This is my wood for next winter! I struck a great deal with my wood guy, Steve. This year I used 12 cords from Dec 7 to present. Most of my heat was lost due to no insulation in my cottage. One of my summer projects is to insulate. As such, I'm calculating using 12 cords, but will have 15 cords in stock.
A close up of this beautiful wood! Ah, beauty is not simply in the eye of the beholder because not all wood is created equal! More on that concept later.
My faithful 5'x8' trailer, makes wood hauling easy.
The trailer is essentially the same size as the bed of a full-sized pick-up truck. Fully loaded, it holds 1.5 cords of wood. Here is one cord.
A cord of wood stacked on my porch, out of the elements and readily available. Notice the "wood gauge" along the left....
....a closer look at the gauge.
After burning wood for about a month, I calculated how much I use in a day (give or take). I created this wood gauge to help me determine enough wood for an upcoming storm, etc. The gauge is conservative. So where it says 8 days, it's actually closer to 10 days.
After burning wood for about a month, I calculated how much I use in a day (give or take). I created this wood gauge to help me determine enough wood for an upcoming storm, etc. The gauge is conservative. So where it says 8 days, it's actually closer to 10 days.
As I mentioned earlier, not all wood is created equal. This is wood from my first wood guy (after various problems with 3 different loads of wood, I found a new wood guy).
As you can see from this photo, this wood is of unequal lengths (9-22"). Additionally, the wood was not seasoned properly so my stove was not able to burn efficiently.
Non-efficient burns not only creates inconsistent heat, but more importantly non-efficient burning of poorly seasoned wood creates creosote build-up in the chimney. Creosote is created when wood smoke condenses and "congeals" into tar on the inside of a chimney. If creosote builds up too much, it can cause chimney fire.
Notice the difference in THIS wood!! Steve's wood is seasoned well with only about 15-20% moisture content. Steve's approach to wood cutting and splitting is like an artisan...and his attention to detail creates quality firewood AND quality heat!
Additionally, his wood is almost exactly 16" right on the mark. Having consistent length allows for tight stoking of stove and thereby provides, long, consistent and hotter "burns". Most importantly of well seasoned wood, it will create nearly zero smoke...nearly zero smoke, means nearly zero creosote!
My previous wood provided only about 6-8hrs per burn. With Steve's wood, I achieved 8-10hrs consistently AND achieved 12hr burns twice!! Quality wood brings peace of mind with safer, hotter and more consistent burns.
Until I switched wood, I was not able to sleep more than 6 hours a night. Thanks to quality wood, I was able to sleep 8 hours!!! As I said: all wood is not created equal!
This weekend, I cleared out old decayed wood that the previous owner had stacked over the years on the left of the outhouse. Most of the wood was poplar, which isn't good wood to burn in stoves even when it's not decayed. But it is terrific wood for campfires! So I used my sled and dragged 3 cords of rotted wood to the campfire ring. What a chore to drag a loaded sled when there is no snow!
Here's three of 15 racks I'm building to holding a cord of wood each. I will tarp to protect from rain and weather.
I wished I had taken a "before" picture because this area looks SO much cleaner!
A close-up of one of the cords. The racks are composed of 8' length of 2"x4" screwed into uprights of 4' length of 2"x3". Each rack has a pair of supports. Along the top is a length of fence wire nailed to the uprights. As the wood is stacked in the rack, the weight creates tension on the wire and pressure holds the rack tight. Genius design by Steve! And cheap :)
The start of my "Wood Bank Account": 3 cords tucked in safe and sound for the season!
More wood to put up later...more to share too. Here's to adventures, wherever they may lead!
