Five Essentials To Getting The Most Out Of Your Woodpile

[BraggSurvivor]

It's that time of year again:



There are several reasons for choosing wood heat over the few available alternatives. Not the least of these reasons is economy. In New England where I live, for instance, 11.4 per kilowatt electric rates can give your mortgage a run for its money if you’re unfortunate enough to have electric heat. Wood burning boasts advantages other fuels can’t mimic: an evenness, quietness, and aesthetic appeal truly unique to wood. There are many who relish the rituals of self sufficiency involved with getting in their own wood. That’s not to say that more is necessarily better. No matter how much you admire the sight of a cut and split stack drying in the autumn air, you owe it to yourself to get by with as short a stack as is prudent for the winter in your locale. Here, then, are five strategies for milking the most Btu’s out of every stick you burn.


http://hearth.com/econtent/index.php/articles/five_essentials

[Gray Wolf]

In New England where I live, for instance

Under your avatar:

BraggSurvivor

Location: West Bragg Creek, Alberta

Bragg which is it? :confused:

[crashdive123]

It's just a quote from the article.

[Rick]

That's a good article. One correction I would make to it is never stack wood next to the house or bring it inside. That's a great way to invite termites into your home (like they need an invite) along with other insects.

As for splitting green wood...You'll find it much easier to split if you wait until winter when the moisture in the wood freezes...or you can let it season a bit before splitting it.

[BraggSurvivor]

I agree Rick, I have a large double wheeled barrow and only bring 1 load to the back chute per day. Wife hates spiders. I also burn only two year seasoned wood and split green with hydraulic splitter.

Today I install a new gasket kit on my Jotul air tight, feel like a kid in a candy shop. :D

[Rick]

I burn 1 year seasoned although I like to burn older. I just don't have the room to stack that much and the neighbors would swearing I was building a stacked wood fence! I split all my wood by hand. That way it heats twice.

[wareagle69]

i split wood by hand kind of old fashioned i cut wood in the bush and carry it out in 8 ft lengths once again by hand no termites up here and the bugs make great entertainment for my cats althought i have not seen many i keep allot of split wood in the basement and in the runway into the house i like to split in the winter cuz very easy to split and feels good on a cold day, i have as of yet not turned on my furnace the days are warm enough to capture the heat then have a fire in the afternoon thru the evening

[BraggSurvivor]

This is what I use to heat my shop, quonset infloor heating and my domestic hot water. I burn straw square bales ($0.50 each) as fuel as well as tree stumps. Great system but down fall is "if the power goes out" scenario.


http://www.woodmaster.com/

[DOGMAN]

wow a sqare bale of straw for only .50! it goes for a buck fifty in sw MT. how much are you buying at a time- 1ton? Or way more

[nell67]

Wow,straw is a minimum of $2 a bale here,and you have to look hard to find it at that,usually more like$3-$4 a bale,hay starts out@ $5 and goes up from there.

[Rick]

Yea, IF they know what they are selling. You can buy hay tagged as straw just as often.

[nell67]

LOL, very true Rick,if thats the case and you needed the hay,then you better stock up!

[BraggSurvivor]

Straw bales normally goes for $1.00 a bale on this years cut. I buy 500 bales at a time for burning from last years cuttings.

1 ton round bales go here for $20-40 depending on how tight the bales are. Bottom bales are free which I take and run through a shredder and lay 4" on the grazing paddocks to retain moisture.

[DOGMAN]

Here if you buy 1 bale of straw at a feed store it is $3, but if you go buy a truck load, you can get it for $1.50 a bale

[RobertRogers]

By the looks of the massive piles of firewood in my yard everyone who visits asks me if I am selling it or preparing for the apocalypse. I tell them I am not selling it.

I like to burn 2-year seasoned wood, which requires then a 3-year supply on hand. If you figure 5 or six cords per year then that is a big pile indeed.

The ice storm of '98, I think it was, where my neighbors just about froze to death because there was no electricity to run furnaces - whilst I remained snug and warm with a woodstove as the main heat source - convinces me that a woodstove always works and one can always find something to burn if need be.

[laughing beetle]

(/Quote)The ice storm of '98, I think it was, where my neighbors just about froze to death because there was no electricity to run furnaces - whilst I remained snug and warm with a woodstove as the main heat source - convinces me that a woodstove always works and one can always find something to burn if need be.[/QUOTE]

Absulutely!!:D:D

[Rick]

What? You did help your neighbors? How...un-neighborly!

[Riverrat]

We heat our house with wood only. We use 3-4 cord per year. I now keep most of my wood in an outdoor, open shed to help it dry and keep the bug count down in the house. We used to keep our wood in the basement. It would be cut and left in long lengths for a year, we would let it dry for a year, then put it in. We found that there was mold growing in the back corners of the basement with the moister coming from the wood.

[trax]

Man, when I lived up north I heated my house with wood only and I went through 10 to 12 cords of wood a year, I be lookin' to move to your climate Riverrat :D

[Riverrat]

Well insulated and not to big....We get the wood hauled in tree length, 7 cord to a load, and it does us two winters. Not to bad for 500.00 dollars per load.