A little wood

Geez bczoom, what all are you heating at three cords a month. That is one hell of a lot of wood even for softwood and a couple of oversize stoves?
 
I have 2 woodstoves in the house. One is normally all we use (and it runs 24/7 from about November until it warms up in the Spring) as it keeps the house warm in temps of 25° and above. With the really cold winter, both have been running.
 
Too many things factor into how much wood one house/location will burn in any particular time period.
 
My smallish airtight stove in my workshop , which is well insulated, can consume a cord of mixed hardwood every 10 days. We do not burn cord wood in the house but a neighbour whose house is of new well insulated construction and is heated primarily with quality hardwood consumes 20 face cord annually on average. Guess it all comes down to how many cubic feet one is trying to keep warm, how much heat loss the building gives off and the outdoor temperatures and wind exposure.
 
For me, a cord is: 4' x 4' x 8'.........I really have no idea about this face cord business. Perhaps, a rick?.......1/2 of a cord.....2' x 4' x 8'?????..........Yes, I can see going through a true cord per week in a stove. When it's COLD here......below the 20's for a week or so I can easily go through that much keeping our 2700sf A frame home warm and cozy. That's in the 70's on the bottom floor and lol in the 80's upstairs. Often, I have to sleep with the attic fan going and the window in the bedroom wide open........
l
lolol.....we have 2 heat pumps that have not seen the switch of the thermostat turned to heat in like perhaps 12 years........God gave me 27 acres of oak and hickory to use so why waste it????.........God bless......Dennis
 
D&D Farm said:
For me, a cord is: 4' x 4' x 8'.........I really have no idea about this face cord business. Perhaps, a rick?.......1/2 of a cord.....2' x 4' x 8'?????
Click to expand...
A cord here is 4x4x8 as well. A rick (aka face cord) is 1/3 of a full cord.
 
A face ford is 4' x 8' x the length of the log. Could be 16" where 3 face would equal a cord or 24" where 2 face would equal a cord.

I heat with a gasification boiler and (typically) go through 6 full cord a winter and then another 2 full ford through the summer for domestic hot water. That is heating a 3000 sf A-frame. I do supplement with a freestanding propane stove in the great room. I typically use 50 gal a winter.

This year I've used an extra 2 full cord and am getting into the wood that I just put up last fall. Such a big difference. I burn 2x as much wood to get the boiler up to temp with the stuff that hasn't dried out.

The best way to reduce your wood consumption is to burn 1-2 year seasoned wood, and keep it under cover. That and to not use an outdoor wood burner. Nice to keep the mess outdoors but terribly inefficient.
 
When you are purchasing wood make sure you know what you are buying, most sellers use 16 inches not 24 inches as the width for a face cord. Even more importantly is to confirm the type of wood you are purchasing, there are so many shysters out there who will mix poplar, aspen, willow and any other variety of wood to make up the load. Never prepay and always inspect and measure.
 
WildBill and BaiJiu.....Thanks and good info.

Locally wood when purchased and delivered unprocessed is sold in bush cords measuring 4 x 4 x 8 ft long. If purchasing processed (cut and split) it is sold in face cords 4h x 16in x 8ft. My neighbour who has a large airtight stove cuts his 'face cords' to 20 inch lengths and me with my small stove is 14 inch length but for sale purpose the 16in standard applies. Interestingly back in the past on our farm our dad would haul logs from the bush with a team of horses using a 'bob sled' which when loaded carried a load of logs 8 ft long by aprox 4 wide 4 high....thus the term bush cord.

Never heard the term 'rick'...Did know a fellow named Rick Boisvert (french bois =wood, vert =green).
 
On the chains, I cheat. I find a sale or good price on chains and buy them.

Here's an example. 72 drive length (20" bar) 3/8" pitch, .050" gauge. $12.95
http://www.shopcomstocklogging.com/Oregon-72LGX072G-SUPER-GUARD-CHISEL-CHAIN-38_p_66.html

I buy 10 of them which will keep me going for a long time. Once I get a pile of dull chains, I give one of the OEM boxes (so he has all the specs) as well as the pile of chains to a professional to do the sharpening. Around here, if you give them more than 5 chains at a time, the price is $3 per chain.


Here's some of the wood I need to process this Spring. On average, they're 16" diameter and 15' long. There's 110 or so logs total.

I figure I'll be set for a few years. Going to need to build another wood shed...

 

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Kanook said:
Never heard the term 'rick'...Did know a fellow named Rick Boisvert (french bois =wood, vert =green).
Click to expand...

Here in Georgia the Dept of Ag puts out a Bi-weekly little newpaper with articles but mainly ag stuff to sell. IE Fowl, bovine, equine, goats, tractors, equipment, and on and on..........There for advertising firewood one must specify the exact specie and the quantity. The only quantities acccepted are a CORD and a RICK...............Here is a bit of something I found by plugging in "firewood rick" in yahoo..................

http://www.ehow.com/about_6664717_rick-vs_-cord-firewood.html........

Actually makes no difference but I get bothered by some ol boy coming on here bragging on how they produce 3 or 4 cords per day by hand............GET REAL.........That is why I specify the exact dimensions as am getting sick and tired of blowhards............God bless.........Dennis
 
D&D...Yes I googled the term and sure enough a rick is a face cord...sorta!..And here I thought that at my age I knew everything....NOT.....Thanks for the little education..

BTW...the wife has known for quite some time that I really do NOT know everything.
 
Kanook said:
BTW...the wife has known for quite some time that I really do NOT know everything.
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Speaking of knowing things and wives...

I don't remember all the things I've done wrong in my life or marriage. There's no use in both of us remembering.
 
Along the same lines, we have a little joke going on here.
If / when my wife says that I'm right, I get to put it on the calendar.
I've been right a few times. Last time was back in February of 2009...
 
bczoom said:
On the chains, I cheat. I find a sale or good price on chains and buy them.

Here's an example. 72 drive length (20" bar) 3/8" pitch, .050" gauge. $12.95
http://www.shopcomstocklogging.com/Oregon-72LGX072G-SUPER-GUARD-CHISEL-CHAIN-38_p_66.html

I buy 10 of them which will keep me going for a long time. Once I get a pile of dull chains, I give one of the OEM boxes (so he has all the specs) as well as the pile of chains to a professional to do the sharpening. Around here, if you give them more than 5 chains at a time, the price is $3 per chain.


Here's some of the wood I need to process this Spring. On average, they're 16" diameter and 15' long. There's 110 or so logs total.

I figure I'll be set for a few years. Going to need to build another wood shed...

Great wood pile Zoom; going to be fun to get into that one.
Click to expand...
 
Bye the way WB don`t be expecting to X out too many months on that calendar. And who ever made up the term memory like an elephant certainly wasn`t ever married.
 
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