Generally...How Many Cords Does It Take To Get Through The Winter?

[begreen]

Who’s going to haul ten cords of wood up to the house and load two stoves, if I’m in jail?

You don't want to know

 

[begreen]

Winters are mud, rain, and darkness for 9 months.

True we often see less sun than say Boston, though there are parts of the state here that are sunnier than others. Where we live we get half the rainfall that Seattle (and NYC) gets. The same happens in the rain shadow of the Olympics.
FWIW, On average, there are 152 sunny days per year in Seattle, 157 in Bellingham. Sounds like it's rainier in your neck of the woods.
Of course, climate is changing and for the past couple years, from the Mississippi eastward they have been getting a lot more rain.

 

[Ashful]

Got another trailer load of Hickory today. Small crap that takes forever to load, but hopefully I’ll make up that lost time on splitting.

Photo pending, after lunch and beer.

 

[Ashful]

Forgot to take a pic until after I unloaded the first few logs. I’ve been averaging three per week.



The piles are growing! Unfortunately photos give no indication of scale. These are all 15 foot lengths.

 

[fire_man]

The wife’s new boyfriend! The same guy that will appreciate the survivor’s benefit of my pension that I’m leaving for my wife!

Your goal is to stay in shape by hauling wood so you live to be 100!

 

[Poindexter]

3-4 cords annually is enough for 75% of the registered users here.

 

[paulnlee]

3-4 cords annually is enough for 75% of the registered users here.

In Alaska! What are you heating an igloo?

 

[Ashful]

You don't want to know

Well, they should be all set for at least 3 years, whoever it end up being. [emoji14]

 

[Ashful]

In Alaska! What are you heating an igloo?

Alaskan homes are generally super insulated. Also, like me, he never claimed he was actually in that 75% population.

 

[Highbeam]

Alaskan homes are generally super insulated. Also, like me, he never claimed he was actually in that 75% population.

Or that any of those 75% actually provide 100% of their heat with wood.

 

[Ashful]

Or that any of those 75% actually provide 100% of their heat with wood.

Most seem to claim they do. Not me, but I’m not in that < 4 cord crowd, anyway.

 

[Woodsplitter67]

I usually burn between 3.5 to 3.75 cords per year. This year i was a little more at 3.8 cords. I have never burned 4 cords.

 

[lsucet]

When I think I am around 4 cords +/-. I will tell you the truth, I just load the stoves if I need the heat.

 

[NW Pa Burner]

Northwest PA, burning almost entirely oak and hard maple and I go through 2.75 to 3 cord per year in fireplace insert and only burn when the highs are below 40. Natural gas forced air is programed to kick on at times to redistribute the heat around the house and it kicks on at the end of the some of the longer burns too. Annual natural gas bill is roughly $450 and that is for hot water too. Heating 2400SF with a lot of glass. High quality well seasoned fuel helps a lot. Typically load the stove 3 times a day, two long burns one before bed and one before work in the morning and a smaller one after getting home. Last year I average about 20 pieces of firewood a day. Split a little larger for the winter of 2020 now that I'm 4 years stockpiled.

 

[David.Ervin]

When she comes home it gets jacked up to 70 degrees

Nobody's mentioned this yet, so I will. Wood heat is ... not fast. You can't just flip a switch, ignore it, and have the house warm up by 7 degrees. There's stove loading, monitoring it until it gets rolling, closing down the air, then waiting for that glorious heat to circulate. Wood heat becomes something of a lifestyle choice. Just something to consider.

 

[Bushels20]

Depends on the house. I can’t heat my place near Philadelphia entirely with 10 cords, but many do it on less. There are several past and present members here, with no central heating system, who entirely heat their house on 3 -4 cords per year. One of particular note lived in Michigan. Their houses may be smaller, and better insulated, than yours or mine.

Completely agree. I heat our 2050 square foot quad level split which is well insulated. New Andersen windows, new insulation in all 3 attics, everything sealed as best as I reasonably can.

