Which is better, I wonder . . . .[out loud]

[ISeeDeadBTUs]

So, as usual for most of us 'cept Eric, I am rationing wood. I got a pickup load of old soggy maple last weekend, and am trying to mix it with the last of my oak and cherry.

During this halfassed experiment I have found that, when the GW gets down to less than say 140*, it cannot make enough heat to actually 'catch up'. But if let the oil run for one cycle, the GW will heat up and go VSF. I'm assuming that the heat demand is never letting the box get up to efficient temp, thus it burns poorly, thus it don't get up to temp, yada yada yada.

There's truth in the old saying. . . You can NEVER have TOO MUCH firewood . . .

The good news is, it was 52* the other day, and 151 now mixes well with everything . . .'cept chainsaws ;-)

 

[jebatty]

ooooo so sweet. We're only dropping to -8F tonight and -17F tomorrow night. Much better than the -24F a couple of weeks ago. I don't know if I can even count to the 50's.

 

[Nofossil]

I'm at 3.5 cords so far, and my 151 is holding out pretty well - better than the JD.

I don't actually measure wood consumption directly - I measure the amount of time that the boiler is producing heat, and assume that translates to wood consumption. Towards the end of January, I played with the air inlet on my boiler, which extends the burn time for a given amount of wood. Therefore, my wood consumption since then is probably less than the graph indicates.

'Expected' is based on actual degree days, or average degree days for future dates.

The dip right after Christmas was because we were gone for a few days - had to burn some oil.

 

[Eric Johnson]

I don't have any religious convictions--never even been indicted--but I give up the booze for Lent out of deference to my Catholic wife, so while I'm not hurting for dry firewood, I am getting a little thirsty. As such, can we stop talking about the JD & the 151 already? I promise not to mention all the bone-dry beech and yellow birch laying around here. Stuff gets in the way!

How did you determine how much to close off your air inlets, nofossil? Was it an instrument thing, or just eyeball the chimney or just play around with it some other way?

 

[Nofossil]

I don't have any religious convictions--never even been indicted--but I give up the booze for Lent out of deference to my Catholic wife, so while I'm not hurting for dry firewood, I am getting a little thirsty. As such, can we stop talking about the JD & the 151 already? I promise not to mention all the bone-dry beech and yellow birch laying around here. Stuff gets in the way!

How did you determine how much to close off your air inlets, nofossil? Was it an instrument thing, or just eyeball the chimney or just play around with it some other way?

I closed it a bit more each fire until it stopped going into intermittent idle. I had to open up the secondaries another turn to get clean burn early in the fire. Seems really well dialed in now.

 

[slowzuki]

My parents are running out, I'm cutting up some old softwood junk wood I have laying around to get them through.

 

[MarcM]

I guess I'm fortuante to have a parent with the time, resources and inclination conducive to stock piling firewood.

As a matter of fact, this winter alone I helped my father take down two big sugar maples and an ash in his yard (per my mother's orders). After cutting two good size red oaks and a yellow birch in the woodlot, he's set for next year. Probably 4 -5 cords total. He burns about 3.5 - 4 per year and since he was already about 2 -3 years ahead on his supply, I'll probably get to take some of the maple for a wood stove next winter, until I get some of my own wood cut and stacked in preparation for using a boiler the winter of '09/'10.

And I'm starting to get into Marc's Own Oatmeal Stout, so it will be time to brew again soon, in lew of 151 consumption.

 

[ISeeDeadBTUs]

I am getting a little thirsty. As such, can we stop talking about the JD & the 151 already?

Can do, Eric. Your situation is Everclear. I keep looking for beech on my wood scrounging trips, but I see mostly Wild Turkeys.

 

[Chris S]

My 30 cords are piling up fast- but all this mud has got to go
We've got a feller-buncher up in the woods right now- wow talk about fast!!

 

[Gooserider]

Well I bottled one batch of mead last week, and have a new 5 gallon bucket bubbling at the moment, haven't decided whether it's going to be blueberry or blackberry/raspberry yet, whichever one I make this batch, the next batch will be the other... Will go with the 120 or so bottles on the wine rack and the 40+ gallons already in bulk aging... (There are other things less useful to give up for lent - maybe religion?)

I'm up to between 3.6 and 4 cords of wood burned on the season, probably will be ending up somewheres between 4 and 5 cords total. Considering that last year was a lot warmer, and I burned over 6 cords, I think the VC Encore is a big improvement over the old smoke dragon, even if it isn't a boiler :coolgrin:

Unlike last year, I'm not worried about running out of wood, though I'm starting to get into stuff that's not as well seasoned as I'd like - the stuff I'm burning now is probably only about 9-11 months old, with about another cord and a half of that. Then I get into the about 2.4 cords of 6 month wood still in the shed, and the 2 cords of "overflow" piles. While it's still not as seasoned as I like, it is burnable, and should be fine for most of next years burning.

