Fireplaces, Heating Stoves, Flues and Chimneys - How much wood to order?

So, this particular forum seems pretty quiet, but I'll post this question anyway hoping someone sees it..

Will be having a woodstove installed soon. Don't necessarily have it as primary source of heat, but plan to use it a fair amount. It's also for our regular power outages we experience in this area during the winter.

House is about 850 square feet (yup, small), reasonably well insulated, woodstove will be centrally located in home. Conditions are pretty much what you'd see on Deadliest Catch in the Bering Sea!! Harsh, cold, very windy winters. Yikes.

Wondering how many cords of wood to order at this point. I know you can always order more, but I'd like to get it stacked and ready to go before the ice closes in around us!

Thanks, bill.

There is a vast difference in the heat output from the various types of wood available in your area.
How much storage space do you have, was it designed to hold enough wood for a cold winter.

Thanks for responding Perry.

Yup, I've been trying to do some research on the net about this whole process. Never owned a woodstove before.

Not exactly sure what firewood people are selling around here. I live in Southern Ontario Canada near Lake Huron.

In terms of storage, I've just tried to see what others are doing around town as lots of people around here heat with wood. Seems to be alot of people who just store it near the house in tidy stacks, not covered. Lots just have it stacked on the ground which I found interesting since everything I've read online said to keep it off the ground.

I assume they just bring enough wood in for a day or two at a time.

Yesterday I went to the local lumber store and got a handful of pallets for free which I'm hoping will be enough to stack the wood on and keep it off the ground.

Don't have an indoor area to store the wood unfortunately. House isn't big enough, and I understand you don't want to store the wood in your house anyway (bugs/mould spores, etc.).

I've heard of something called "lumber tarps" which will keep the wood dry, but actually allow air through. Haven't seen any yet.

Some info I found on the net makes me think 4 cords could keep us going for the winter and if we do need more we could just order it I guess.

Part of the decision will be the wood stove. A modern air tight will do a good job holding your entire house. Getting it now so it will be dry is important. Also, if you have baseboard hot water heat as your primaty, be careful not to allow the pipes on the outside walls to freeze. Sounds obvious, but the centrally located wood stove will do a poor job of heating remote outside walls and bust some pipes.

Make sure to get the wood you need, 16" or larger as the stove will handle. Have it split smaller if it is a small fire box.

The 4 cord est is probably good as you figure out how much you want to use it. If you were to plan on all wood for the winter, I would want a couple extra cords on hand.

Glass front stove I hope,
Bud

May I suggest that you ignore the people who leave their wood out in the open.
Wood is best burnt dry and even better if its a year or more old dry wood gives out more heat.
Burning wet/green wood can/will mess up your chimney, leaving tar in a chimney is not a good idea.

In defense of those who stack their firewood outside :p I'm one of them :eek::D

While it's definetly better to keep the wood dry, it isn't always feasable. I stack my wood out in the open away from the house. Sometimes I'll cover the stack with some plastic but not always. As needed, I'll stack a several day supply on my covered porch. Since we don't have extended below freezing temps this usually allows the wood to dry out before it's put in the stove. If you are just starting the fire - you must have good dry wood and kindling!

It's best to get your wood in the spring [or earlier] and let it season [dry out] for the next winter. I stack my wood on the ground but I'll run some wood crossways to help keep the bottom coarse of wood off of the ground. You can also criss cross the stack to promote air movement thru the stack of wood.

I also go up on the roof about once a month and clean the flue. Most hardware stores will have a flue brush [get the right size for your flue] and you can either buy extension rods to thread on it or devise some other way of extending the handle - I use some old water pipe screwed to the brush.

Bill, one important thing that will reduce the amount of wood you burn is to provide a means of ventilation for the fire.
If you can, lay a four inch pipe from the outside to as close to the stove as you can. This will help ensure that the fire burns cold air from outside instead of hot air that you have paid to heat - this will make your home a lot warmer and you will feel comfortable further away from the stove.
Once you have installed the pipe, and the fire is running at full tilt, block it up for a short time and go round the floor, walls and ceiling and feel where the fire is pulling the cold air in, block all these holes, then unblock the pipe.
This process will make an enormous difference to your comfort.