Back in the good old days (10-year's worth) of no electricity, 15 stove cords (5 solid cords) were needed to heat the cabin during winter and cook meals year-round.
Now, in the 5-times larger, but much better insulated "NewHouse", we average 12 stove cords (4 solid cords) per winter for heat and occaisional use of the cook stove. We also burn about a cord per winter in the cabin, which is now the woodshop, and two or three more in the stand-alone sauna.
Cleaning and selective cutting on 80 acres of forest can sustainably provide all the firewood needed.
Best time to cut firewood is during winter when the trees are dormant and most of the sap is below ground. Firewood cut during winter and piled up over summer will be well-seasoned and burn well the following winter.
A good blanket of snow also makes the operation much kinder to the forest floor's delicate ecosystem.
Nevertheless, summer cutting is often resorted to. Splits should be piled up for drying by the end of June for the wood to be reasonably seasoned for the following winter.
Firewood piled along the driveway. We cover the wood with sheets of used tin to be sure sufficient seasoning takes place even during rainy, humid summers.
Most of the wood gets stacked up in the garden clearing. This is by far the largest clearing on the property and it gets more sun than anywhere else.
Firewood is stacked on skids at all times, never on the ground.
When days begin looking like this it's time to bring in the wood!
The first step is loading the piles onto the trailer and hauling it over to the NewHouse where it gets chucked down the bulkhead doors.
From there it's passed into the basement wood room where it is either trucked or heaved in further and stacked.
Although rarely filled to full capacity, the woodroom can accomodate up to 18 stove cords. Twelve to fourteen little cords has never failed to get us through the winter comfortably and still leave an adequate backup supply for cold winter contingencies.
Now that the firewood is put away there's one important job left before starting the heating season: clean the stoves and the stove pipes!
Clean stoves and stove pipes not only insure your safety, they also play an important role in clean and efficient burning and less air pollution.
