# How much wood do I need?



## SouthernBreeze (Aug 21, 2012)

I already know that I can never have enough so let's get that out of the way before the discussion even begins . Now, with that said, this is my first year of burning wood and I am trying to get some ballpark estimate on how much wood you guys think I will go through. I know there are a lot of variables in this equation but I'm trying to stockpile and make racks for a few years worth of wood but since I have no idea how much I will burn each year, I'm just shooting in the dark on this one. Keep in mind that I am in a warmer climate than most of you guys so I would probably only burn Nov - Feb on a full time basis with a few days in Oct and March. I do plan to burn as my primary heat source though. So, what say you?

Hey, I might even give an e-prize to the person who gets the closest come next April .


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## farmerjohn (Aug 21, 2012)

What's your square footage and insulation sitch?

I'm in a warmer area too but burn a little longer than you do. I'd burn about 4-6 tons of softwood (cords) for 1500sq.ft.


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## SouthernBreeze (Aug 21, 2012)

Well insulated 1900 sq. ft. open floor plan house with new windows, doors, and added insulation in the attic. Currently use an electric heat pump and my average utility bill runs about $150-$200 a month in the winter.


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## swagler85 (Aug 21, 2012)

Many variables but my guess for the e-prize is 4.5 cord


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## Jack Straw (Aug 21, 2012)

3.14 cord!


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## SouthernBreeze (Aug 21, 2012)

Jack Straw said:


> 3.14 cord!


 
I may have to break out the slide rule to get a winner here


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## Jack Straw (Aug 21, 2012)

I actually think that's close!


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## farmerjohn (Aug 21, 2012)

Cold winter coming methinks,

5 cords


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## BrotherBart (Aug 21, 2012)

farmerjohn said:


> Cold winter coming methinks,
> 
> 5 cords


 
Little different weather between Tennessee and Japan John. I know. Been both places in winter. And the OP probably has an indoor bathtub.


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## SouthernBreeze (Aug 21, 2012)

BrotherBart said:


> Little different weather between Tennessee and Japan John. I know. Been both places in winter. And the OP probably has an indoor bathtub.


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## BrotherBart (Aug 21, 2012)

SouthernBreeze said:


>


 
Wasn't a TN joke. farmerjohn has an outdoor bathtub that he heats with wood.

https://www.hearth.com/talk/threads/thermosiphon-effect-question.89206/


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## MarkinNC (Aug 21, 2012)

I'm over in the Asheville NC area which is probably colder.  I would guess around 2.5 cords.  You'll use more the first year because your wood will probably not be as dry.


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## SouthernBreeze (Aug 21, 2012)

Dry wood? Is that important ?

I've been planning this for quite some time. I split a few pieces last weekend to spot check the stacks I have with my moisture meter. All the split wood is running about 15%. The few rounds that I have are running 20-25% (I was hoping for better). Total, I have about 2 cord c/s/s. I have about another cord and a half (maybe 2) of red oak that's been on the ground for 2 years that I'm going to split this weekend. I have no idea how dry/wet that's going to be. I also have about 2 cord of standing dead white oak that I fell back in March (Wish I had at least cut that up then).

So, your point is probably valid that I will be burning, at least some, less that desirable wood this winter.


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## DexterDay (Aug 21, 2012)

3.01 cord the 1st yr.... 2.82 there after 

Give or take 3 cord


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## amateur cutter (Aug 21, 2012)

Enough to stay warm. Do I win? A C


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## SouthernBreeze (Aug 21, 2012)

amateur cutter said:


> Enough to stay warm. Do I win? A C


 
Sorry AC. The answer is "Enough to keep Mrs. SouthernBreeze warm"  . She did get a good laugh out of your signature line though if that makes you feel any better.


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## PapaDave (Aug 21, 2012)

TN, burning 1/2 as long as I do, in a well insulated house, etc., and only a couple hundred sq. ft. larger.........hmmm. I have no freekin idea.
I will however, venture a wag of 2.3 cord if all hardwood, and dry.


