# How many cord of wood are you burning?



## Snow4days (Sep 18, 2011)

I posted this earlier in The Wood shed forum. I meant to post here. Just wondered how many cord per year  anyone is burning with their gasser boiler.  And how many sq. ft. you heat?  I know there are other factors, but just looking for a general comparison. thanks


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## tom in maine (Sep 18, 2011)

1- 1.5 cords a year. 1100 square foot house plus the basement, which is 600 sq.ft.

Just started the first fire of the year an hour ago.
Didn't need to do it, but it seemed like a good time to play with some fire.


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## b33p3r (Sep 18, 2011)

I used somewhere in the neighborhood of 3.5 cord from dec 10 - April last season. I'bb be burning more in the shoulder seasons this year so I'm expecting somewhere in the 5 cord range. 1800 sq ft + 1800 Sq ft basement in N.E. Pa


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## jebatty (Sep 18, 2011)

4 cords or a little more of pine and aspen last winter; 1500 sq ft; 14' sidewalls; maintain 60F air temp with radiant in-floor. Last winter had temps down to -36F in two periods, lots of nights well below 0; some days that never got above 0; heated from mid-Sept and last burn was May 15. Tarm Solo 40 with 1000 gal pressurized storage.


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## woodsmaster (Sep 18, 2011)

Not sure but I'm guessing about 8 cord for house, shop and DHW. This will be first year heating everthing with gasser.


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## muncybob (Sep 19, 2011)

apprx 4.5 cords burning from early Oct to late April, heat for 2200 sq ft and dhw. Been chilly last few nights and may be burning wood  a bit earlier this yr. or perhaps use some of that 2+ yr old oil.


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## lampmfg (Sep 19, 2011)

What is the impact on total wood consumption/yr. if you use a super efficient furnace like our Vapor Fire?

Here are the important numbers that need to be examined:  1 gal. #2 fuel oil =  140,000 BTUs; 1 gal. propane - 91,500 BTU's; 1 cord paper birch wood = 21 M BTU's; 1 cord red oak = 25 M BTU's.

VaporFire furnaces were tested to have an overall efficiency as high as 85%, 99.4% combustion efficiency, less than 1 gr/hr of emissions, 99% smokeless burn cycles, internal flue temperatures 285-400 degrees F., and external flue temperatures 150-250 degrees F.  VaporFire furnaces have been used for over 25 years with no condensation issues whatsoever, because the flue temperatures are still high enough to support a natural draft system when installed according to our written directions.

A  good estimate for oil usage for a heating season would be 500-1,000 gal., with lots of variables.  We'll take a look at an average home using 750 gal. of oil for the heating season.  750 gal = 105 M BTU's.  If a wood furnace was 100% overall efficient, which is not possible, it would take : 105 M BTU's /21M=5 cords of birch or 105 BTU's/25M=4.2 cords of oak.

Our VaporFire furnace at 82% average overall efficiency would be; 105 M BTU's/(21Mx82%) = 6.09 cords of birch or 105 M BTU's/(25 M x 82%) = 5.12 cords of oak.

Most manufacturers struggle to hit 60% overall efficiency, but we'll  look at their results based on 60%.  105 M BTU's/(21M x 60%) = 8.33 cords of birch or 105 M BTU's/ (25M x 60%) = 7 cords of oak.

Therefore, as you can see, using our efficient VaporFire furnaces will, without a doubt, use less wood to deliver the same amount of BTU's you'd require in oil or propane for the heating season then a less efficient furnace would.  The other big advantages are minimal air pollution, longer more even burns, and minimal creosote accumulation from 99% smokeless burn cycles.  The safely aspect is also huge in saving homes and lives.

I'm quite sure alot of manufacturers will be very surprised to see their furnace test results when regulations come into effect in 2013-14.  They're not going to believe how much air pollution and wasted wood their so called efficient furnaces have produced.  Many manufacturers will have to fold or redesign their furnaces quickly.  I'm thankful that I invested the time, effort and money in preliminary testing so that our company is prepared for the future.  We knew the regulations were forthcoming.