In order to get started on future wood, I've dropped a few trees with a few more to go in the yard for what's coming down this season, got about a cord or so dragged out of the undergrowth to the wood shed and / or splitting spot, probably another cord or two to go. I still need to get in my log length for the season, as I want to have cut and split at least 6-8 cords this season - I figure if I get 2-3 cords more than I burn ready each season, then I'll eventually be burning 2-3 year old wood with a good reserve pile...

Gooserider

 

[BrownianHeatingTech]

Well I bottled one batch of mead last week, and have a new 5 gallon bucket bubbling at the moment, haven't decided whether it's going to be blueberry or blackberry/raspberry yet, whichever one I make this batch, the next batch will be the other... Will go with the 120 or so bottles on the wine rack and the 40+ gallons already in bulk aging... (There are other things less useful to give up for lent - maybe religion?)

Heh. One of my tasks for today is to retrieve the carboys from the barn so we can get them cleaned up and start a batch of mead.

Joe

 

[Gooserider]

Well, if you have any questions, feel free to ask... I've never done any competitions, but people that have tried my stuff tell me it's good (and come back for seconds) - One of the things I like about my brews is that for most of them, I've made all the major ingredients - I harvest the honey from my own hives, and in the berry meads I've picked the fruit that went into them, and so on. About the only things I use from commercial sources are the adjuncts like yeast energizer and so forth.

One thing that I've found useful when trying to clean out carboys or fermenters is a strong concentration bleach and unscented laundry detergent solution - about a quart of water with 1/4 cup of bleach and a good shot of detergent. Pour it into the carboy and slosh it around, and it does an amazing job of dissolving the crud that your bottle washing jet won't touch. You just have to really rinse the heck out of the carboys afterwards. I usually mix up a batch during each of my brewing cycles, and use it multiple times as I rack the brews from one carboy to another.

Gooserider

Well I bottled one batch of mead last week, and have a new 5 gallon bucket bubbling at the moment, haven't decided whether it's going to be blueberry or blackberry/raspberry yet, whichever one I make this batch, the next batch will be the other... Will go with the 120 or so bottles on the wine rack and the 40+ gallons already in bulk aging... (There are other things less useful to give up for lent - maybe religion?)

Heh. One of my tasks for today is to retrieve the carboys from the barn so we can get them cleaned up and start a batch of mead.

Joe

 

[MarcM]

Well, if you have any questions, feel free to ask... I've never done any competitions, but people that have tried my stuff tell me it's good (and come back for seconds) - One of the things I like about my brews is that for most of them, I've made all the major ingredients - I harvest the honey from my own hives, and in the berry meads I've picked the fruit that went into them, and so on. About the only things I use from commercial sources are the adjuncts like yeast energizer and so forth.

One thing that I've found useful when trying to clean out carboys or fermenters is a strong concentration bleach and unscented laundry detergent solution - about a quart of water with 1/4 cup of bleach and a good shot of detergent. Pour it into the carboy and slosh it around, and it does an amazing job of dissolving the crud that your bottle washing jet won't touch. You just have to really rinse the heck out of the carboys afterwards. I usually mix up a batch during each of my brewing cycles, and use it multiple times as I rack the brews from one carboy to another.

Gooserider

Well I bottled one batch of mead last week, and have a new 5 gallon bucket bubbling at the moment, haven't decided whether it's going to be blueberry or blackberry/raspberry yet, whichever one I make this batch, the next batch will be the other... Will go with the 120 or so bottles on the wine rack and the 40+ gallons already in bulk aging... (There are other things less useful to give up for lent - maybe religion?)

Heh. One of my tasks for today is to retrieve the carboys from the barn so we can get them cleaned up and start a batch of mead.

Joe

That's very cool. I'm trying to do the same for my beer... grow my own hop plants... don't know how well barley would grow around here though but I'm not against the idea of trying.

 

[BrownianHeatingTech]

Well, if you have any questions, feel free to ask... I've never done any competitions, but people that have tried my stuff tell me it's good (and come back for seconds) - One of the things I like about my brews is that for most of them, I've made all the major ingredients - I harvest the honey from my own hives, and in the berry meads I've picked the fruit that went into them, and so on. About the only things I use from commercial sources are the adjuncts like yeast energizer and so forth.

