# Wood burning



## Lady89 (Feb 22, 2014)

I don't know if this is the right place for this question but here it is

As a lot of yo know I have been working on a story set in a homesteading group in a post apocalyptic southern IL

so today's question is how much wood do yo really need to heat a home for winter? It sees like every one has a different opinion on this. Now let's think bigger how much seasoned wood is needed for a settlement of 40 people.


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## Evons hubby (Oct 3, 2005)

Lady89 said:


> I don't know if this is the right place for this question but here it is
> 
> As a lot of yo know I have been working on a story set in a homesteading group in a post apocalyptic southern IL
> 
> so today's question is how much wood do yo really need to heat a home for winter? It sees like every one has a different opinion on this. Now let's think bigger how much seasoned wood is needed for a settlement of 40 people.


That depends upon many factors. How many homes, how large are they? What construction materials? Sod shanties on the prairies had little to no wood, those folks burned Buffalo dung. People adapt to the resources available. If there’s wood in plentiful supply they may heat their dwellings, if not they dress warmly and don’t worry about heat,save what little fuel they have for cooking. Boiling water for tea and coffee which would be luxuries in your story.


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## GTX63 (Dec 13, 2016)

Southern Illinois is what, zone 6?
Your question has a lot of variables.
I can use maybe 4 cords for 4 people in a 2600 sf home over a winter in zone 7 b.
A post Zombie world means they are likely burning furniture, corpses and whatever makes heat since one property rarely has wood to heat a space for 40 people.


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## Vjk (Apr 28, 2020)

We generally use about 2 cords per season. Then again, the way the house is set up we get a lot of passive solar heat, so as long as the sun is shining, we get enough solar heat to heat the whole house from around noon to ~9 at night.


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## Evons hubby (Oct 3, 2005)

When I think post apocalypse I automatically revert to life pre Industrial Age. Without modern civilization no one will have those luxuries afforded by it. Welding, if any, in such a small community would be done by a blacksmith, hammer and anvil.... assuming he could find any flux! Simple tools today would be prized possessions. A hand saw... useless without file to keep blade sharp. I know I’d not risk my saw cutting firewood! Much easier to wrap up in the furs taken off last months food supply than waste hours and hours cutting wood to heat a house.


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## altair (Jul 23, 2011)

My parents heat their home primarily with wood. They did get a heat pump last year and like it but they don't rely on it for the entire house. There's a wood furnace in the basement and they have a wood cook stove in the kitchen. In addition to cutting his own wood, he also visits our local transfer station (which accepts brush and trees) and will take wood home from there. We have a chuckle but it's free, partially already cut, and would just be rotting otherwise. I think he may do the same when the utilities cut trees and the homeowner doesn't want the wood.

I'm not offering any advice on the initial question, as I think there are a lot of variables, but offered some other suggestions on sources.


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## Alice In TX/MO (May 10, 2002)

South central Texas. 2,000 sq ft well insulated house. Usually one cord. This winter we used 2.


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## ET1 SS (Oct 22, 2005)

I live in Zone 4/5 with a 2400 sq ft house. We consistently burn 3.5 cords of wood each year [going back 15 years].


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## muleskinner2 (Oct 7, 2007)

It depends. A old wooden farmhouse with no insulation would be, all you can get. A small log cabin with fresh chinking, and a sod roof might use four or five, or just two depending on how harsh the winter. In this settlement of forty people, how many houses are there? What are the houses made of? Do they have fireplaces, or wood stoves? Are they cooking in a community kitchen?


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## doc- (Jun 26, 2015)

Yea, it depends on size of house and insulation and comfort level demanded. In the old days, the rule was "heat the person, not the space," ie- wear another sweater rather than throw another log on the fire....Night caps and hot water bottles under the bed covers helped, as did gloves with fingers cut off for working. Waistcoats/vests and cravats are actually to help keep warm, not a fashion statement in centuries past. Tapestries were artful ways to limit drafts in the castle. Barns for the livestock were built adjacent to, or better, under the living quarters to keep body heat in the building.