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## willworkforwood (Sep 19, 2011)

Well, that's strike 2 on lampmfg.  But they posted the same thing in 2 threads, so would that be a foul or is it strike 3 ?


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## maple1 (Sep 19, 2011)

lampmfg said:
			
		

> What is the impact on total wood consumption/yr. if you use a super efficient furnace like our Vapor Fire?
> 
> Here are the important numbers that need to be examined:  1 gal. #2 fuel oil =  140,000 BTUs; 1 gal. propane - 91,500 BTU's; 1 cord paper birch wood = 21 M BTU's; 1 cord red oak = 25 M BTU's.
> 
> ...



I will have to look at these - are you saying it can be run on natural draft - no air fan required?

EDIT: OK, looks like it is a hot air furnace rather than hot water - I'm looking at hot water. Thanks anyway.


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## ohbie1 (Sep 19, 2011)

West Central NJ - 3600 sqft +  231 sqft greenhouse. - 8 cords (2 of which are low BTU Poplar).   Greenhouse sucks a lot of heat at night.


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## flyingcow (Sep 19, 2011)

willworkforwood said:
			
		

> Well, that's strike 2 on lampmfg.  But they posted the same thing in 2 threads, so would that be a foul or is it strike 3 ?




IMO..Craig will take care of this? Hope so.


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## flyingcow (Sep 19, 2011)

I went from 1000 gals of oil a yr to 6.5 cords of wood. Now using 7.5 cords a yr. But the house is a lot warmer. I love my set up.


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## lampmfg (Sep 19, 2011)

I will have to look at these - are you saying it can be run on natural draft - no air fan required?

EDIT: OK, looks like it is a hot air furnace rather than hot water - I'm looking at hot water. Thanks anyway.[/quote]

Yes, it's forced air... Sorry.


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## Pat53 (Sep 20, 2011)

About 8 cords/year burning from November thru April. 3K sq ft home +large energy gobbling sunroom.


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## lampmfg (Sep 20, 2011)

I have a 3200 square foot home and usually buy 5 cords of birch and maple wood a year. The cost is $75 - $100 per logger's cord and I cut and split it myself. My total cost then is about $500 per year or less and this is approximately 1/4 to 1/3 the cost of using another fuel such as gas, oil or electricity. The heat is much more constant using wood, that's why I like it. Our backup heat is electric baseboard. I live in Northern, MN so it's quite the long heating season and I like my house at least 72 degrees.


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## timberr (Sep 20, 2011)

7 cords Mid September to Mid April. 1,800 sq.ft and outdoor hot tub, 150 gal @ 104*.


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## heaterman (Sep 21, 2011)

I don't burn wood but I have 4 boys that do so with appliances that cover the whole spectrum of wood burning.

Kid number 1.  House is mid 1930's with several later additions and totals about 2,800sq ft heated space. Insulation would be at 4 on a 1-10 scale but doors and windows are decent. Domestic hot water for a family of 6, two of which are under 3 years old. He heats with an H4 Hardy that has been in service since 2002. Average wood consumption is 16-18 full cords per year. He burns all summer too. Heat distribution is via a water to air exchanger in his duct system.

Kid number 2. House is ancient and about 1,300 sq ft. We peeled off the old wood siding last summer during an exterior overhaul and we could see clothes hanging in the closet upstairs from *outside* the house. There was no insulation in the walls of any kind. I would say as of today we have an average wall R-value of around 6 with minimum 25 in the attics. He burns about 4-1/2 full cords per year in his little Lopi space heating wood stove. It is always 75*+ in their house. Their bulldog just lays there and pants on the tile floor.

