# How many cords per season?



## LowbanksArcher (Apr 11, 2016)

Wood stove owners,on average, how much wood do you burn per season(face cords)? And in what State/Province?


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## firefighterjake (Apr 11, 2016)

4-5 cords . . . real cords.


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## AmbDrvr253 (Apr 11, 2016)

As I use coal when temps remain low and use wood only for shoulder seasons I typically only use 1 cord. Tho the shoulder season this year was significantly longer in PA than usual. I was using wood until January.


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## toddnic (Apr 11, 2016)

I use 3 REAL CORDS per season. Not face cords.


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## David.Ervin (Apr 11, 2016)

You mean farce cord?

Last two winters I was at about 4.5 to 5 cords.  This winter has been much milder, and I'm just barely at 3.  Mixed hardwood (mostly Ash), 3000 square feet, keeping the house around 72.  I'm in central Ohio, if it helps get a handle on the climate.

Your volume of wood consumed is going to vary *significantly* based on what species it is, how dry it is, how many square feet you're heating, and how toasty you like to keep the house.


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## blades (Apr 11, 2016)

4 to 5 full cord


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## kinetic711 (Apr 11, 2016)

Here in the North Bay, Ontario area, I will end up burning between 20-25 face cords, mostly hard maple.  Now, this is in a 33 year old smoke dragon.  I just picked up a used BK Princess insert, which I am pretty sure will cut my wood usage in half or more.  I was looking at the PE Summit but the BK came along first.  Where in Ontario are you?


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## LowbanksArcher (Apr 11, 2016)

kinetic711 said:


> Here in the North Bay, Ontario area, I will end up burning between 20-25 face cords, mostly hard maple.  Now, this is in a 33 year old smoke dragon.  I just picked up a used BK Princess insert, which I am pretty sure will cut my wood usage in half or more.  I was looking at the PE Summit but the BK came along first.  Where in Ontario are you?



Southern Ontario. South of Hamilton on the North shore of Lake Erie. A little warmer than North Bay.


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## begreen (Apr 11, 2016)

The amount of wood is going to depend on many factors including house size, insulation, degree days, wind, wood species, stove location, average interior temp, hours burned, operator, etc.. We go through 2.5-3 full cords normally here in the Pac NW.

Plan on having 5 full cords (15 face) of fully seasoned wood on hand and ready to burn. If there's some left over, no problem.


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## Ash (Apr 11, 2016)

Usually 8 to 10 cords here in MN. One stove full time and 2nd stove when it gets really cold. We've only went thru about 6 1/2 cords this year with the mild winter we've had.


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## kinetic711 (Apr 11, 2016)

LowbanksArcher said:


> Southern Ontario. South of Hamilton on the North shore of Lake Erie. A little warmer than North Bay.



Isn't that considered tropical?  Depending on how warm you like it, I would guess 10-15 face cords would be plenty.  That being said, if you can get more cut, split and stacked, you will be better off for next season.  I will probably still do my 30-40 face cords for next season, even if I expect to burn 10 or 12, that way, I'm still good for a couple more years.


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## Dobish (Apr 11, 2016)

last year was our first year of burning, and we burned from end of november until now. We only burn nights and weekends, and we are heating roughly 1/2 of our 2000 sq ft house.  We ended up going through roughly 2 cords. its a bit difficult to tell, because we didn't really start out with things stacked in cords... we sort of had them stacked in piles, boxes, pallets, towers, racks, snowmen, etc.

One of my racks that I filled 4 times (since january) is 8' x 4', and then one of my other racks i went through 2 of, and they each hold 1/3 of a cord. I currently have 2 chord css, but have about 4 more that still needs to be processed....


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## Smoked (Apr 11, 2016)

A little over 10 face cords.  Most of my splits are 18" or more so in the 3.5 real cord range.  I am a little surprised as warm as it was but burning the second stove when it was cold made a difference.  I have already replaced almost all of it so only need to scrounge a little bit more.


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## rdust (Apr 11, 2016)

4 full cords give or take a little heating just shy of 2k in south east Michigan.


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## English BoB (Apr 11, 2016)

LowbanksArcher said:


> Wood stove owners,on average, how much wood do you burn per season(face cords)? And in what State/Province?
> 
> Next year will be my first full season with my PE Summit and i'm trying to determine how much it might eat.



Two..........three on a very cold winter. Does not include kindling, uglies and those odd pieces we always end up with.

Its not always about  the number of cords but the stuff too make the cords burn.

Upstate NY.

bob


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## laxin213 (Apr 11, 2016)

I have a newer epa insert. Last year I burned 4 full cords (about 12 face), FT nearly 7 days a week nonstop burning 2700 sf to 72 or so. House built in 1985, decently well insulated. This year with the warmer weather burned 2.5 full cord (about 7 face or so). We burned closer to part time this year, no where near he non stop pace of last winter. I'm Near buffalo NY.