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## ROVERT (Aug 21, 2012)

Jack Straw said:


> 3.14 cord!


 
Mmmmmm, pi.


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## firefighterjake (Aug 22, 2012)

3 1/2 cord . . . give or take a cord or two. Any left over wood from this coming Winter will be the start of next year's wood.


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## Backwoods Savage (Aug 22, 2012)

Given your area and the size house with good insulation, I'll guess 2 cord. If more, then less than 3.

We have been burning 3 cord per winter but last summer put in new windows and doors plus lots of insulation. With the warm winter we had we burned a little over 2 cord. That would be my guess for you in a "normal" winter.


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## bogydave (Aug 22, 2012)

9 cords! (Cut split & stacked  (CSS) off the ground)

3 , as dry as you can get it & ready for this year, (will be "ok" wood, but inspect/clean the chimney monthly )

3 for next year at least 1 year seasoned (will be "real good" burning wood, inspect/clean the chimney every 6 weeks )

3 for the year after next, then you burn some 2 year seasoned wood to know how " great",
(2 years seasoned, good, dry, solid fire wood burns & you will notice the difference 
Check the chimney & notice how clean it is. (inspecting the chimney every 6 weeks to 2 months is a good rule regardless of the wood )

3 years ahead, all the time, that way:
If you need more, you have some 1 year + seasoned stuff to burn if needed, that's been drying thru the winter.
Then you only need to cut 1 years supply every year to keep the rotation of 2 year seasoned wood.

Well you asked


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## Beetle-Kill (Aug 22, 2012)

Umm, don't know. Have five cord ready and another 5 seasoning and you'll be fine.


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## MarkinNC (Aug 22, 2012)

Your burning technique will be less, shall we say, refined the first year.  I have found that wood that is CSS for 1 year or more to burn just fine and have clean glass.  Almost everything I will be burning this year will be over 2 years old except for some maple that is CSS smaller (that is another change I made as well) and that will be over 1 year old. 

Basically everybody goes through a little more wood the first year (I think).


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## BrowningBAR (Aug 22, 2012)

SouthernBreeze said:


> Well insulated 1900 sq. ft. open floor plan house with new windows, doors, and added insulation in the attic. Currently use an electric heat pump and my average utility bill runs about $150-$200 a month in the winter.


 
Man, that's my electricity bill in the summer when I'm not using A/C. $210-260 with AC.


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## Wood Duck (Aug 23, 2012)

I have not been able to burn four cords per winter here in central PA with my small stove. I think stove size limits me more than a lack of cold weather does. If you had twelve cords split and stacked you'd be three years ahead, which is a nice place to be.


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## Waulie (Aug 23, 2012)

I guess 2.6 cords.
I also guess you're going to be darn toasty!


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## basod (Aug 23, 2012)

First year with your new stove I'm going to guess 2-2/3 cord.  Partly due to the urge for a fire before you really need it, and I'd add an additional 1/3cord if Mrs. SB is home full time.  The air damper will probably stay open mostly due to the fireview your new toy has.  In takes a while to convince them it's putting off heat without roaring flames - experience here speaking.

I've settled on having ~ 3.5 cords ready for each season, and I'm near abouts the same size house and climate as you(probably a little warmer).  Figure 3/4cord of shoulder wood (pine/poplar) and save the primo oak/hickory for the colder months.  I don't think I've burned more than 2.5cords since putting the stove in, but I can't say i really keep track as my wood is dispersed through several stacking areas in the woods.


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## Backwoods Savage (Aug 23, 2012)

BrowningBAR said:


> Man, that's my electricity bill in the summer when I'm not using A/C. $210-260 with AC.


 
And we complain if our bill ever hits $60 per month!


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## ailanthus (Aug 23, 2012)

SouthernBreeze said:


> I may have to break out the slide rule to get a winner here


Is that 3.14 as in (pi) 3.141592..... 

Actually, sounds pretty close to me too, although it'll depend a lot on how warm you like to have it. My elderly neighbor used almost 5 cords for his tight small ranchhouse this past year, while I would've been closer to 3.5 for the full year (only started in January) for a 2 story, relatively leaky 100-year old farmhouse. Did I mention I handed each log of that 5 cords one by one through his window well to him in the basement?? I digress...