Kid number 3. 1,900 sq ft well kept farm house with average insulation and windows. Older style balloon construction but has full basement. Very unusual for a house of that vintage around here. He heats with an Econoburn 150 using 500 gallons of well insulated storage via an STSS collapsible tank<(sweet rig)located in the house. His family member count is 5 and the boiler sits in an unheated/uninsulated garage about 60 ft from the house. We started out with a coil in the plenum of the oil furnace the first winter but graduated to about a half dozen panel rads with some tubing under the tile floor in the kitchen. The house heats great and is always at about 75* He will use around 8-10 full cords per year. No domestic hot water hook up as yet. That's on dad's hit list for this season yet.

Kid number 4. We built his house in 2005 and used a combination of panel rads and Viega Climate Panel for the whole place. Not a heating duct in sight anywhere. The house is about 5,800 sq ft plus he is keeping a lightly insulated 1,800 sq ft pole barn at 35-45* all winter. (nice place to let the Kubota thaw out.....) His house is R-22 in the walls and averages R-30 in the ceilings. (some areas are ceiling/roof combination) He has a Garn 2000H sitting approximately 220 feet from the house (in the pole barn) He's also doing domestic hot water for a family of 7. The Garn will consistently digest about 10-11 cords per winter while serving that load. He can let the Garn drop all the way down to 110 before firing again and still have plenty of heat available for heating use with his low temperature system.


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## rkusek (Sep 21, 2011)

I burned about 3 1/2 cords last winter heating 30x60x14 well insulated pole barn (R19 walls, R38 ceiling) and 2 yr old ranch with 2200 sq ft main floor & 2200 walkout that is insulated but just 1 big room now (kids playroom).  House is R19 walls and ~R49 ceiling.  No storage so heat pump handled the shoulder seasons except when I would burn a load on a cold night.  I'm just using a water to air HX now.  If I add storage to handle the shoulder season, hours when fire burned out and heat pump took over, and domestic hot water I will probably be looking at close to 5 cords.


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## EffectaBoilerUser (USA) (Sep 21, 2011)

I burn approx. 16-17 face cords of hardwood in my effecta lambda 35 and heat the following:

Approx. 3,000 sq. ft house and 1,000 sq. ft garage (insulated and this is where the boiler and 1,000 gallons are located). I also heat a jacuzi 350 gallon hot tub all winter. I usually begin heating in October/November and go until March/April.

Mr. Effecta


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## chuck172 (Sep 21, 2011)

My boiler (tarmsolo40) holds 5 cu. ft. in the firebox.
If I load it once a day, (most do two), for a 5 month heating season, (most have a longer season), that comes out to 6 cords of wood.
I think I would freeze to death burning less than six cords of wood a heating season. I just don't know how it is possible for anyone to heat their home and domestic hot water, keep the house at a comfortable temperature, and burn less than one full load of wood a day.


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## heaterman (Sep 21, 2011)

chuck172 said:
			
		

> My boiler (tarmsolo40) holds 5 cu. ft. in the firebox.
> If I load it once a day, (most do two), for a 5 month heating season, (most have a longer season), that comes out to 6 cords of wood.
> I think I would freeze to death burning less than six cords of wood a heating season. I just don't know how it is possible for anyone to heat their home and domestic hot water, keep the house at a comfortable temperature, and burn less than one full load of wood a day.



Cord in my post refer to a pulpwood cord. This being 4" x 4" x 8". Not a "rick" which is 4' high by 8' long by whatever length you cut your wood.


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## chuck172 (Sep 21, 2011)

Standard cord

Standard, full, logger and pulp cords generally refer to a pile of 8â€™ lengths that measures 4â€™ high by 4â€™ wide. This is a volume of 128 cu. ft.
That comes out to about 25 full loads of wood into my boiler.


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## ewdudley (Sep 21, 2011)

chuck172 said:
			
		

> Standard cord
> 
> Standard, full, logger and pulp cords generally refer to a pile of 8â€™ lengths that measures 4â€™ high by 4â€™ wide. This is a volume of 128 cu. ft.
> That comes out to about 25 full loads of wood into my boiler.