Here's two resources you may find valuable for references:
LOW-TECH MAGAZINE (lowtechmagazine.com) -- scroll down to find articles about old ag & lifestyle concerns
Browse by title — Illinois Digital Newspaper Collections --periodicals from 19th/early 20th century on rural topics/lifestyle


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## Wellbuilt (Dec 25, 2020)

There is no way to answer that question . 
It depends on how well the house is insulated , the size of the house the area its in , how much wind you get , how warm the house needs to be . 
My cabin is 2800 sf and it’s on the top of a Mountain @ 2400 feet . 
The wind is allways howling and I burn 10 months out of the year . 
I burn 6/7 cord if the fire is going 24/7 the last 2 years I’ve been letting the fire burn down after 900pm and relighting it at 7am and use
4 1/2 cord . 
Once the place gets warm it stays that way .
It’s easy to stay at 55o , 70o takes much more wood . 
I cook on the wood stove it’s burning most of the time , I use cast iron pots and pans . 
Even make coffee and tea . 
A small cabin uses a small stove and will burn less wood . 
The stove makes a big difference allso , some are cheep to feed . 
I’ve never used a small stove all my homes have been 3000sf so I need big stoves


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## CKelly78z (Jul 16, 2017)

In NW Ohio, we heat our old 1800 sf farmhouse solely with wood and use about 4 cords of seasoned hardwood (Ash, Oak, Maple). Our kids no longer live here, so it's just the two of us, but during a SHTF scenario, I fully expect that my parents, inlaws, and kids would return for the "safety in numbers" thought process, so that same 4 cords would heat at least 8 people in the same house....no reason to heat 4 houses.


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## Wellbuilt (Dec 25, 2020)

More people in a house will use less wood . 
I forget how many btu a person gives off


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## Evons hubby (Oct 3, 2005)

Wellbuilt said:


> More people in a house will use less wood .
> I forget how many btu a person gives off


Even that will vary, depending on how they are dressed. Someone wrapped up in blankets and robes produce less heat than the same person will if naked. But two naked people could easily give off triple the heat of the one naked person!


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## hiddensprings (Aug 6, 2009)

You need to let us know where this story is taking place. We live in Northern Minnesota. I think we are Zone 3. We can go through 7-8 cords of wood a season. Our cold season can start in September and end in April OR it can start in Oct and end in March....who knows. We plan on 9 cords to heat our 1900 square foot house...propane as a back-up but only if we are out of town for a few days.


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## Evons hubby (Oct 3, 2005)

hiddensprings said:


> You need to let us know where this story is taking place. We live in Northern Minnesota. I think we are Zone 3. We can go through 7-8 cords of wood a season. Our cold season can start in September and end in April OR it can start in Oct and end in March....who knows. We plan on 9 cords to heat our 1900 square foot house...propane as a back-up but only if we are out of town for a few days.


I’m thinking the story takes place in southern Il. I may be wrong.


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## GTX63 (Dec 13, 2016)

Illinois? In that case you should factor in what the state's tax to burn each log is.


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## Lady89 (Feb 22, 2014)

GTX63 said:


> Illinois? In that case you should factor in what the state's tax to burn each log is.


to be fair as i said in the top i an researching for a fictional post apocalyptic illinois so i don't think the tax would be a problem


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## Pony (Jan 6, 2003)

Lady89 said:


> to be fair as i said in the top i an researching for a fictional post apocalyptic illinois so i don't think the tax would be a problem


I dunno.... I grew up in Chicago, then in the 'burbs, and the powers there would find a way to tax everything in sight. 

I thank God nearly every day that we are no longer there.


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## doc- (Jun 26, 2015)

It got so cold in Chicago one winter, I saw my alderman with his hands in his own pockets!


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## haypoint (Oct 4, 2006)

So many variables. In northern Michigan, a well insulated old 5 bedroom farmhouse, with well dried oak, sugar maple, white ash, burn 10 full cords, plus 2 full cords in the cookstove, all with no back up heat. Outside wood boilers about double that.


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## 67drake (May 6, 2020)

Pony said:


> I dunno.... I grew up in Chicago, then in the 'burbs, and the powers there would find a way to tax everything in sight.
> 
> I thank God nearly every day that we are no longer there.


Ditto


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## woodspirit (Aug 3, 2005)

Lady89 said:


> I don't know if this is the right place for this question but here it is
> 
> As a lot of yo know I have been working on a story set in a homesteading group in a post apocalyptic southern IL
> 
> so today's question is how much wood do yo really need to heat a home for winter? It sees like every one has a different opinion on this. Now let's think bigger how much seasoned wood is needed for a settlement of 40 people.


Lots of variables. 
Type of wood. 
How well seasoned. 
size of house or cabin.
location or. Open ground. Protected. 
part of the country. 
how well insulated.
type of stove.
my problem is cabin is only 14x18. It's in the woods which is good. Can't figure out what stove to use. I'm gonna need at least an 8 hour burn time but that means a bigger stove than a 250 sq ft area can handle.


