Author Topic: Think and hope ready for winter heat. (Read 11082 times)

Alleyyooper · « **on:** August 15, 2016, 05:18:13 pm »

I am hoping I have my winters wood supply done. I am going for in for knee surgery in 7 days and will not be able to do much cutting till some time in November or December. I use about 12 face cord during a normal winter. I estimated I have 14FC in this pile.
Added about 2 more today.

Al

CBT · « **Reply #1 on:** August 15, 2016, 05:43:26 pm »

What are the deminsions of a face cord. 4x4x8?

iddee · « **Reply #2 on:** August 15, 2016, 06:12:36 pm »

4X4X8 is a full cord. A face cord is 4X8X length of each piece.

Alleyyooper · « **Reply #3 on:** August 15, 2016, 06:27:03 pm »

My face cords are 4'x4'x 20"

Al

Les · « **Reply #4 on:** August 16, 2016, 09:58:20 am »

In a previous life we used to burn 12 full cords every winter. In my current life, the only time we fire up the fireplace is if there is a power failure or just for evening glow. I do not miss cutting, hauling, splitting, stacking, loading, cleaning up the mess, burns on my arms, bronchitis and the annual chimney cleaning!!

Ray4852 · « **Reply #5 on:** August 16, 2016, 02:35:35 pm »

Hard work heating with wood. If you have your own trees it’s worth it if your young and don’t have arthritis. I got sick of it. I use coal now to heat my boiler. My biggest mistake I have made in my life. I wanted to put in a heat pump 20 years ago the heating contractor talked me out of it. I wouldn’t get my money back during my lifetime. At that time propane went for 89 cents a gallon now it’s almost 3 dollars gallon. Today I would be sitting pretty sucking the warm air out of the earth. Almost 250 dollars for a ton of coal now. 5 tons will heat the house for the winter it’s still a big savings compared to using propane. Coal is hard work too.

LazyBkpr · « **Reply #6 on:** August 16, 2016, 05:44:17 pm »

Yeah... wood shed is 24 feet and 9 feet high, so 20 ft long rows 9 feet high, and I use about 7 rows... I was just out splitting wood and stacking it, and decided it was TOO HOT and I needed a rum and coke!!!!

Perry · « **Reply #7 on:** August 16, 2016, 07:47:24 pm »

We put in an ETS system (Electric Thermal Storage) and have never looked back. Our bills for the year average out at $250 per month, and that is for heat/hot water/all other electric. No muss, no fuss, simply set a temp and ignore.

CBT · « **Reply #8 on:** August 16, 2016, 08:09:47 pm »

I had to look that up. Sounds good. We use what's called heat pumps a lot in the warm climates.

Perry · « **Reply #9 on:** August 16, 2016, 08:18:46 pm »

A lot of those heat pumps go in up here as well, the advantage is the air conditioning in the summer. They seem to need a lot of maintenance up here though, and it gets cold enough that they lose their advantage as well during cold spells.

CBT · « **Reply #10 on:** August 16, 2016, 08:26:25 pm »

When I bought this place it had a hybrid unit. Heat pump and oil furnace at 30 degrees the heat pump cut out and the oil furnace took over. Love that oil heat till it went to $4/ gal. The heat exchanger burned out that was the end of it.

neillsayers · « **Reply #11 on:** August 16, 2016, 11:26:59 pm »

We burn about 8 ricks (20"x8'x4') if its good hardwood and a typical winter.

lazy shooter · « **Reply #12 on:** August 16, 2016, 11:34:44 pm »

Heat pumps work well in Texas, at least where I live. Our full time residence is 3,500 sq. ft. of heated area, we have a swimming pool and another house at the ranch and my electric bill is never over three hundred bucks total. Our electricity is generated by Comanche Peak Nuclear plant some 75 miles east of us. Almost all electricity in Texas is from natural gas.

One of my friends uses solar panels on his roof, and he is able to sell some electricity every month. That appealing, and If I was 10 years younger, that would be my plan.

lazy

Alleyyooper · « **Reply #13 on:** August 17, 2016, 05:08:48 am »

Wow some of you use so much wood to heat I would burn the house if I used 12 full cords of wood a year and build a new house be cheaper in the long run.

And 20 ricks in Arkansas is just nuts too, I think I could maybe use that much if I burnt in a pit out side and used a fan to blow the heat in the house.

Arkansas can't get to cold in the winter like our 20 and some times 30 below winters here at times.

Al

Wandering Man · « **Reply #14 on:** August 17, 2016, 08:50:56 am »

Its a good thing we get about 30 minutes of freezing temps down here. We don't have enough trees to support a real winter.

neillsayers · « **Reply #15 on:** August 17, 2016, 01:52:48 pm »

Quote from: Alleyyooper on August 17, 2016, 05:08:48 am

Wow some of you use so much wood to heat I would burn the house if I used 12 full cords of wood a year and build a new house be cheaper in the long run.

And 20 ricks in Arkansas is just nuts too, I think I could maybe use that much if I burnt in a pit out side and used a fan to blow the heat in the house.

Arkansas can't get to cold in the winter like our 20 and some times 30 below winters here at times.

Al

Al,
I use about 8 ricks cut 20 inches long. I probably wouldn't use half that if I were single. It got down to 60F yesterday morning and sure enough Sweet Wife had a fire going. She gets much colder than I do. I tend to acclimate to the season and hate the big change when I come in from outside or vice versa. I haven't used A/C in a very long time.

Ray4852 · « **Reply #16 on:** August 18, 2016, 06:25:50 am »

Down south I think they use air to air heat pumps. Up north we need a ground or water source heat pump. The deeper the coil in the ground the better they will work. I know you can get one for a pond or deep water well. Very expensive. If the government was really concerned about clean air they could bring out this technology to its full benefit. The price of them will come down and more people could afford one.

lazy shooter · « **Reply #17 on:** August 18, 2016, 08:18:04 am »

@ray:

You're correct, we use air to air heat pumps. When the temperature occasionally reaches 20° F the heat pump will not produce enough heat to get the inside of a home comfortable. There is a heating coil in the heat pump that adds additional heat when needed. We don't have many days or hours in a day when the temps are this low so almost all of our heat is provided by the heat pump. You are also correct in pointing out that my West Texas heat pump would be useless to you in New York.

Solar seems to be the cheapest route to get off the grid, but many people are going to geothermal heating units. An acquaintance of mine just installed on last year. The installation required five wells dug 60 feet deep for the circulation pipe. In all, his cost for the complete system was pocket change north of 20 grand. He still has a small electric bill because the system runs a small water pump and the air handling unit for the house. With the solar system, more electricity is generated than used, so some money is returned to the owner. Solar is also about one-half the cost. I think solar is the wave of the future. Period.

lazy

My wife also uses about two cords of wood in a large fireplace that produces very little heat. But she is a woman and women love the ambiance of a fireplace.

Les · « **Reply #18 on:** August 18, 2016, 09:02:25 pm »

We had solar panels installed on our roof about 5 years. They are used primarily as electric not heat. However, the a/c goes on in May and will probably run up thru part of October. We do not pay any electric bills (except for the connection fee to our electric provider). Our rebates from what we produce for electric is miniscule. The only time we see a charge for electric is for the month of December. Less sunlight and our house is lit up like Times Square for Christmas (even with switching to LED's) but it is only about $100.

riverbee · « **Reply #19 on:** August 18, 2016, 11:44:34 pm »

al...........

best wishes to you on your knee surgery!