Don't overestimate your wood pile

Homes and Retreats
pseudonym
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Re: Don't overestimate your wood pile

Post by pseudonym »

Brambles wrote:Over here, wood is sold 'by the load' The trick is the find a supplier of quality wood with the biggest load for least money. :D
pseudonym wrote:I go through a stack of 12ft x 10ft x 8ft each year, that doesn't include cooking, or gas central heating.
That stack is 2 Bedford van tippers worth, about £280 for 14 inch length split and barn dried hardwoods.
Two is one and one is none, but three is even better.
jansman
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Re: Don't overestimate your wood pile

Post by jansman »

That 12x10x8 stack sounds about right.I am multi fuel and use coal as well.About half a ton a year ( we hold a ton at any time,so that's two burning seasons).our stoves are our primary heat source,so I find that quite reasonable.There is a steady stream of wood coming in from various sources,and that ensures Chez Jansman is not overwhelmed. It is processed and stacked within a day of arrival.I never fetch it - it always comes to me in the form of someone else's waste ( two landscapers and three builders) as fetching it means too much energy expenditure. Mine! Again,we hold a couple of years worth,as we have a very,very large garden.

The problem with generating your own power or heat is that it makes you realise just HOW MUCH energy is consumed.When you flick a switch for gas or electric the sheer volume is hidden.One reason why using a generator for anything but short term /low power drain is unviable.

Building a stock is great,but the volume and consumption rate means you are forever keeping an eye on it,as you are literally burning through it! One reason why free or very cheap wood is best if you are able to acquire it.

Of course,you can slow usage by using more efficient stove(s), better insulation (which means you can slow the burn rate once you are warmed up) and the type of wood you burn. Hardwood is best.

Sometimes I wonder if its all worth the cutting and stacking,pratting about with chainsaws ,and mauls,and... You know. But it does give us independence, which is great.And on a rat hole day like today thgeres no better heat. :D
In three words I can sum up everything I have learned about life: It goes on.

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Covid 19: After that level of weirdness ,any situation is certainly possible.

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bobble
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Re: Don't overestimate your wood pile

Post by bobble »

Thanks for the thread Britcit, it has made us sit up and take note. We had completely underestimated our woodstore. If we had to use the woodburner for cooking etc we'd have run out of wood in no time. We're going to build up a bigger wood stock now!
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Deeps
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Re: Don't overestimate your wood pile

Post by Deeps »

As it happens the local council have been busy in the playing field behind the house and given some of the trees a wee trim. I've been harvesting the crop as I wander by a log or two at a time, still not got a massive stash but its only for the odd chiminea/fire pit evening in the summer but I can't help myself when its on the doorstep. The only problem is the pesky dugs wanting my attention throwing frisbee's and the like.
pseudonym
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Re: Don't overestimate your wood pile

Post by pseudonym »

This morning's delivery....

One minute to dump:

Image

Two hours to stack:

Image
Two is one and one is none, but three is even better.
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FlashPan
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Re: Don't overestimate your wood pile

Post by FlashPan »

I would love to have a wood burner at home but sadly they type and layout of my property does not allow for it.

Anyhooo and maybe throwing the cat amongst the pigeons here, has anyone experimented with paper bricks?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RPzgq-_rqXY

I don't mean as an alternative but an additional fuel which could help prolong your base wood pile?
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Deeps
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Re: Don't overestimate your wood pile

Post by Deeps »

FlashPan wrote:I would love to have a wood burner at home but sadly they type and layout of my property does not allow for it.

Anyhooo and maybe throwing the cat amongst the pigeons here, has anyone experimented with paper bricks?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RPzgq-_rqXY

I don't mean as an alternative but an additional fuel which could help prolong your base wood pile?
I asked a wee while back on here about the home made paper bricks and the universal consensus was that the homemade ones were gash. Pity, as it seems like an untapped resource.
Britcit
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Re: Don't overestimate your wood pile

Post by Britcit »

The homemade ones are pretty poor, but if you are using up scrap paper then at least they are being put to good use.

I have found that mixing sawdust in with the mix massively improves the quality of the bricks.

Edit - I have also found that putting the paper through a shredder rather than just tearing it up also improves the result.
"There are none so blind as those who will not see. The most deluded people are those who choose to ignore what they already know."
jansman
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Re: Don't overestimate your wood pile

Post by jansman »

Years ago I experimented with compressed paper briquettes they were crap.The paper used is best kept for tinder.Nobodyhas news papers anymore,so stove starters have to be thought about now.
In three words I can sum up everything I have learned about life: It goes on.

Robert Frost.

Covid 19: After that level of weirdness ,any situation is certainly possible.

Me.
grenfell
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Re: Don't overestimate your wood pile

Post by grenfell »

Britcit wrote:The homemade ones are pretty poor, but if you are using up scrap paper then at least they are being put to good use.

I have found that mixing sawdust in with the mix massively improves the quality of the bricks.

Edit - I have also found that putting the paper through a shredder rather than just tearing it up also improves the result.
Never tried putting sawdust in the bricks , maybe that might have improved them. Nowadays I fill any suitablely sized cardboard boxes with sawdust and shavings and just put those in the Woodburner. Unsurprisingly they don't last long but does burn what is otherwise waste.
I've been lucky in that I've never had to buy timber , joinery offcuts from work and as I'm now self employed I do all sorts and recently trimmed some chestnut trees and since the storm an oak too so all my wood has been free. Yesterday we went to our local shed supplier for a shed for a rental property and they too sell bags of wood. A builders type large bag was £79 for hardwood logs. It seems expensive although I haven't really anything to go off , what prices are others seeing?