What is your weather like ... today

[j.w]

Nice weather here for stacking wood today. Bill got all the splitting over there done, now we can both throw it in the truck together tomorrow instead of just me doing it. Will go much faster. Then we can stack it together..............actually like doing the stacking myself but man we have too much of it for just little ole me and my back hurts more and more each day of doing this. I feel stacking is an art form..........Bill is just in the get er done mode,this ain't no jig saw puzzle! But,but,but it is a jig saw puzzle!
Should be done w/ all this in a few days now,hopefully before Sunday when the rains come again.Then he has to go down south of us and get more at another friends house so here we go again

 

[mrsclem]

JW- What type of woodstove do you have? We burn 2-3 cords per year with an insert but helped my sister buy a Central Boiler unit and they burn 10-12 cords per year.

 

[capewind]

JW ... it IS an art form, especially the way you are stacking it. I dont know the word I want here, you stack in a pallet style (criss crossed layers) and go UP ... if you do a bad job, it will easily fall and make a huge mess. For me, I am running rows 32' long (one end of the greenhouse to the other), and about 36-42" tall .. our logs are bigger, so have mostly "v" shaped ... I want them all bark side up, with the points of the "v" nicely chinked into the layer below. For a tight fit, some logs need a special spot LOL. Hubby and son do it right, but everytime I try to steal a part time helper, they just slap them in any which way, and if a cat walked across them, it would likely topple over. Doesnt sould like much of an issue, but when there are multi rows butted up together, it makes a difference. I need to stack 10+ cords to one side of the door. If the rows arent right, it wont fit.

Mrsclem... we burn an average of about 10 cords a year, but in a large insert. We have a Regency I3100. Had the I2400 in the last house and absolutely loved it. When we built this house, I made sure the fire place opening was big enough for their largest model. We have a highly effecient heating system, but wood is FREE for us.

 

[CountryEscape]

When I was married, we had a Lopi, free standing wood stove in our log house. It heated the whole house, all winter, and the last 5 or 6 years there was not even a back up system, as ex had cut the water lines for the hot water heating system to remodel/add on, and never hooked them back up. In fact, I think he has never hooked them back up! He still has that furnace for the hot water, doesn't use it. How stupid is that? Oh, wait, I really don't care anymore. :banana:
Anyhow, that Lopi was VERY efficient. I could only put 6 split pieces in there at a time, and if I wanted to put a larger piece in there, only 3 or 4 split pieces (I'm talking 1/4 split pieces here) and a larger piece. That stove would run on that amount of wood for several hours before needing more. I had a thermometer that was magnet on the stove pipe above the damper, that I kept in the "medium" range. Too hot, you burn out the creosote that may have built up, too low, you created creosote. Every year we let it run really hot a couple of times, but other than that, in the medium. Only once did we have someone clean out the pipe, and he said he'd never seen such a clean pipe! So, I guess I was doing something right. Yep, I was pretty much in charge of keeping the stove going in the winter, especially at night since I was the only one to wake up during the night. And, thus, it was my fault if the fire went out and had to rebuild in the morning. That's when I would get soooo frustrated we didn't have a furnace to back it up so I could kick on the heat for the kids (and me!) in the a.m.
Oh, and it is a cloudy day here, in the mid 60's, drizzly a little bit, but the air is oh so fresh! Birds are singing (what few varieties I have here) and life is great for the ponds! I sure love springtime!!! :blueflower:

 

[Big Lou]

Lou my hubby, we shall call him Bill...............cuz that is his name, ha ha..........anyways he usually brings the wood to the back slider and then I haul it from the wheel barrow to the log holder by the wood stove cuz I am wayyyyyyyyy neater doing it than he is. Don't want a trail of woody chippy things, dirt and bugs all the way there! Sometimes I do it if he is busy or he forgets. We have this board that we lay up the outside 2 steps and wheel the barrow right up it..............easy peasy!

Speaking of wood, I am supposed to be getting off my butt and meeting him over at the wood place now to throw wood in the truck. He's almost done splitting all the wood so then I will have him as a helper throwing wood in the truck,YAY!

Weather is foggy and cool right now but should warm up later to maybe 72*.................but the rain is coming back on Sunday...............not doing wood in the rain so day of rest!

You have a wood stove! Amazingly far out! Please tell me how that decision came about. The pine/pine sap doesn't impact the flavor of your cooked food? Are you using a wood burning furnace? I chopped wood at my grandma's every other day for her wood stove and fireplace. She used no gas in her home. Her big vegetable garden had to by plowed by mule. The only moden conveniences were electricity and plumbing.

I'm very impressed.
( proud of you & Bill smile )

 

[capewind]

63 and clear here ... saying it will be 72 today! Hubby got the rocks on that one side of the main pond done a couple days ago, and he left me "hole" to plant in, so going to go outside and put some water celery in some of them ... have a bit of water parsley potted inside, as well as some water cress (fish left rooted stems floating, so I brought them in) .. as soon as they are bigger, will fill in the other holes

It heated the whole house, all winter, and the last 5 or 6 years there was not even a back up system, as ex had cut the water lines for the hot water heating system to remodel/add on, and never hooked them back up.