Please, no math until later in the morning!


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## maple1 (Sep 21, 2011)

Up here, I've never heard 'cord' used any other way than to mean 4x4x8. Never heard anyone here say or mean 'face cord'.

Anyway, I'm a bit disppointed at some of the numbers I'm reading. I have 1500 sq.ft. on main floor, 1200 on second floor, and full basement under all of first. Basement is 95% insulated with no heating zones, rest is all slant fin baseboard. Have a Benjamin cc500 oil/wood unit in the basement, radiating heat off that keeps the basement warm enough (not living down there). It does our domestic year round, using oil in the summer - or actually I guess May-October, wood the rest of the year. I am using, by my rough calcs, around 8 cords of wood a year (sometimes not the best quality), and around 150 gallons (Canadian) of oil. That's being careful, with the upstairs and half the downstairs setting back during the day, the other half of the downstairs setting back at night, and the hot water temp set only to 'just adequate' during the off season. And some occasional sweater usage. When it is at the coldest outside, the cc500 can barely keep up, and on occasion, I'll have to turn the oil on and run both for a short time to help the wood side 'catch up'. I know now this unit is about the most inefficient unit I could have selected, wood burning wise, so was hoping that a new gasser and storage could cut my wood use by, well, a lot. But I'm reading numbers close to mine with way more efficient boilers. Not discouraging, so still planning, just disappointing.

Keep the feedback coming, some great info here.


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## willworkforwood (Sep 21, 2011)

maple1 said:
			
		

> ... Have a Benjamin cc500 oil/wood unit in the basement ... I am using, by my rough calcs, around 8 cords of wood a year (sometimes not the best quality) ....  I know now this unit is about the most inefficient unit I could have selected, wood burning wise, so was hoping that a new gasser and storage could cut my wood use by, well, a lot. ....


Don't know anything about your boiler, but IMO it doesn't sound THAT bad, especially if the wood is not top shelf.  In planning for a gasser, you're a bit up against it with your present combo unit.  You would either need to replace with another combo (Wood Gun, ...); buy a new FB to be used only for backup/Summer DHW; or keep Ben just for oil.  And the last 2 would require a bunch of piping and control changes as well.  And if you throw in the cost of storage, you're looking at a hefty investment.  My guess is that it would take you a long time to pay that back, with the assumption of saving 2 or so cord a year.  How about just putting in the storage in order to maximize Ben's efficiency? (and make operation easier as well)


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## maple1 (Sep 21, 2011)

willworkforwood said:
			
		

> maple1 said:
> 
> 
> 
> ...



Yes, it doesn't sound that bad, but after 15 years of maintaining & operation - I'm ready for something else. And I think it is almost at the end of its life. I won't go into all the details on issues I've had with it on here, but for this discussion, I'll simplify it to it doesn't burn wood efficiently at all. I have 30ft of chimey, so lots of draft. If I damper it to burn good in the firebox, the heat has a straight path to the outdoors right up that chimney, and I have to fire it every couple of hours. I know I am losing a good deal of my woodpile straight to the outdoors. If I damper it to try to keep more fire in the unit so I get more heat transfer, it pumps out creosote like crazy. I am up on my roof 3 times a winter with the brush, and even then at that am sometimes overdue for brushing when I get there. And no matter how it is dampered, there is a constant increasing build up of hot coals in the firebox, leading to diminishing firebox volume & poor heat transfer and more waste from continual cleaning out and disposing of unburned clinkers. So from all that, I was really thinking that going to a gasser & some storage would cut my wood use in half. I know it won't be cheap - at this point I think I would get rid of the the Ben altogether & replace it with 2 units - actually don't think I would have a choice since I only have one chimney down there. I don't think storage would help this Ben any, it doesn't give me much more heat than the demand is.

Getting a bit off topic I guess, oops...


