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[userdk]

Come on! There's no sure way to tell unless you figured out the exact btus of the house, and then figured the exact btu's of the wood you're going to burn, considering moisture, etc. Even the btu usage formula uses a Delta T which is extremely variable due to the changing temp outside. Just cut plenty and call it good.

[willieG]

https://www.duke-energy.com/pdfs/BTUperYR_South_Nov.pdf

check out this link (hope it works)  for an estimate of btu usage.
remember you must also take into account of the efficiency of your stove, the chart is for btu that must enter the home

from the chart if you have an energy star home and require 50,000,000 btu for the season and your stove is a conventional stove  you could get my with 5 cords of good mixed hardwood (about 100,000,000 btu)

[Dan76]

Hey Jared43758.  I am new to this site and I have already found plenty of great tips.  I've been heating with a heatmaster for 5 years now so I thought I would confuse you a little more with my wood usage experience!  Our house is 2200 square feet and has a 1200 sq ft 3 bay garage all built 6 years ago and very well insulated.  Our heatmaster heats the basement and garage floor, domestic water and I also use a rad in my forced air furnace.  Garage is kept at 45 and house at 72.  We heated with electricity the first year we built and used close to 29,000 kW.h of electricity for heat alone.  That would be around 100 million btu's.  Keep in mind that I live in Manitoba, Canada so we might be a little colder.  It is not uncommon to have windchill temperature get to -50 this time of year and in fact it is in the forecast for tonight.  Last year was brutal and I used around 15 cords of wood of which 10 was oak.  All my wood is cut at 40 inches, split and stacked in a shed.  I hope never to use that much again but this is also when the furnace saves you the most! I expect to use 10-15/year depending on type of wood and temperature.  Impossible to predict exactly since there are so many variables.  If I need 100 million btu's and used 11-12  cords of oak and ash to get it my efficiency is at 40-45% so i would think you could use that number with some confidence.  Budget for 8-10 to make sure. Hope that helps and by the way these are great furnaces! 

[caper]

hey guys, I always burn approx. two cords a month, which I consider a joke, I heat my entire house, approx 3500 sq feet, two bay garage and loft above ,so total would be around 4000sq feet, house is at 73 or 74, garage is 64 plus dhw, so I go thur about 12 cords a year which is a joke,consider this , most guys who have wood stoves go thru approx 5 cords a year, but as stated by someone else earlier,they are really only heating that room and maybe a bit more, no dhw and usually their floors are cold .mmmm no brainer really for a few extra cords of wood for all that comfort...unless you are heating a home under 12oo sq feet ,budget for 10 cords at least,u can take that to the bank....

[hondaracer2oo4]

Lol, He MAY believe us when he has heated for a season.

[dukethebeagle]

7 or 8 cord sounds sweet.i`m in southern quebec.usually go through 15 cord or so but i`d say 8 of it is trash.
softwood poplar etc.its free so yoy take what u get i guess

[justinb]

I'm in my first year of heating with wood, and I've already gone through 5 cords of wood.  I'm heating a 5000 sq ft home(including basement) that has 25' ceilings and DHW.  I sure wasn't expecting to go through this much wood, but I haven't hardly budged the gauge on the LP tank.   I'm just cutting and piling wood now, so it will be tough to get a gauge for cord usage going forward.  It's a lot of work, but its definitely worth it.  I wouldn't be going on vacation in February if I had to pay for LP.

[CountryBoyJohn]

I'm through 6 Justin.  My first 4 cords was gone by mid-December, but it was 100% cherry.  I'm into my hedge now.  So, even though it's been colder, I'm getting more heat out of my hedge and I'm still at 2 cords per month or so. 

[JTS717]

This is also my first year with an OWB.  I used to heat with a conventional indoor wood furnace in the basement which was ducted to blow the hot air upstairs.  I am in Wi heating 1600 sqft main floor and was burning 5-6 cords per year.  But I would come home from work to a house in the mid 50's to mid 60's and keep it at 70-75 when I was home.  With the OWB this year I am heating DHW and the house stays at 70-72 all day.  I am on track to burn about 6 cords this year but I am running a gasser.