How much wood is needed for a woodstove/fireplace insert for a winter

[OkieAnnie]

My husband and I have spent some time researching fireplace insterts. We checked out a few dealers, spoke to a few people with them and have weighed the pros/cons and are very sure we are going to get one this winter. We are saving up for one.

We spend about $1200-$1500 a year on propane to heat the house in the winter. Our water heater and oven/stove are the only other items on propane. A cord of wood is any where from $70 - $110 in our area, but you don't have to pay for wood. There are 10 to 2o posts on craigslist or free cycle at any given time for free wood if you will come and haul it off, cut it up.

So, now my question is, for those of you who use a wood stove/insert to heat your home in the winter, how much wood do you go through in a winter (average)?

 

[miss_thenorth]

In order to answer that, we're gonna need to know where you are/ how cold your winters are, how big your home is, and what type of wood you plan on burning.

 

[OkieAnnie]

duh, sorry about that

OK, my house is 1500 sq. ft.

Our winters are fairly mild, as far as winters go. Temps average lows in 20's highs in 40's

We will burn oak mainly.

We usually don't fire up the heater until late October - and only at night then. We would need good heat from November to about March, then April is usually just heat at night sometimes.

Hope that helps you all who know about this stuff to help me

Thank you

 

[freemotion]

We use five cords here in MA, much colder than OK. You can use well-place fans to move the heat to other parts of your house, too. Our house is about 1400 sq ft. It is a bit drafty and needs new windows. We live near a hill on one side and an open field on one side, so we get some good wind in the winter.

I would guess that, based on my usage, you might use half that. We keep a fire going pretty much full time in the winter, from late November through the end of March, maybe a cord a month, mostly oak and maple, some birch.

Avoid pine, that is often on the free lists on CL, and will build up creosote in your chimney and make a fire hazard. Also, be sure to run the stove HOT often to prevent this, and be sure to have your wood very well-seasoned.

If I were you, I'd stock up as much as possible, then you will have well-seasoned wood for winter 2010-11 if you get it green this year. And get 2-3 cords of seasoned wood for this year. Then you can get the free wood each year well in advance and season it. Also, if you have the room, stock up in case more people catch on and the free wood sources dry up.

In OK, I would spray the pile for spiders before bringing it in. Even in cold weather, they tend to thaw out once in the house. We keep the wood for the night in the frozen garage, then run out and get just enough to put in the stove each time we add more. I got so sick of spiders crawling out of the wood box by the stove!!!

 

[justusnak]

OkieAnnie....we live in Indiana...We have a split level home, just me and hubby here...most of the time.:/ The first year in our home...we spent about $1,500 in propane..it is used for the furnace only. 2 years ago, we put a wood stove in our basement/family room. Last year, we tried the " totally wood heat" with the furnace only running at night, and only untill I got up to get the fire going again. We went through 11 or 12 ricks of firewood....and only used 1/2 of our tank of propane..so about $350 in propane. Its a lot of work...but WELL worth it. Oh, and ALL our wood was free. We just had to split it. I say...go for it!!!

 

[Lovechooks]

I googled what a cord of wood is another measurement I am not familular with. Anyway we use around about the same measurement but it's called something else.

We have a wood heater all enclosed but you don't cook from it.

Go through about 1 cord per month, but we burn common wood and redgum here sometimes boxwood.

 

[Quail_Antwerp]

We are in Ohio and we went through almost 4 cords last winter. Still have a small bit left from the 4th cord, but not much.

We cut our own out of the woods that my parents own across the street, so it just costs us the gas and oil for the chain saw. Then it's all split by hand with an ax, no fancy log splitter here, just backs and arms.

We usually cut all spring/summer/and fall. We don't cut during the cold months. We use up what we cut in the spring first, because we try to let everything season for 6 months.

Hope that helps. Might be a little more information than you actually asked for though. :/

 

[laststrawfarm]

We have an outdoor wood burner that is the only source of heat for the house during the winter. It also heats the water heater so we only pay for electricity for our lights. We also have a propane tank but don't use it during the winter (only as backup if we run out of wood. Because it is outdoors, there is no smell or dust inside. We live in Indiana- temps about like yours. The house is 2800 sq ft and we burn about a cord of wood every 2 wks. I guess it would also depend on how well inculated your house is. We don't pay for the wood because we have 50 acres with about 20 of those wooded and dropped 200 trees a few yrs ago to cull and thin them out.

 

[DrakeMaiden]

It will also depend upon how often you heat during the day, and what temperature you are accustomed to keeping your house at. We usually only heat our home at night and sometimes into the early morning. Only occassionally do we heat during the day (on the unusually cold days when we are at home).

 

[DrakeMaiden]

I recommend getting the most efficient model you can get. It will pay you back over time, plus, at least where we live, there can be cold winter days when burning in fireplaces and uncertified (inefficient) woodstoves is banned unless it is your only source of heat, due to air pollution problems.