Our last house was like this LOL. We bought it summer of 2000 ... that November, when I got the first real heating bill, I choked. $400 and the setting was low. It was an old house, built in 1870, poorly insulated, etc. It had a tiny wood stove in the basement (if one would call it a basement), but hubby added an All Nighter (I think that was the brand name, it was huge) ... So started using that, and the furnace less ... I had an epiphany ... hmm... hubby does a lot of tree work, WHY are we paying to get rid of wood when we could be burning more ... well, then we added a fireplace insert in the diningroom ... For 4 or 5 years we used nothing but wood, never turning the furnace on ... it rotted from nonuse LOL! Went a couple more years with no furnance. What was the point of buying another, we didnt use it. This house has a 99+% effecient boiler (a little box that hangs on the wall) with radiant heat. Super cheap to heat the house, but we are in the habit of burning wood.

 

[capewind]

Just have to complain that my weatherman is a liar LOL. It is only 68 they say, still claiming to get to 72 and I just am not believing it. FEELS so much hotter than it is. I've managed to weed part of a bed, and carry (by 15 gallon barrel fulls since I cant open the main gate to use a wheelbarrel) the mulch (on the side of the driveway where hubby left it yesterday from a jobsite) to the backyard, to the bed, about 100' away ... I've only spread about half a yard at best, and need another shower! I dont know if I really want to DRINK the water I brought out with me, or dump it over my head ... or even go for a swim with the fish (which would really be funny since I wouldnt be able to get out without help LOL) ... Where's the breeze when we need one???

Rant over LOL ... back to mulching....

 

[Big Lou]

We have a full size wood burning fireplace in the living room but it is not used. To get firewood it has to be bought just like everything else. Two electric AC central units. One for each floor. Natural gas warmth and water heating. Solar is gaining interest yet high initial costs and long payback time. Cloudy today. We both have bad colds.

 

[j.w]

mrsclem we have a Lopi, the medium sized one. I wanted to get the extra large one but Bill said we didn't need one that big. I still think we should have gotten the big one as we could get more and bigger sized pieces of wood in there that would last longer. We don't have to run the stove all night here as our temps are pretty mild in the winter. We prolly burn a couple cords each winter depending on the type of winter we get.



CW I only do the ends that face outside w/ nothing to support them using the criss cross method other wise all the others are laid whichever way they fit nice and tight. We get all our wood for free so far not including the price of gas to go get it tho. This stove heats the whole house and when really cold we can turn our furnace fan on and it will suck the heat out of the family room and send it to all the rooms.

CE this Lopi is very efficient as you mentioned w/ those tube things that run across under the top of the stove. Hardly ever have to run the fan either. I love wood heat and standing in front of the fire when it first gets going and warms your buns! We do like you did also and burn it hot now and then to clean out the creosote. We will have to do that w/ the pine more often prolly. Usually we burn Doug Fir and we'll be getting some more of that soon from a guy my hubby used to work with.

Lou, we have had a wood stove for over 30 yrs. Had one in our last house and this house. We first got one to save money as the last house had electric heat and cost a bunch to run. Our neighbors using propane are spending lots of $ on propane so we wouldn't have it any other way using the wood.
Ha Ha Lou we actually have cooked on it when we didn't have a generator and the power would go out. Have a round metal plate that is attached to the top w/ a swivel thing so you can set a pot on it. We usually just have a pot of water on it to humidify the air.

Speaking of which I should be over at the wood place chucking wood w/ Bill. Actually he said I didn't have to come over today but I will be stacking it when he gets back.

Lovely day today w/ sun up early and getting to 75*. Wish it could stay this way all day and everyday and just rain at night only!

 

[sissy]

geeze talking heat when here it is 85 degrees and I am soaking wet with sweat from all the weeding and trimming .I even had to rake some of the grass up when I cut it since it was so high .I then had to put the dethatcher on the lawnmower .

 

[addy1]

We have a wood burner, in the basement, have to over heat the basement to get the heat upstairs, we do not use it. Heat pump heat, below 32 worthless. We put in that propane tank for our ventless little propane stove, used very little propane over winter, I love the heat it puts off. Just heats the living room and kitchen, bedroom nice and COLD love it. If the sun is out it heats the house. Even just running the electric heat before the propane we never went above 175 in bills.

Now ac! that is different we love a cold house, in hot humid maryland.

 

[Mmathis]

Well, it's just past midnight. I'm lying down in my little tent (Boy Scout, OA, camp). It was JUST starting to ran as I was getting set up. For the past hour, it has POURED, with simultaneous thunder & lightening! Oh, it's "officially" around 70 degrees, but I'll see what my temp thingy says when I post.

You know, nothing makes you need to pee more than being stuck in a tent during a downpour....... !

 

[koiguy1969]

 

[koiguy1969]

the most common 3 'poison' plants...watch out for them while working in the yaed!

 

[addy1]

We have trees of poison ivy, bushes, vines, tiny plants. When I mow the back field I have to be totally covered up to keep from getting it, take clothes off before I come in the house. Wash them before I touch them again. Dawn dish soap is great for getting rid of the oils from the ivy. Put it on full strength, let it sit for just a little while then shower.

I have learned, been hit with it horribly a few times. Even dead of winter, a root touched my back while digging........... poison ivy down my back. One reason I never enter our woods, I see some that is vining up the trees, healthy beautiful green plants............and poison.