As stated there's a lot more too - operator, species, how dry, wind, how cold the winter, your learning your stove, on and on.


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## corey21 (Apr 11, 2016)

Don't know about how much cords but before I started burning coal. I would burn about 10 truckloads. Life is easier with coal.

Sent from my SM-N920V using Tapatalk


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## Ctwoodtick (Apr 11, 2016)

4 to 5 full cords


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## Poindexter (Apr 12, 2016)

I stack ten green cords every spring, lose 18% to shrinkage while drying and go into winter with about 8 seasoned cords...  I think that is 24 face cords since I run 16" sticks.


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## fire_man (Apr 12, 2016)

4.5 cord every year except this year was only 3.0 cord.
Northern MA climate


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## DUMF (Apr 12, 2016)

What a question...rhetorical, not existential .
1. Begreen has it complete...except---
2. No such measure as "face cord". Forgetaboutit. 16'" splits, .3m splits, 17.5 " spilts, 12" "whatever" is the meaningless word. A cord is a cord.
3. How much % of your heating load is wood ? -- few do not have central heating. Entertainment or weekend wood ?
4. How warm and how many ft² do you want heated ? ( See my post about how most homes in northern Europe do not heat all rooms.
  In *actual* homes I have been in in the past 5 years in Iceland, Switzerland, Norway, Scotland, Germany. These real homeowners see no need to 
  heat bedrooms or rarely used space for example as most here do. Romantic under a thick, down comforter !) 
5. Some of us here in Vermont and northern New England don't have or see a need for central heat if we can use wood: stoves, Russian fireplaces,
   biomass furnaces, or those inefficient, smoky outdoor boilers.

Answer in cords  = 4.2 for this easy winter. We'll have +/- 5 cords in the wood sheds for next year, plus the harvest from this year.


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## madison (Apr 12, 2016)

Stack as many cords as your property can handle, and then double that amount,  you can never have too much stacked and drying.

2 - 5 real cords , 24/7 burning Nov - March, shoulder seasons add another 1/2 cord.  5 cords was the most and that was 2 yrs ago where we had an abnormally cold yr in the north east.


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## fire_man (Apr 12, 2016)

madison said:


> Stack as many cords as your property can handle, and then double that amount, * you can never have too much stacked and drying.*



Unless you currently have 26+ cord on the lot, only burn 4+ per year, and don't know when to stop scrounging


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## brad wilton (Apr 12, 2016)

I use 15 face cords in a very badly insulated house in a more northerly lattitude.go with that amount if your going to be heating 24/7,if not at least you won't run out of wood


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## heavy hammer (Apr 12, 2016)

A lot of factors play into how much wood is needed as said earlier by many others.  I live in northeast Ohio and like a very warm house.  We burn about five cords a year this year much less because of a milder winter.  You can never have enough wood ready when you get over 20 cords you should be good for a year or two, but it seems like you always need more.  Look at it as money in the bank, do you really ever have enough.  More is always better!


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## Mag Craft (Apr 12, 2016)

I use 3 full cords.    No fake cords.      SE Wyoming.


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## baseroom (Apr 12, 2016)

3-4 full cords  2000 sq ft colonial outside of Rochester NY. Burn full time with a quad IR. Burn mostly soft maple, Ash, black cherry apple and whatever else I can scrounge. Usually gone three weeks out of the burning season.


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## CentralVAWoodHeat (Apr 12, 2016)

2-4 full cords.  128 cubic feet of reasonably split and stacked wood per cord.  This heats our high ceiling, 2200 sq foot, partially subterranean ranch house.  I have insulated it very well.


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## HisTreeNut (Apr 13, 2016)

First year with our stove and it was mild.  We are heating solely with a non-cat stove and also used a kerosene heater for the really cold nights (teens and below).
NC mountains and have burned about 2 full cord... Mixed hardwoods & house temps varied from the 60's to the 70's,  depending on the rooms.


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## Highbeam (Apr 13, 2016)

4 cords, not banana cords, but cords. The 128 cubic feet kind. Every year for 100% of our heat in my 1700 SF 1963 built house with no central heat.

Our burning season is 9 months long. I am burning now and will be burning through may.


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## Wolves1 (Apr 13, 2016)

4 cords avg Long Island 5 last year it was very cold.


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## johnnymac12 (Apr 24, 2016)

LowbanksArcher said:


> Wood stove owners,on average, how much wood do you burn per season(face cords)? And in what State/Province?


Rideau Lakes Ontario ...Burned 12 face cords  4 real cords in an old BIS 1986 vintage fireplace, Upgrading to a BIS Panorama next week so hoping for more effiency next year.


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## FTG-05 (Apr 24, 2016)

LowbanksArcher said:


> Wood stove owners,on average, how much wood do you burn per season(face cords)? And in what State/Province?



What's a face cord?

Wait, are you a wood dealer trying to get new customers or something????


