First Season with Ideal Steel in the Books!

[Ashful]

Good points, begreen. And I’m not “looking down” on anyone for using only 3 cords per year, I was only questioning their use of the term “full-time”. Like your case of letting the stove go cold and letting the heat pump running on less-cold days, or houses with a lot of solar gain, individual conditions will vary. This may result in some people not really keeping their stove going thru the entire heating season.

The numbers I gave above would suggest the majority of people burning only 3 cords per year are not actually keeping their stove going full-time, and telling new burners you can run a stove 24/7 for an entire heating season on that amount of wood is enormously misleading and not helpful to them, if that is their goal or requirement.

 

[begreen]

Yes, my sister's place has no heat pump. I have been there when it's snowing and about 28º and all they have burning is the little kitchen wood-fired oven which doubles as a masonry heater. When it gets very cold they fire up the wood boiler. They burn mostly oak and some hickory. It's all about heat loss vs outdoor temp. When it's in the 50s and above they usually have a window or two cracked open.

 

[Highbeam]

The problem, as I see it, is when somebody offers a data point about how much wood it took to provide their heat for the year but forgets to mention that there was also central heat btu added. It becomes misleading and bad data.

It’s fine to not heat full time with wood. Not many folks do.

 

[begreen]

The problem, as I see it, is when somebody offers a data point about how much wood it took to provide their heat for the year but forgets to mention that there was also central heat btu added. It becomes misleading and bad data.

It’s fine to not heat full time with wood. Not many folks do.

Agreed, not many do, especially when there are more efficient alternatives. That said, my sister's place is heated with wood and sun. They have a 1000 gallon oil tank that was filled somepoint more than a decade ago. They only run it when both are sick or not at the house for days. Point being, Ashful's barn with two stoves and the oil burner are not that relevant a comparison. Your house is much more typical. I will ask my friends up north how much wood they are consuming. They have heated solely with wood logged on the property for the past 8 years. I'm guessing around 3 cords, but could be wrong.

 

[Highbeam]

Yes, my electric resistance heat I s 100% efficient. Way higher than a lousy 80% with wood.

 

[Ashful]

Point being, Ashful's barn with two stoves and the oil burner are not that relevant a comparison.

In my defense, I didn't mention my house or my circumstances... you did! I was only discussing the amount of wood it takes to keep any stove going 4300 - 4800 hours per year, completely independent of the house in which it is installed.

 

[Highbeam]

In my defense, I didn't mention my house or my circumstances... you did! I was only discussing the amount of wood it takes to keep any stove going 4300 - 4800 hours per year, completely independent of the house in which it is installed.

Or out in a field. The appliance does not care, it has no brain.

 

[maple1]

There’s nothing wrong with using your central heat for a portion of your needs. No shame in that. I would too if it was available and economical. Some folks just have a hard time quantifying the effects of this on their wood usage.

Or a mini-split or two.

That's what we did a couple years ago. It is surprising how much wood one can burn during shoulder seasons if that is the only heating source. You light small fires once in a while for a couple months, and suddenly you notice your wood pile is like 1/4 smaller. Throw in skipping making fires during heating season when the odd mild day or few comes by and it really can very efficiently cut way down on wood use. I would guess from our experience here you can fairly easily cut it in half. More than that if you want to run your non-wood heat when it isn't optimally efficient to do so - where that line is would be different for everyone.

 

[Ashful]

Or a mini-split or two.

That's what we did a couple years ago. It is surprising how much wood one can burn during shoulder seasons if that is the only heating source. You light small fires once in a while for a couple months, and suddenly you notice your wood pile is like 1/4 smaller. Throw in skipping making fires during heating season when the odd mild day or few comes by and it really can very efficiently cut way down on wood use. I would guess from our experience here you can fairly easily cut it in half. More than that if you want to run your non-wood heat when it isn't optimally efficient to do so - where that line is would be different for everyone.

This is exactly the point I was getting at. Thank you, maple1.

 

[begreen]

Or a mini-split or two.

That's what we did a couple years ago. It is surprising how much wood one can burn during shoulder seasons if that is the only heating source. You light small fires once in a while for a couple months, and suddenly you notice your wood pile is like 1/4 smaller. Throw in skipping making fires during heating season when the odd mild day or few comes by and it really can very efficiently cut way down on wood use. I would guess from our experience here you can fairly easily cut it in half. More than that if you want to run your non-wood heat when it isn't optimally efficient to do so - where that line is would be different for everyone.

Yes, well said. As noted mulitple times, it is often more efficient to heat with an alternative source when the temperature is mild and the period of needed heat is short (like in the morning only). If one follows this practice than 4500 hrs of heating with wood may be wasteful. Also, heating seasons vary a lot from region to region.

 

[WoodBurnerInWI]

Since I cleaned up my stove for the season, for me, there's really no point in firing it back up for the 2 days of so of "cold" weather predicted around here for the weekend. By the time I get everything going again and the house is up to temp it'll be back in the 60's and I'll be roasted out of the house! I'm just letting the (nat gas) furnace take care of things these next few days. With the solar gain this time of year and more winds coming out of the south and west my house remains in the mid to upper 70's! And house temp drops down to about 68 at night with no furnace running or stove running. Not too bad and plenty comfortable.