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## chuck172 (Sep 21, 2011)

Don't count on storage to save wood. It adds convenience, but the wood savings is minimal.


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## Sawyer (Sep 21, 2011)

heaterman said:
			
		

> Kid number 4. We built his house in 2005 and used a combination of panel rads and Viega Climate Panel for the whole place. Not a heating duct in sight anywhere. The house is about 5,800 sq ft plus he is keeping a lightly insulated 1,800 sq ft pole barn at 35-45* all winter. (nice place to let the Kubota thaw out.....) His house is R-22 in the walls and averages R-30 in the ceilings. (some areas are ceiling/roof combination) He has a Garn 2000H sitting approximately 220 feet from the house (in the pole barn) He's also doing domestic hot water for a family of 7. The Garn will consistently digest about 10-11 cords per winter while serving that load. He can let the Garn drop all the way down to 110 before firing again and still have plenty of heat available for heating use with his low temperature system.



What brand of panel rad does your son have? I have not yet installed an under-floor, between the joists, hydronic heating system under the hardwood living room floor to replace and/or offset the forced air supply to this room. Panel rads sure look good if you can get heat at 110*, especially with my Garn. I have looked at some information but it seems they are more designed for 140* and up. Are there charts for BTU's/ft at temperature X?


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## spidy1967 (Sep 21, 2011)

I have been using 3.5 cord consistantly since 94 using an 1978 hstarm to heat a 1500 sq ft home. Heating the living space only, radiant heat from the boiler keeps the basemnt 60-65 deg. and the house around 72+. This system really saved me during the ice storm of 1998, i ran the system using gravity. When the tarm sprung a leak about 3 yrs ago i really had to search to find a boiler that DID NOT require electricty to run it. I'm not aginst gasification boilers or pellet stoves ect. i just dont want to be tied to electricity for my heat. After the ice storm i was not going to take a chance with a system that required power to run. I settled with a Biasi 3wood5 it was heavy cast iron not plate steel like the tarm and i still burn 3.5 cords per year. I did convert it to coal and this will be the first season trying coal in it, i tried coal the end of last year and was getting 18 to 20 hour burn times on 40 to 50 lbs of coal. I'm sure with some tweaking i can get longer burn times and will hopefully only burn around 2 ton of coal if my calculations are right. I do have 4 ton ready to go. It may be a little more expensive than wood but not tending it every 5 or 6 hours is worth the difference in price and i have more space in my basement. Guess only time will tell if its worth the change, it would only take a few minutes to remove the coal grates if it doesnt work and i have plenty of wood but i'm sure it will work out.


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## heaterman (Sep 22, 2011)

Sawyer said:
			
		

> heaterman said:
> 
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You can find all you need to know here.       www.hydronicalternatives.com

or more specifically   >      http://www.hydronicalternatives.com/html/radiators.html 
  That page will have everything from installation to temperature correction factors.  As a rough rule of thumb, I add about 30% capacity for reduced temp operation. In other words if I have a room that requires 6,000btu I will select a rad rated for 7,500-8,000 at normal temps. 
If you really want to get scooby doo about it, install a motorized mixing valve that provides outdoor reset of the water temp in front of your panel rad manifold. I love the feel of a 100* rad on a cool April or October morning.


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## mark123 (Sep 22, 2011)

4000sf, eastern canada 8 cord of maple and 2 cord of spruce with my woodgun E-180 for 100% of home heating and domestic water year round.


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## mark123 (Sep 22, 2011)

Maple1, I replaced my CC500 with the woodgun last year. I agree the benjamin was not very efficient at burning wood, I used it for 4 years and burnt about 12 cord/ year and couple of 300-400 liters of oil and had a cold house. In fairness  it was only rated at 80000btu on the wood side so it was undersized for my application.


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## maple1 (Sep 22, 2011)

Thanks for the info mark - sounds like you reduced your wood usage quite a bit if the oil you used was factored in too. Makes me feel a bit better.

