room/dining room/kitchen, and three bedrooms and a bath upstairs. We keep the downstairs bathroom on electric all winter with the door sealed closed.

The stiove has a thermostatically controlled fan. The stove is really hi-tech, and actually burns hotter when the stove is turned to low than when its on high because of the secondary burning of the gases at the top of the stove. Looks like big flames of propane shooting down from the top of the stove. Very efficient. My stove pipe cleaner guy said my stove burns so cleanly that I really wouldn't have to have the pipe cleaned more than once every two years, but I do it once a year. It does not have a catalytic converter on it. Burns almost all the exhaust gasses in the stove.

Of course, we have R-8 to R-11 shutters that we put up on the windows when the temps drop below 30 at night, and in the daytime. Some of the windows don't get the shutters removed all winter. And out house is very well insulated, Even in areas where the roof is right above the stairs to the upstairs, even a small amount of snow never melts. It has foam insulations of R-24 in the walls and better than R-30 in the roof.

its all about insulation for the walls and windows.

[namder1]

I use a pellet stove and a wood stove. I know I am way ahead of last years use. If the cold weather keeps on I'll either have to order more wood or just rely on pellets! Coldest here thus far 20 below....wind chill 35 below. Average has been 5 below but last weeks 40 degrees was a nice break!