veremchuka
Thinks s/he gets paid by the post
OK, I am a bean counter and love cost benefit analysis. Is my math bogus or am I about right? There's too many variables to be correct correct but like horse shoes and hand grenades close is OK for this.
I have heated with firewood for over 20 years so I am pretty knowledgeable about it ie accept my guesstimates about the species of my firewood and the % of each in the 3 cord I use each winter. I don't generate hot water from firewood I use the furnace for that. While the composition of the wood species on a percentage basis would vary obviously from year to year, generally this is what I see.
I checked 4 websites for the BTU values of the firewood I get in 3 cord each year and averaged the 4 values for each species. I then estimated the composition of the 3 cord, I have to pick up and move every piece to my woodshed then into the house over the winter so I feel pretty confident I know wood by the bark, wood texture/color and weight based upon what grows around here.
What bothers me and what I am questioning is the equivalent gallons of #2 fuel oil if I wasn't burning wood.
So here's what I burn:
wood..........Million BTU..........% of this .........total BTU (million)
species.......per cord.............in 3 cord...........in 3 cord
oak.............23.....................30...................20.7
maple..........25.....................25...................18.75
hickory........27.....................15...................12.15
cherry.........19.....................15...................8.55
birch...........24.....................10...................7.2
ash.............24.....................5....................3.6
total BTUs..................................................70.95 Million
#2 fuel oil has 140,000 BTU per gallon so....
I divided the 70.95 million (wood) BTUs by 140,000 (fuel oil) BTUs and get 507 gallons of #2 fuel oil! That seems low because people with a 275 gallon oil tank have several delivery's per winter season and while they aren't all 250+ gallons deliveries (or are they?) I often see the oil truck twice in January and February.
Yeah they most likely use oil for hot water too but 500 gallons of oil at 42 degrees north latitude in the north eastern US just seems way low. I'd guess 1,000 gallons are used to heat a house. And another is variable - how large and well insulated is the house!
My house was built in 1999 the same time as the one next to me, mine is 1500 sq ft and the other is 3000. I have 1 person here they have 5, now 3 with 2 of the kids away living at college so they would use a lot more oil than I do.
Furnace efficiency is another wild card but is 500 gallons low or does it seem about right for heat? And keep in mind it is 74-78 degrees in my house all winter using a wood stove, very comfortable. I doubt most people would heat their house to that level with fuel oil.
I have heated with firewood for over 20 years so I am pretty knowledgeable about it ie accept my guesstimates about the species of my firewood and the % of each in the 3 cord I use each winter. I don't generate hot water from firewood I use the furnace for that. While the composition of the wood species on a percentage basis would vary obviously from year to year, generally this is what I see.
I checked 4 websites for the BTU values of the firewood I get in 3 cord each year and averaged the 4 values for each species. I then estimated the composition of the 3 cord, I have to pick up and move every piece to my woodshed then into the house over the winter so I feel pretty confident I know wood by the bark, wood texture/color and weight based upon what grows around here.
What bothers me and what I am questioning is the equivalent gallons of #2 fuel oil if I wasn't burning wood.
So here's what I burn:
wood..........Million BTU..........% of this .........total BTU (million)
species.......per cord.............in 3 cord...........in 3 cord
oak.............23.....................30...................20.7
maple..........25.....................25...................18.75
hickory........27.....................15...................12.15
cherry.........19.....................15...................8.55
birch...........24.....................10...................7.2
ash.............24.....................5....................3.6
total BTUs..................................................70.95 Million
#2 fuel oil has 140,000 BTU per gallon so....
I divided the 70.95 million (wood) BTUs by 140,000 (fuel oil) BTUs and get 507 gallons of #2 fuel oil! That seems low because people with a 275 gallon oil tank have several delivery's per winter season and while they aren't all 250+ gallons deliveries (or are they?) I often see the oil truck twice in January and February.
Yeah they most likely use oil for hot water too but 500 gallons of oil at 42 degrees north latitude in the north eastern US just seems way low. I'd guess 1,000 gallons are used to heat a house. And another is variable - how large and well insulated is the house!
My house was built in 1999 the same time as the one next to me, mine is 1500 sq ft and the other is 3000. I have 1 person here they have 5, now 3 with 2 of the kids away living at college so they would use a lot more oil than I do.
Furnace efficiency is another wild card but is 500 gallons low or does it seem about right for heat? And keep in mind it is 74-78 degrees in my house all winter using a wood stove, very comfortable. I doubt most people would heat their house to that level with fuel oil.