Wood Stove: How many cords?

[anythingyoucanimagine]

Hello Garage Journal... I need some help calculating cords of wood vs propane use.

My wife and I are starting a wood stove program in the house. How do I reasonably or sensibility convert about 1,000 gallons of propane into "how much wood do I need to burn" --Because every chart/wood BTU thing I can find is all specific species. And you don't know where I live, just like I don't know the exact species of wood that will be delivered to my driveway (Rhode Island, New England).

Is it reasonable to think that I need to expect to burn 4.55 cords of wood this winter? That seems crazy. My wife and I expected it to be 2-2.5... maybe 3 cords.

 

[zak77]

Depends on lots of things. How big is the house, insulation, windows, location, etc. I burn wood but last year i put in a mini-split for the fall/spring months and now i'm down to about 5 cords of wood for a 1500sq ft house, although the stove is in the basement so i guess technically i'm heating 3K sq ft. Just make certain you get seasoned wood, not what someone called seasoned wood but wood that's actually been seasoned properly otherswise it's gonna be a PITA. I usually buy green wood and let it season for 2-3 years but recently i've been dropping dead oaks so i just let it sit for a year then burn it.

 

[tweidman]

Wood will be your only source of heat? How many sq ft will you be heating? How well insulated is your house?
How many months will you need to run your stove?
3 cords seem really light to me without knowing more.

 

[tweidman]

Just make certain you get seasoned wood, not what someone called seasoned wood but wood that's actually been seasoned properly otherswise it's gonna be a PITA.

I was thinking the same thing, the "seasoned" wood they deliver will still need time to dry. At least, that has been my experience.
Test that wood with a moisture meter immediately.

 

[MongoTA]

These are old numbers that I've had tucked away in my head. But one cord of seasoned hardwood at about 75% efficiency is roughly the same as 200 gallons of propane at ~90% efficiency. And I emphasize "roughly the same". lol

That'd be 5 cords of hardwood versus your 4.55 to offset your 1000 gallons of propane. That's reasonable.

Ask your firewood guy what wood he sells. I'm in CT, it's generally a mix of oak (red and white) and hickory (shagbark) where I am, though there can be other woods like ash and beech.

Depending on your wood storage, your wood may be dry, wet, damp. Might get dry snow on your stack or your wood may be wet from sideways blowing rain. You might have leaves in your stacks that bring on bark rot. Or not. But if I was trying to go full Little House on the Prairie, I'd get 6 cords.

 

[Shiftless]

Another consideration is the relative efficiency of a wood furnace vs. propane.
It‘s a lot more than just comparing the theoretical BTU equivalencies of the 2 fuels.

If your wood furnace has exactly the same efficiency as a propane furnace, you would need something like your 4.5 cord number. That’s seasoned hardwood, right? If the wood furnace is less efficient it would need MORE than 4.5 cords.

 

[Sumboodie]

Hello Garage Journal... I need some help calculating cords of wood vs propane use.

My wife and I are starting a wood stove program in the house. How do I reasonably or sensibility convert about 1,000 gallons of propane into "how much wood do I need to burn" --Because every chart/wood BTU thing I can find is all specific species. And you don't know where I live, just like I don't know the exact species of wood that will be delivered to my driveway (Rhode Island, New England).

Is it reasonable to think that I need to expect to burn 4.55 cords of wood this winter? That seems crazy. My wife and I expected it to be 2-2.5... maybe 3 cords.

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[Sumboodie]

I heated my 1400 sq ft place on about 2-2.25 cords a year with a Blaze King. That wasn't being cheap on the wood or anything, as that's what I did for a living, so was "free". And I had no plans on coming home after working outside all day and being cold there too.

 

[Shiftless]

A wood burning stove will do a fine job heating one room but not so good at heating the whole house. The propane furnace will heat the whole house.
If you don’t mind a chilly house and just hang out in the room with the wood burning stove, the numbers will be way different.

 

[ericm]

Hello Garage Journal... I need some help calculating cords of wood vs propane use.