I'll try to do some measuring & more figuring in the next few days to see how accurate my 'first guess' numbers were.


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## Sawyer (Sep 22, 2011)

heaterman said:
			
		

> Sawyer said:
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## Sawyer (Sep 22, 2011)

Maple 1, â€œhow much wood do you use, cords/year?â€ is a difficult question to answer with information thatâ€™s useful to you. The members on the forum range from extreme winter conditions to mild winter conditions. A house in Kentucky will use a lot less fuel than the same one in northern Minnesota.  If usage was expressed as cords per year at X heating degree days and X design temperature and heat loss calculations (BTU/hr) you could better compare some of the information. Where I live I use 9078 HDD for heat loss calculations. Design temperature at -22 degrees. I used 10.5 cords of wood to heat last year for a 4438 sq./ft (Main floor and basement) house with high ceilings, lots of windows, and a lot of exposed wall surface as our house is long and narrow as opposed to a perfect square. Slant Fin heat loss calculations are, for my house 91,000BTU/hr, workshop 33,000BTU/hr. We do have excellent insulation in the form of blown cellulose, walls and ceilings, and sill plates. All penetrations were foamed. We have triple pane windows but they are still low in R value.

Hope this helps.


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## maple1 (Sep 22, 2011)

Yes, true - that's why I'm watching for situations similar to mine, from the info that is posted. For a rough idea only. My house is the same age as my furnace (15 yrs), and is insulated fairly well. But we're on top of a hill in the wide open also.

Anyway, I measured my woodpile & did a rough guess at what I'll top it up with in December, and went back 5 years on my oil bills. I'm buring close to 9 (real) cords of wood & 180 gallons (Canadian) of oil for the year for heat & hot water - guess my first guess wasn't too far out. There was a heat loss done on the house back when I built, but it has been since then since I've seen it. If I stumble across it, then maybe I'll try to check out more numbers.

Again, good info in here.


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## eauzonedan (Sep 24, 2011)

Heaterman:

Just a clarification on your 30% upsize rule of thumb for low temp use of radiators........  After looking at the correction factors for low temp hydronics @ Hydronic Alternatives.......  Assuming I ran my (green submarine) storage down to say...120 degrees......and assumed a 10 degree delta thru a heat exchanger......this would give me a supply temp of 110 degrees to the radiator.....if I plug in a 68 degree room temp - the table gives me a correction factor of 4.2  (assuming a 100 degree return temp).......which I think says that to get 5k btu I would need to find an emitter with 4.2x5k = 21k btu rated output at their standard conditions to pull 5k btu from it...... are you saying that in the "real world" 1.3 x 5k btu = 6500 btu is workable?.....  I'm trying to rough out some budget numbers for emitters and see a 3x spread from what I thought I needed to budget......  just a silly survey guy dabbling in heat stuff.....which is always a bit scarey....  Is there maybe enough thermal mass in a building to make just a 30% upsize work thru a short period of low temp supply that is common with the storage approach?

Eauzone Dan


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## Sawyer (Sep 24, 2011)

As I had this same question minutes ago after I ran their calculations. In an effort to make this topic more searchable and to not hijack maple1's thread I am posting this topic on panel radiators separately.


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## heaterman (Sep 24, 2011)

eauzonedan said:
			
		

> Heaterman:
> 
> Just a clarification on your 30% upsize rule of thumb for low temp use of radiators........  After looking at the correction factors for low temp hydronics @ Hydronic Alternatives.......  Assuming I ran my (green submarine) storage down to say...120 degrees......and assumed a 10 degree delta thru a heat exchanger......this would give me a supply temp of 110 degrees to the radiator.....if I plug in a 68 degree room temp - the table gives me a correction factor of 4.2  (assuming a 100 degree return temp).......which I think says that to get 5k btu I would need to find an emitter with 4.2x5k = 21k btu rated output at their standard conditions to pull 5k btu from it...... are you saying that in the "real world" 1.3 x 5k btu = 6500 btu is workable?.....  I'm trying to rough out some budget numbers for emitters and see a 3x spread from what I thought I needed to budget......  just a silly survey guy dabbling in heat stuff.....which is always a bit scarey....  Is there maybe enough thermal mass in a building to make just a 30% upsize work thru a short period of low temp supply that is common with the storage approach?
> 
> Eauzone Dan