Insert is on the lowest level and heat naturally flows up. I get away with 4 cords a winter; no problem.

 

[Bushels20]

There is no way in hell heating only with wood you're only burning 3-4 cords unless you're in Kialua

I have heated 2050 square feet for 7 years in a row now on 4 cords. Sole source of heat.

Furnace is left on at 58 degrees in the event we are out unexpectedly long so the pipes don’t freeze. Other than that, furnace never comes on.

 

[BIGChrisNH]

I heat 2300 square feet of two story house in southern New Hampshire with an Englander 30. Burn between 4 and 5 cords per year. I would plan on getting at least two years ahead if you can as pine burns fast. And if you work from home you’ll probably be loading the stove a lot more often, I know I do if I work from home.

 

[kvesi122]

I burned ~4 cords last winter during my first year burning. 1800 sq feet with less than prime red oak (wayyyyyyy less than prime). Kept the furnace at 55 and heated as much as possible with just my wood stove. Didn't get the house to 70 degrees many days but it kept me from freezing and I didn't go broke paying for heating oil. This year will hopefully be better. Wood's had an extra year to season and I scored a couple cord of ash this Feb.

Used 2/3 tank of oil during the whole heating season. By this fall I should be 3 years ahead wood-wise. Splitting everything by hand.

 

[paulnlee]

So far most have back up heat and keep temps around 70, me I want it above 76, burn from late Sept to May no backup 8-10 cords.

 

[bholler]

So far most have back up heat and keep temps around 70, me I want it above 76, burn from late Sept to May no backup 8-10 cords.

How does backup heat effect the amount of wood you burn if you don't use it? I work for hundreds of people a year in a similar climate 8 to 10 cords is much more than average especially with a modern stove.

 

[fire_man]

So far most have back up heat and keep temps around 70, me I want it above 76, burn from late Sept to May no backup 8-10 cords.

Are you talking face cord? How big an area are you heating and what stove? 10 cord is really high.

 

[begreen]

Note that this is in AZ where there is the potential for a lot of daytime solar gain.

 

[Bushels20]

So far most have back up heat and keep temps around 70, me I want it above 76, burn from late Sept to May no backup 8-10 cords.

When people say backup heat, we aren’t necessarily talking about secondary heat. For me, my furnace is a backup/security feature. Gives me the peace of mind in the event my fire goes out, i get stranded on the road etc, and can’t reload. I know my house won’t drop to a level that threatens a pipe burst.

My insert is for all intents and purposes my only heating source. All winter. Mid October until April, 4 cords. Well insulated house, new doors and windows. House stays at an easy 72, can get thinks cranked up to 75 if the wife and kids want. Stove/insert room is well above that.

 

[Ashful]

So far most have back up heat and keep temps around 70, me I want it above 76, burn from late Sept to May no backup 8-10 cords.

I know Flemington well, used to pass thru it daily for work. You run pretty close to 1000 HDD/month in Dec-March, meaning 33 HDD/day, meaning the average temperature is pretty darn close to 32F. If you increase your thermostat from 70F to 76F, that's a heat rise increase of 16%, so your fuel usage should be approximately 16% higher than someone keeping their house close to 70F in your climate.

That's all theory, and it's good to understand, but the truth is even worse than the theory would predict. Rather than explain it, read this: https://www.hearth.com/talk/threads...through-the-winter.176098/page-2#post-2370207

These guys are showing a 40% increase in fuel usage for a 6 degree change in indoor temperature, in a climate that's really not all that far from yours in the global sense. So, it's not surprising if you use more wood than average, if your indoor temp is higher than average.

Point is, like the unknown size and insulation of the house, there are a lot of factors that can make a pretty substantial change in the amount of wood you will need to heat your house. But then we keep coming back to hundreds (thousands?) of posts on this forum, talking about how much wood various people here use, over a dozen years or more... and the vast majority of them land in that 3 - 4 cord window.