My wife and I are starting a wood stove program in the house. How do I reasonably or sensibility convert about 1,000 gallons of propane into "how much wood do I need to burn" --Because every chart/wood BTU thing I can find is all specific species. And you don't know where I live, just like I don't know the exact species of wood that will be delivered to my driveway (Rhode Island, New England).

Is it reasonable to think that I need to expect to burn 4.55 cords of wood this winter? That seems crazy. My wife and I expected it to be 2-2.5... maybe 3 cords.

Species matters as the density and thus BTU content vary widely. Usually you order by species though sometimes not. Most wood sellers charge more for some species than others. In the west hardwoods sell for more than softwoods.

When I was in California I burned about six different species, mostly hardwoods. Before the stove we'd normally go through very roughly 1000 gallons of propane each winter- a fillup of about 150-180 gallons about once a month. When I heated mostly with wood I'd burn 2-2.5 cords. We'd still be buying propane but it would be much less. You may use more or less wood depending on a lot of factors including stove efficiency and if you get tired of feeding the stove.

2 cords is a lot of wood especially when you're felling, splitting and stacking it. You'll feel it just stacking 2 cords and moving it in the house to burn.

Most wood sellers claim their wood is seasoned but it's usually not. Not enough to burn properly in a modern EPA stove. It's a good idea to get a year or two ahead and stack the split wood under cover (not a tarp) where it can dry. When I got two years ahead the wood burned a lot better. Eucalyptus is very dense and needed three. Fir does ok with one summer drying stacked and split.

 

[Sumboodie]

A wood burning stove will do a fine job heating one room but not so good at heating the whole house. The propane furnace will heat the whole house.
If you don’t mind a chilly house and just hang out in the room with the wood burning stove, the numbers will be way different.

Mine heated the house fine. I just had a box fan at the end of the hallway to move air, plus the stove had a fan kit on it.

 

[Sumboodie]

Species matters as the density and thus BTU content vary widely. Usually you order by species though sometimes not. Most wood sellers charge more for some species than others. In the west hardwoods sell for more than softwoods.

When I was in California I burned about six different species, mostly hardwoods. Before the stove we'd normally go through very roughly 1000 gallons of propane each winter- a fillup of about 150-180 gallons about once a month. When I heated mostly with wood I'd burn 2-2.5 cords. We'd still be buying propane but it would be much less. You may use more or less wood depending on a lot of factors including stove efficiency and if you get tired of feeding the stove.

2 cords is a lot of wood especially when you're felling, splitting and stacking it. You'll feel it just stacking 2 cords and moving it in the house to burn.

Most wood sellers claim their wood is seasoned but it's usually not. Not enough to burn properly in a modern EPA stove. It's a good idea to get a year or two ahead and stack the split wood under cover (not a tarp) where it can dry. When I got two years ahead the wood burned a lot better. Eucalyptus is very dense and needed three. Fir does ok with one summer drying stacked and split.

I'm sure it varies by state, but here it's illegal to sell wood that is advertised as seasoned but is over 20% moisture. DEC gets involved.

 

[larry_g]

I typically don't load the stove at night to burn all night. I have a well insulated 2800' home and will use 3-4 cords a year in a wood stove. Contrary to what was said above I heat the whole house with one wood stove. I run the furnace fan to move the air around the house. In spring and fall It depends on the day wether I build a fire or just let the furnace take the chill off in the morning. We are retired and home most every day. I'd say that 70% of my heat comes from wood and the rest electric.

lg
no neat sig line

 

[NUTTSGT]

I would suggest not going "all in" the first year if you're new to burning wood.

Are you buying your wood or doing the sweat equity version ?

 

[Wolley]

Depending on the stove I would expect three cord minimum to keep a fire going all winter. Depending on the area and layout of the house it could be double that.

 

[mngundog]

Seems to me, the conversion he is asking for, wouldn't change regardless of a bunch of factors people are mentioning, like insulation, size of building, or location. Species of wood sure.