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## Wellbuilt (Dec 25, 2020)

That is small , there is nothing out there that will give you a 8hour burn time.
You need to lay in lots of insulation .
My cabin has a insulated cement floor with radiant heat pipes it really absorbs the heat from the stove if I run my ceiling fan backwards slowly .
I use a magnolia stove from tractor supply it’s rated for 2500 feet 
I load twice a day once in the morning 700 to make coffee if it’s real cold I mite add 3 splits 
around lunch time .
At 500 I load the stove then make dinner I mite add a few splits before bed.
it’s more important that the stove hold fire for a long time , so in the morning you drop wood in and it lites off easy 
for that size place a jotol 602 would be a good fit, it will hold fire for 8 hours and heat for 6 hrs on low They sell for 200 bucks a lot a real nice one is 6 to 800 
A harth stone soap stone stove gives off heat after it gos out .


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## muleskinner2 (Oct 7, 2007)

woodspirit said:


> I'm gonna need at least an 8 hour burn time but that means a bigger stove than a 250 sq ft area can handle.


No it doesn't, you don't have to fill the firebox. Trial and error will teach you how to build the fire.


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## Wellbuilt (Dec 25, 2020)

If you don’t fill the fire box you won’t get a 8 hour burn . 
My stove holds wood like a cave but I get 20 splits in 22” long north and south and I can go 10 hrs 5 splits will give me 5 hours . 
i Just let the stove go out


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## GTX63 (Dec 13, 2016)

Wellbuilt said:


> That is small , there is nothing out there that will give you a 8hour burn time.
> You need to lay in lots of insulation .
> My cabin has a insulated cement floor with radiant heat pipes it really absorbs the heat from the stove if I run my ceiling fan backwards slowly .
> I use a magnolia stove from tractor supply it’s rated for 2500 feet
> ...


I use a Magnolia stove and its smaller brother the 2000. The photo you posted above doesn't look like the Magnolia. I picked mine up directly from the manufacturer, US Stove. Wood stove prices have jumped substantially the past several years. Both are now in the $1400 range new.
Replacing the standard firebrick inside with soap stone will improve over night heat retention


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## muleskinner2 (Oct 7, 2007)

I get up at least three times each night, just to pee. Throwing a log in the stove isn't that big of a deal.


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## Wellbuilt (Dec 25, 2020)

GTX63 said:


> I use a Magnolia stove and its smaller brother the 2000. The photo you posted above doesn't look like the Magnolia. I picked mine up directly from the manufacturer, US Stove. Wood stove prices have jumped substantially the past several years. Both are now in the $1400 range new.
> Replacing the standard firebrick inside with soap stone will improve over night heat retention


Hmmmm I think this one was made for tractor supply it has legs and the cheep looking silver around the door .


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## Wellbuilt (Dec 25, 2020)

It looks like they changed the stove a little bit
The temp dropped to 0 and we where staying in a old trailer working on the house .
We allmost froze , the next morning I was in tractor supply buying the stove , it was the largest stove they had at the time . 
It heats good but when I’m 100% done building I’ll get some thing nicer . 
I paid 750$ nov 15 2017 I think .


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## GTX63 (Dec 13, 2016)

Wellbuilt said:


> It looks like they changed the stove a little bit
> The temp dropped to 0 and we where staying in a old trailer working on the house .
> We allmost froze , the next morning I was in tractor supply buying the stove , it was the largest stove they had at the time .
> It heats good but when I’m 100% done building I’ll get some thing nicer .
> I paid 750$ nov 15 2017 I think .


The 1st photo below is the US Stove Model 2000.
The 2nd photo is the US Stove Model 2500 Magnolia. Yes, it has some nickle plating around the door.
We have three wood stoves in our home. I did not realize the spike in prices until I started shopping for another stove recently. Cast Iron stoves are no longer a cheap, well kept secret among homesteaders.
There are catalytic stoves that are better; I use these because of their performance and I am familiar with them.
I believe they have discontinued that line.


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## Wellbuilt (Dec 25, 2020)

That look a lot like mine, the ash draw look larger and mine has a larger lip .
I think the New Englander burns better and has a much taller door for larger wood.
I was using a 55 gallon drum kit for heat when we where building but I did not like the way it glows , I was not the only one using it .
I think they are robbing us on line , I was in tractor supply this morning and the stove are still 750 ish on the floor 
I’ll probably get a hearthstone stove when one pops up cheep .
People sell them cheep because they can’t move them . 
I move my hearthstone equinox with a fork lift and put it on the deck and rolled it in the house on pvc pipe I think it must weigh 700lbs


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## GTX63 (Dec 13, 2016)

I unloaded the last one off my truck into my tractor loader and drove to the front door. My sister, brother in law, daughter, son, son in law and grandson all formed a circle and we got it down into the lower level of the house. To be fair, a couple of them held beers for the others.
Have you ever seen the three stooges where they try to go thru the door all at once? Lol.


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