*
"rule of thumb"* = speaking generally or a rough estimate or guideline for going about a given task. (taken from the heaterman dictionary of *"Ooops I shouldn't have said that"*)

Explanation. My usual "Modus Oporendae" is to design around 130-140 temps because those supply temps will keep my gas equipment in condensing mode. I also use ASHRAE table for design conditions which in a lot of cases are less severe than people think. Ours here are -6*F even though the temp can get as low as -30 once in a blue moon.

*Use the charts Paul has on his website*. They are accurate and will leave you a little wiggle room (there I go again)  for extreme situations.


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## Gasifier (Sep 28, 2011)

4000sf, eastern canada 8 cord of maple and 2 cord of spruce with my woodgun E-180 for 100% of home heating and domestic water year round. 

Mark123, Do you use storage with the E180? If so, how much. Thanks.


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## Nofossil (Sep 28, 2011)

3500 sf set to 72 Â°F, dhw, and 550 gallon hot tub in Vermont - just under 4.5 full cords per year average. Wood is about half hardwood and half 'junk' - red cedar, poplar, pine. Some people do better but I'm still learning ;-)


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## willworkforwood (Sep 28, 2011)

nofossil said:
			
		

> 3500 sf set to 72 Â°F, dhw, and 550 gallon hot tub in Vermont - just under 4.5 full cords per year average. Wood is about half hardwood and half 'junk' - red cedar, poplar, pine. Some people do better but I'm still learning ;-)


"still learning" - well, that made me just LOL - soon Nofo will announce that he no longer needs wood at all, and just uses the excess heat his brain is producing  :lol:


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## mwk1000 (Sep 29, 2011)

7000 sq ft, 3500 up / 3500 down. Heat only at 72 ( no DHW)

One full tent does it for the season. Ash & Oak. 8x10x20.


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## stee6043 (Sep 29, 2011)

mwk1000 said:
			
		

> 7000 sq ft, 3500 up / 3500 down. Heat only at 72 ( no DHW)
> 
> One full tent does it for the season. Ash & Oak. 8x10x20.



Beatiful home there, MWK.  I think I'd stroke out if I had to process 13 cord of wood every year.  No way I could keep up.

I heat 3200 sq.ft. with 3.0-3.5 cord of wood per year.  I keep the house at 70, no DHW.  I hope to someday install radiant in-floor to expand my wood heating season.  Currently I heat from late October through mid March (whenever the wood runs out).  I'd like to get into April eventually on my bigger pile which is 3.5 cord.


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## Mushroom Man (Sep 30, 2011)

This will be season 3 for wood burning with the EKO. First year I used approximately 12 cords. The next year was 9. 
I credit a little experience to second year savings and maybe the storage tank that reduced idling significantly. 

The wood was standing dead trees in year one with no seasoning of the wood. The second year was also standing dead plus fresh cut ash....from field to fire in the same week. You would think I would have learned from year 1. Well I did *but* made a costly mistake. I had planned to burn spent mushroom substrate but it didn't dry enough. A failed experiment so far.

This year I have split and summer-seasoned the wood. Ash, beech, elm, cherry, maple and a small amount of cedar. My windy hill dries wood fast it seems.

The house has 2700 sq.ft upstairs and 1300 downstairs but the basement (likely) has a high heat requirement because it is 11 ft high and mostly above ground with windows like upstairs. There are 1500 sq.ft in 3 grow rooms within the barn. Heavy DHW requirement: DHW is used for pasteurizing mushroom substrate (70 gallons of 160 degree water per day) plus DHW for a family of 5.