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## basod (Aug 23, 2012)

Backwoods Savage said:


> And we complain if our bill ever hits $60 per month!


 
You still live in the dark ages
Highest mine has ever been with a 32yo Rudd unit is $162, winter months taper off to 70-80ish. If I could only ban the hair dryer and straightening iron I'd more than likely knock it down a few more bucks -
I pick my battles though.  Atleast I've convinced her that the clothes in her closet aren't afraid of the dark


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## fossil (Aug 23, 2012)

SouthernBreeze, by now you've no doubt caught onto the fact that none of us here (or anywhere else) can predict with any remote semblance of certainty how much wood you'll need to get you through the upcoming heating season.  Just have as much as you can manage available.  This season you'll learn a lot.  You'll learn a bit more every season to come.  One thing I predict with confidence is that your wood consumption will be a bit (or even a lot) different every season, as the seasons are highly variable.  You'll do fine, I'm sure.  Rick


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## SouthernBreeze (Aug 23, 2012)

Thanks for all the replies, it has helped me to determine, at least in the ballpark, what to expect. I currently have about 2 cords (seasoned), 2 cords (so-so seasoned) and 2 cords that I really hope I don't need to burn this year. All are c/s/s and I'm still working to try to get ahead so I don't have to worry about having seasoned wood to burn.

Rick, I'm sure I will learn a lot this season and honestly, thanks to the great support on this forum, I already have. Hopefully, I will be able to contribute more next season to the other newbies that will have the same questions that I had.


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## fossil (Aug 23, 2012)

SouthernBreeze said:


> ...Hopefully, I will be able to contribute more next season to the other newbies that will have the same questions that I had.


 
Of that I have no doubt.


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## clemsonfor (Aug 23, 2012)

id say 2.25 to 3 cords. I burned about 2 cords last winter, but it was warmer but i also dont have much insulation and a large house???


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## Woody Stover (Aug 24, 2012)

SouthernBreeze said:


> Total, I have about 2 cord c/s/s. I have about another cord and a half (maybe 2) of red oak that's been on the ground for 2 years that I'm going to split this weekend. I have no idea how dry/wet that's going to be...your point is probably valid that I will be burning, at least some, less that desirable wood this winter.


I say 2.5 cords....that Red Oak will be "less than desirable" I would think. Way less. A lot depends on how warm you like to keep it, but with all dry wood and better technique I would say 2 cords after this year.


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## Pagey (Aug 24, 2012)

I'm on the Cumberland Plateau near Fall Creek Falls State Park.  We average around 3 cords a year, with a lot of "shoulder season" burning.  Last year was very mild, so I probably used only 1/2 to 2/3 that amount.  However, our house is not the most insulated and weather tight.


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## clemsonfor (Aug 24, 2012)

Backwoods Savage said:


> And we complain if our bill ever hits $60 per month!


 Do you use lights or cook anything? You obviously have a computer of some sort? So you have solar pannels? No hot water heater? Or your power company charges 5 cents a Kilowatt hour, unlike mine that charges $0.13/hr

My bills with no heat or air run $100 give or take 10 a month!! Yes i live in a 3000sqft house but with no heat or air running it does not matter if it were 1000sqft. We only use lights in rooms were in, we cook a little bit, have a 30 gallon hot water heater.  Its just the 2 of us, so like i said if were not running air it dosent matter if were in a 3000sqft or 1000sqft house as we usually only have 1-3 lightbulbs on (CFL's) a tv and a fan and the PC. Plus the few chargers and alarm clocks etc.