One thing that I've found useful when trying to clean out carboys or fermenters is a strong concentration bleach and unscented laundry detergent solution - about a quart of water with 1/4 cup of bleach and a good shot of detergent. Pour it into the carboy and slosh it around, and it does an amazing job of dissolving the crud that your bottle washing jet won't touch. You just have to really rinse the heck out of the carboys afterwards. I usually mix up a batch during each of my brewing cycles, and use it multiple times as I rack the brews from one carboy to another.

Cool. My wife is the brewer. I just follow directions well. Need a heating system designed? Ask me. Need food cooked? Either give me a detailed recipe, or find someone else to do it. "Cook until done" doesn't work well for me.

We don't have our own hives, but there are local sources for honey. We're planning on planting a lot more by way of fruits and berries and such, so we will have supplies of those things.

That's very cool. I'm trying to do the same for my beer... grow my own hop plants... don't know how well barley would grow around here though but I'm not against the idea of trying.

We're going to try growing hops, as well. Seems like something we could sell to local microbrewers, if the yields are decent in this area.

Joe

 

[Gooserider]

Well, if you have any questions, feel free to ask... I've never done any competitions, but people that have tried my stuff tell me it's good (and come back for seconds) - One of the things I like about my brews is that for most of them, I've made all the major ingredients - I harvest the honey from my own hives, and in the berry meads I've picked the fruit that went into them, and so on. About the only things I use from commercial sources are the adjuncts like yeast energizer and so forth.

One thing that I've found useful when trying to clean out carboys or fermenters is a strong concentration bleach and unscented laundry detergent solution - about a quart of water with 1/4 cup of bleach and a good shot of detergent. Pour it into the carboy and slosh it around, and it does an amazing job of dissolving the crud that your bottle washing jet won't touch. You just have to really rinse the heck out of the carboys afterwards. I usually mix up a batch during each of my brewing cycles, and use it multiple times as I rack the brews from one carboy to another.

Cool. My wife is the brewer. I just follow directions well. Need a heating system designed? Ask me. Need food cooked? Either give me a detailed recipe, or find someone else to do it. "Cook until done" doesn't work well for me.

We don't have our own hives, but there are local sources for honey. We're planning on planting a lot more by way of fruits and berries and such, so we will have supplies of those things.

That's very cool. I'm trying to do the same for my beer... grow my own hop plants... don't know how well barley would grow around here though but I'm not against the idea of trying.

We're going to try growing hops, as well. Seems like something we could sell to local microbrewers, if the yields are decent in this area.

Joe

Actually I might want to do a consult some day... The GF and I have been throwing all sorts of ideas around lately about what we can do to try and improve the energy footprint of the house. IMHO one problem is that the current heat is an HVAC system - it works, but doesn't give much infrastructure for improvement. I've found the Boiler Room overall to be very inspirational, I keep having this fantasy (not as much fun as the one about the scantily clad supermodel, but....) about trying to retrofit in-floor radiant, w/ solar and wood gasifier inputs, which might be a real challenge in this house. You ever get down to the Billerica, MA area?

When it comes time for cooking, I find that I tend to be the one that does the fancy "creative cookery" like if we are making something to bring to a pot-luck dinner somewhere, but she does most of the day-to-day cooking. I tend to read through a few recipes and use them as inspiration when doing my own thing, she tends to follow them in detail...

Gooserider

 

[BrownianHeatingTech]

Actually I might want to do a consult some day... The GF and I have been throwing all sorts of ideas around lately about what we can do to try and improve the energy footprint of the house. IMHO one problem is that the current heat is an HVAC system - it works, but doesn't give much infrastructure for improvement. I've found the Boiler Room overall to be very inspirational, I keep having this fantasy (not as much fun as the one about the scantily clad supermodel, but....) about trying to retrofit in-floor radiant, w/ solar and wood gasifier inputs, which might be a real challenge in this house. You ever get down to the Billerica, MA area?

On rare occasions, we find ourselves in MA. My brother lives in Boston, so we are down there on occasion, and Billerica is pretty much on the way, since we tend to head down 3.

First step, IMO, is to do up a blueprint of the house. That makes things much simpler, especially when figuring out radiant.

When it comes time for cooking, I find that I tend to be the one that does the fancy "creative cookery" like if we are making something to bring to a pot-luck dinner somewhere, but she does most of the day-to-day cooking. I tend to read through a few recipes and use them as inspiration when doing my own thing, she tends to follow them in detail...

Yeah. Pretty much the opposite, here. Other than meat sauce and the occasional stir fry or something, I don't "wing it" with food. One of these days, I'm going to mount a computer terminal on the wall of my kitchen and have a complete recipe book available. As long as the recipes are accurate, I'm fine.

The amusing thing here is that my wife is a chemist, so if anyone "should" be good at following recipes exactly, she would be the one...

Joe