To improve performance this year: 
I have increased the insulation in 2 grow rooms so the heat loss will be reduced. 
The storage should be better utilized with the lines to the tank insulated and 
the wood will be drier

I would consider it a win if I used 8 cords or less and a bigger win if I could dry and burn the spent mushroom substrate instead of wood because it has similar BTU capacity, lower cost and (i think) is easier to process.


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## mwk1000 (Sep 30, 2011)

My first year of having all the wood ready. Yea ! Not quite 13 maybe 11 though it's a lot - o - wood for sure but it's good way to exercise outside. We love the house, I am finishing the insulation this fall in the basement and hoping it will cut back on the heat load. There is a LOT of concrete down there with 10' poured walls and NO exterior insulation ( Stupid, stupid,stupid ) so I am getting a barrier on the inside. I hope that finally having seasoned wood will help a lot and the basement with luck my tent will not be empty in the spring.


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## chuck172 (Sep 30, 2011)

If I were to load my Tarmsolo 40 once a day during the heating season, I will burn over 5 cords.
That is very conservative.
5 cu. ft. firebox
150 day heating season
One load per day.

Most have a larger firebox. Most heating seasons are longer than 5 months.
Most people load twice a day.
So you have to wonder about claims of less than 5 cords being used.


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## Tennman (Sep 30, 2011)

Third season coming up with the BioMass. Our place is way out of the norm for most of you "nerthoners". Here on the Tennessee/Alabama line our average Nov to March temp is ~38F with brief spells in the teens. Heating a 4800 sf 160 YO house where you can see the curtains moving on windy days thru those old wavy glass windows (to give a sense of efficiency). ~3-3.5 "real" chords to keep our downstairs at 68-70F. Our boiler is an oddity in our area where we're surrounded by Hardy OWBs.

So Heaterman, as one of the most respected contributors here why the heck don't you have one? Get your kids to put one in for you!


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## Bad Wolf (Sep 30, 2011)

I used to burn 1100 gallons fuel oil per year heat and DHW for a 3000 sq ft colonial in CT. 
My first two years with the TARM I burned 8+ cords each mostly oak but not the best seasoned.
That includes DHW which probably costs me one of those cords from April to Oct. 
My third year I added the hot tub and went up to 9+ cords (that's a 500 gallon tub at 104 degrees) I figure I save around $300 per year on electric. It's kind of hard to keep it at 104 when its 10 outside. 

If I can ever get the solar panels hooked up I can probably save a cord.


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## stee6043 (Sep 30, 2011)

chuck172 said:
			
		

> If I were to load my Tarmsolo 40 once a day during the heating season, I will burn over 5 cords.
> That is very conservative.
> 5 cu. ft. firebox
> 150 day heating season
> ...



  There are many threads discussing this anomoly.  First, a lot of us (most, all?) rarely fill our fireboxes 100% full.  Second...a 5 cu. ft. firebox will not hold 5 cu. ft. of wood even full (unless you fill it with sawdust I suppose).  If you really want to go nuts on measuring wood consumption you would need to do it in pounds with a known level of moisture.

  You can come measure my wood piles and watch me heat late October through March on 3.5 cord of cherry and a little oak if you need proof.  Bring beer!  It will be a cozy 70 degrees...68 at night.  In the interest of full disclosure I will typically heat two or three days in this window with natural gas if I have to travel for work...


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## chuck172 (Sep 30, 2011)

A always fill my firebox full. I have storage, maybe thats why. I fill it full up and burn hot. Rarely does my boiler idle. I heat my storage up to 195* or so.
Actually my Tarm holds 5.35 cu. ft.
Like I said, most here load twice a day, and burn more than 150 days. I should have mentioned that I heat my domestic h/w with the wood boiler during the winter also.


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