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## SouthernBreeze (Sep 2, 2012)

clemsonfor said:


> Do you use lights or cook anything? You obviously have a computer of some sort? So you have solar pannels? No hot water heater? Or your power company charges 5 cents a Kilowatt hour, unlike mine that charges $0.13/hr
> 
> My bills with no heat or air run $100 give or take 10 a month!! Yes i live in a 3000sqft house but with no heat or air running it does not matter if it were 1000sqft. We only use lights in rooms were in, we cook a little bit, have a 30 gallon hot water heater. Its just the 2 of us, so like i said if were not running air it dosent matter if were in a 3000sqft or 1000sqft house as we usually only have 1-3 lightbulbs on (CFL's) a tv and a fan and the PC. Plus the few chargers and alarm clocks etc.


 
I don't know why our utility bills seem to be much lower than others. I have a home office so I am here during the day most days, we cook breakfast every morning and dinner almost every night. In the summer, our thermostat is set on 72 and about 70 in the winter. We have 2 flat screens that are on constantly in the evenings (my wife doesn't care for the programs I watch and visa versa). We have a 30 gallon water heater, no solar. With that said, I can only assume that we have a very well insulated house. We also have a zoned heat pump system that makes it more efficient to run. I know with our old heating system, it was costing me a fortune to heat the house in the winter with LP gas. BTW, our electric company charges about $0.11/Kwh.


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## clemsonfor (Sep 2, 2012)

But like i said with NO AC or heat running my bills are in the $90-100/month range.  My house is not well insulated but if im not running any heat or air it takes this out of the equation. The only thing runing is TV, lights, chargers, water heater, stove, micrwave, etc??


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## SouthernBreeze (Sep 2, 2012)

clemsonfor said:


> But like i said with NO AC or heat running my bills are in the $90-100/month range. My house is not well insulated but if im not running any heat or air it takes this out of the equation. The only thing runing is TV, lights, chargers, water heater, stove, micrwave, etc??


 
That's about the same as mine with no heat/ac. Usually, in March/April and September/October we rarely run the HVAC and our utility bill is about $100. With AC in July & August, it's usually $180-$200. Same in the winter (December, January & sometimes February) usually runs $180-200.


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## Backwoods Savage (Sep 2, 2012)

clemsonfor said:


> Do you use lights or cook anything? You obviously have a computer of some sort? So you have solar pannels? No hot water heater? Or your power company charges 5 cents a Kilowatt hour, unlike mine that charges $0.13/hr
> 
> My bills with no heat or air run $100 give or take 10 a month!! Yes i live in a 3000sqft house but with no heat or air running it does not matter if it were 1000sqft. We only use lights in rooms were in, we cook a little bit, have a 30 gallon hot water heater. Its just the 2 of us, so like i said if were not running air it dosent matter if were in a 3000sqft or 1000sqft house as we usually only have 1-3 lightbulbs on (CFL's) a tv and a fan and the PC. Plus the few chargers and alarm clocks etc.


 
We do have propane for cooking and water heating. We did have solar panels on our motor home but sold that a few years ago. Sadly, we used to have that nickle per Kwh but are like you now.

There are just 2 of us but we try to live a bit frugal if possible. We run few lights. Normal summer sees the air condition running maybe 6-8 days. Occasionally we never turn the air on during a summer but not so this year. No fan on stove. We do not watch television and I hate alarm clocks.


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## clemsonfor (Sep 2, 2012)

OK backwoods, that makes a bit more sense. If you heat water and cook on propane.  If i did that i bet i could reduce $50month maybe? $40 easy i know.  We are frugal as possible, we watch TV (plenty of it, tv on maybe 4-6 hours a day at most) but only have 1 CFL bulb on a 100W equivalent on as we watch.  We have CFLs in all the bulbs we turn on in a normal day, a few times a week we will turn on a non CFL, so its not like we use tons of lights.


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## BrotherBart (Sep 2, 2012)

Comparing electric bills is an exercise in futility. Some people have well pumps. Some don't. Some have this and that and some don't. Some have efficient fridges and open the door once a week. Some have inefficient ones and open the door once an hour. Some have pump up drain fields, others gravity and others on sewer systems. We have a deep well so our hot water bill would be more than somebody on municipal water just because the stuff is ice water when it goes in the water heater. Year around. And is electrically pushed 105 feet up and 100 over to get to the house. Too many house and life style variables.


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