[Greenbuilding] wood split or not, make a difference?

[Reuben Deumling]

On Tue, Dec 28, 2010 at 12:06 PM, Sacie Lambertson <
sacie.lambertson at gmail.com> wrote:

> We keep our stove going ALL the time in the winter.  Never let it go out.
> And never damp it down.  Overnight four pieces fill the relatively small
> burn box; in the morning there are always coals to start a new fire.  I only
> clean out the ashes and clean the window.  Some years ago a lister suggested
> lighting a fire from the top. Works perfectly when there are some coals at
> the base.  I put the newspaper ball with which I've cleaned the window on
> top of my new smaller sticks of wood, lite it and within less than a minute
> the stack is burning brightly, theburning paper having drawn up fire from
> the coals at the bottom.  I marvel almost every time I do this first thing
> in the am ritual, always loving the procedure.
>
> This is all very interesting. I'm not clear about the significance of the
propane in your arrangement, but leaving that aside for the moment, I'm
impressed that you can maintain a fire for that many months straight without
damping it down and use only 1.5 cords.

On Sat, Dec 25, 2010 at 8:44 PM, Sacie Lambertson <
sacie.lambertson at gmail.com> wrote:
We aren't counting wood this year, but last year used about 1.5 cords for
2300 sq ft.   Burned mid Oct to mid April.  This year we didn't start
burning wood until early November.   Add to that radiant floor heat using
propane, where the wood stove heat does not reach, an additional 700 sq
ft..  Temp in the mid-high 60s, considerably higher in the nearly 600 sq ft
room in which stove is located.  In NE Kansas--5300 HDD ..   Sacie

Our house is 1/4 the size and we have about 1,000 fewer HDD, and we only
burn for about 2.7 hrs/day on average from October - May. And yet we're also
heading toward 1.5 cords this winter, now that we've finally gotten
insulation into the walls. Can you say more about the insulation in your
house?
And what is with the propane? Does that explain the difference?

Reuben Deumling
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