Saturday, January 9, 2016

Winter Storm and the Wood Furnace





Winter threw it's first snowfall at us this morning. So far it isn't all that bad but the roads became much worse in a very short while than the forecasters expected to say the least. I think the temperatures dropped a bit faster than they expected and caused the roads to get covered more because they were colder.  I know it's slick because like a bunch of city idiots we all loaded up in my truck this morning and went to the next little town over for breakfast with grandpa. I didn't slide much since I had a load of firewood in the bed and had her locked into 4WD but we already saw several SUV's off the road.

Why is it almost always the SUV's that we see in the ditch while the good old boys in the trucks seem to be going along fine?

Anyway I was hoping to split some more wood this afternoon after the snow stops and before the real cold hits us tonight but it looks like the snow is going to continue all day now. Since I took the truck in I also had to remove the tarp so now the wood in the truck bed is covered in snow. A minor inconvenience as the coals in the furnace usually just laugh at wet or snow coated wood for a split second before it starts consuming it but still a pain when trying to find just that right piece. Constantly throwing the tarps back is a pain as well.

Which brings me to another question.

A truck bed full of split firewood will last me about 6 to 7 days here when I am home feeding it but for every day I have to work and I let someone else feed it you can take 2 days off that period. Another words they put in twice as much wood and yet the house is still COLD when I get home. I just don't get it.

Luckily I am back now and it is day light and I can start once again getting things back in order. I think this is the real reason Men invented electric and gas powered furnaces. Not so much to save them work in cutting and burning wood but to make sure something would work when they weren't around to make sure it was done properly.

Ya I just bashed on Women a bit there in a very general way so none of you lovely sensible Ladies who read and comment here should take offense because you know I wasn't referring to you. You Ladies are generally the exception or you wouldn't be here reading anyway :)

Well looks like I now have a car in the ditch in front of the house. I will certainly do an update later today and hopefully have some wonderful Winter pictures to go along with it.

Keep Prepping Everyone!!!!!


14 comments:

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    ps. Consider adding CC to your blogroll please

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. CC - I indeed added a link to your site under my "No LInk Love" column on the left. It should show up soon for some reason blogger seems to be taking forever to update these days again.

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  2. No snow here yet but we might see some next week, A truck full of wood will last us about 4 weeks but it does depend what kind of wood it is.

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  3. Fog and wet here. I figured out that I can fill the furnace with wood or fill it 3/4 full and it does about the same some how. It must not be as efficient if there isn't enough room for the wood to burn properly, almost like making charcoal as it starves for air. Anyway each stove is different and it takes a little while to learn how they work, they have personalities.

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  4. A quick story here, Some years ago on a Sunday, my wife and went our for while and on my way out the door I told my 14 year old son to keep an eye on the woodburner. When we came home it had to be 100 degrees in the house. Well he kept an eye on it alright. he opened the draft wide and crammed every piece of wood he could find in.. His answer about why was Gee I thought it was the right thing to do.....

    Carl in the UP

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  5. Still mild here so not tooo much heat needed just at night. The thing I hate the most is when I ask my wife if she wants the fire lit and she says "well it is cold" or "it's a little chilly what do you think". Just say yes or no!

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  6. We had pea fog, ice on everything and -26c temps today. My new bunnies showed up today.

    Exile1981

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  7. LOL there is a difference in how DH and I feed the wood stoves. I grew up with wood heat. DH never had a wood stove still here at this house. I can burn 1/3 less wood and have the house warm. But again in fairness I grew up with wood stoves for heat. :O). I think its simply in the understanding of how it works and using them. LOL I think it also helps when everyone feeding those stoves is helping to cut and haul that wood :O) DH and I do that together :O)

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  8. when you accidentally nearly let it go out you have to throw more in? you know to get it going again. In our old house we had a stove in the lounge and to make sure I didnt forget it when working from the office next door I had a kitchen timer that went off every hour and a half. also it had not so good air intakes and was hard to get to just tick over. Where as the one we have now a Skagen seems to be much more responsive and as its 8 kw's if I get it going and leave the door open it heats it up nicely and the oil heating doesnt come on. Win I say

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  9. There is a book out called Norwegian Wood. It's translated. It has all sorts of Norwegian wood burning facts. It sounds interesting, but I haven't done more than glance through the previews at Amazon. Thought you might want to check it out.

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  10. PP,

    Had snow here, now it's gone. Expecting more this weekend. The winds when we have them have been brutal. 66 days left until Spring, hurry up Spring......and don't bring tornadoes!!!!

    I have to agree with Texan on wood and feeding wood stoves. It just depends on the person feeding the stove :-)

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  11. Quite nice to see how things flow with you when Winter kicks in, but it is also interesting to understand how firewood that should take at least seven days goes down to five simply because it is not you putting them in the furnace. Anyway, you explained that pretty well and I think I should learn from you and teach my household how to handle firewood before the next season hits hard.

    Levi Eslinger @ Capital Plumbing

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  12. What a great looking fire place. That will for sure keep you warm in winter. Showed my husband this and i hope I inspired him to give our old fire place a make over. It really is in need of a little love as we have not renovated our place in several years now. Great post look forward to more.

    Rosa Nelson @ HVAC Philadelphia

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  13. I have always loved wood furnaces. I actually took mine to Africa with me because we could not get them where we were while we were there and living in the desert at night, you need a good wood furnace. There is also something so great about the smell that it gives off. It just smells like winter should smell.

    Shayne Gustafson @ Berico Heating and Air

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