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## billb3 (Apr 24, 2016)

The thread title asks for cords
the poll title asks for face cords
the choices were back to cords

I use 4 - 8 real bonafide cords so that's what I voted: 4-8 cords.


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## woodhog73 (Apr 25, 2016)

Just burning nights and all day and night on the weekends, central furnace set between 65 and 68 but when inserts going house in low to mid 70s, I went through 2 regular cords of oak.  All oak. Couple pieces of poplar to get stove going from cold then red and white oak.


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## ddahlgren (Apr 26, 2016)

2 tons of coal and wood from a couple of pallets. This would have been a good year to have a cord on hand as a very mild winter and coal is a bit tough for me if the weather keeps changing every day. 60 during the day and 35 at night is a bit tough. Next year will see how good I can get playing the coal limbo with how low can you go and not go out. Draft can get pretty iffy with 90F 1 foot from stove on stack pipe and 60F outside. Maybe the smart move is to buy a dozen or two packs of bio bricks for the 35 degree nights. If wood coal or oil I have to buy it and coal is up to 335 a ton wood 200 a cord and fuel oil 1.60 a gallon. Right now they all come out about the same as far as cost. Burned wood only from 2011 to 2014 and 3 real cords and felt like I had a wood fired locomotive to feed.


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## colin.p (Apr 26, 2016)

The problem with most on a wood heating site is that a face cord is not a "proper" measurement and they demand cord measurement to mean 128 cubic feet. However, if you buy your wood c/s/d in Eastern Ontario (and I suspect in most areas in Canada) , you can only buy in face cords not 128 cubic feet. Wood sellers ONLY sell in face cords, whether you agree on it or not. You just have to make the quick conversion (example 3X16"X4'X8') to get to an actual cord. However, don't worry about it as we all really know what you're talking about.

Now as for me, I bought 15 face cords (5 cords) and still have roughly a row of 8'X4' left (or 1 face cord), so I will probably use the full 15 face cords, or 5 cords. Confusing ain't it.


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## quotejso (Apr 26, 2016)

What a chord I burn a shed full plus some more


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## LowbanksArcher (Apr 26, 2016)

colin.p said:


> The problem with most on a wood heating site is that a face cord is not a "proper" measurement and they demand cord measurement to mean 128 cubic feet. However, if you buy your wood c/s/d in Eastern Ontario (and I suspect in most areas in Canada) , you can only buy in face cords not 128 cubic feet. Wood sellers ONLY sell in face cords, whether you agree on it or not. You just have to make the quick conversion (example 3X16"X4'X8') to get to an actual cord. However, don't worry about it as we all really know what you're talking about.
> 
> Now as for me, I bought 15 face cords (5 cords) and still have roughly a row of 8'X4' left (or 1 face cord), so I will probably use the full 15 face cords, or 5 cords. Confusing ain't it.



Thanks for clearing that up. Everyone around my area talks in 'face' cords when speaking of cords. I mention it on here and it's like i've broken some sort of wood burning commandment or something. Oops


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## billb3 (Apr 26, 2016)

LowbanksArcher said:


> Thanks for clearing that up. Everyone around my area talks in 'face' cords when speaking of cords. I mention it on here and it's like i've broken some sort of wood burning commandment or something. Oops


Face cord has no value as a metric. Your face could be 12" splits, my face cord could be 24" splits. Hardly equivalent for comparison sake . Except for nit-picking 'stacked tight' and 'stacked loose' 128 cubic feet is 128 cubic feet. Keeps everyone on the same page.


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## David.Ervin (Apr 27, 2016)

LowbanksArcher said:


> i've broken some sort of wood burning commandment


Your penance is to split ten rounds of hedge by hand with a steel wedge and 3 pound hammer.


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## RFarm (May 11, 2016)

In N. GA. with wood as my only heat source I typically use 2.5 cords.  This season, I burned in shoulder mode all season leaving a very deep ash in the bottom of the stove (4"+), put my splits in the standup position once the coal bed was established,  and used less than a cord. In the past I kept the house (2,800 sqft Strawbale Cape Cod) at 76-80F - this season we would let the house drop down to 68F during the day since no one is home, then around 6pm would load the stove getting us up to 75F, then would crank down the air when we head to bed.  The next morning I would  throw a few "coal keeper" fresh splits in before leaving for work.  The house was actually more comfortable and we used much less wood.  When restarting, I will dump a tote full of dry twigs from the woods onto the coaIs with a couple small dry spits to top it off.  After a couple hours I would stand up the 30" splits/cuts in the fire box and let it roll.  Worked like a charm.  I never lost my coals even with 36 hours between some of my reloads.


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## jb6l6gc (May 11, 2016)

LowbanksArcher said:


> Thanks for clearing that up. Everyone around my area talks in 'face' cords when speaking of cords. I mention it on here and it's like i've broken some sort of wood burning commandment or something. Oops


Ya it took me a little adjustment too lol.  It is funny like that around here. Like how my neighbours trailer loads he sells me are 5 cord.


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