Hi all, I have regular basement windows about 6 inches off the outside
ground level. I want to build a shute or slide of some kind so I can
wheel-barrow a load of wood up to the window and then slide the wood
down, while someone in the basement grabs and stacks them. I may be
burning 6-8 cords of wood a winter, for some scale.

Anyone got tips or recommendations?

Thanks!

Dean

how bout a 16" wide board with sides put on it to make like an old coal
shute.lucas

http://www.minibite.com/america/malone.htm

wrote:

Dean,

Doesn't your basement have an exterior door? It's easy to put a sheet of
plywood on the stairs to protect them. Basement windows will probably be a
"bottleneck" unless they are really big.
Why do you want to store your wood in the basement if the furnace is
upstairs? Wood is a real source of bugs so if you do store the wood indoors
keep an eye out for damage.

Dave M.

The furnace is going in the basement. I have a fireplace upstairs but
I'm not talking about that one now.

The wood idea sounds like a possibility. I could probable put it on
wheels and move it to the window as necessary. Hmmm....

Thanks!

Dean

dean wrote:
Hi all, I have regular basement windows about 6 inches off the outside
ground level. I want to build a shute or slide of some kind so I can
wheel-barrow a load of wood up to the window and then slide the wood
down, while someone in the basement grabs and stacks them. I may be
burning 6-8 cords of wood a winter, for some scale.

Anyone got tips or recommendations?

Thanks!

Dean


You are such an obvious troll! You wouldn't need
so much wood to burn if you didn't have such a big
house to stack the wood in. Do you have a clue
how much room 8 cords takes up.

On 4 Oct 2005 10:21:06 -0700, "dean" wrote:

The furnace is going in the basement. I have a fireplace upstairs but
I'm not talking about that one now.

The wood idea sounds like a possibility. I could probable put it on
wheels and move it to the window as necessary. Hmmm....

Thanks!

Dean

You hopefully have a cheap supply of wood that can save you money.
I hope that's the reason for burning wood. Otherwise you are insane
with going through the bother of tending a stove and putting up with
the introduction of bugs into your house.

If you still want to burn don't use the door. Opening the door for
periodic loads of wood lets much of the heat cost savings fly out the
door. Burning cold wood is not efficient either. Your best bet is to
introduce and store a large load of wood in the house on a warm day
through a small opening. That way you won't lose much heat during the
process.

wrote in message
You hopefully have a cheap supply of wood that can save you money.
I hope that's the reason for burning wood. Otherwise you are insane
with going through the bother of tending a stove and putting up with
the introduction of bugs into your house.

At the price of utilites, wood can save a bundle of money. there are ways
to eliminate the bugs too, but you have to do that ahead of time.


If you still want to burn don't use the door. Opening the door for
periodic loads of wood lets much of the heat cost savings fly out the
door.

You mean opening hte door for 30 seconds is going to lose more heat than can
be brought in in that time? I use a wheelbarrowa nd can bring in a load on
the coldest of days and not lose all that much heat compard to what I'm
bringing in, maybe 48+ hours of heating.



Burning cold wood is not efficient either.

This I agree with. Few days to a week is best as it will dry more in the
house too.

If you still want to burn don't use the door. Opening the door for
periodic loads of wood lets much of the heat cost savings fly out the
door.

You mean opening hte door for 30 seconds is going to lose more heat than can
be brought in in that time?

The BTU's lost during that 30 seconds is more than the stove puts out
in the same 30 seconds.

I use a wheelbarrowa nd can bring in a load on
the coldest of days and not lose all that much heat compard to what I'm
bringing in, maybe 48+ hours of heating.

It's obvious that any time a door is opened multiple times on a cold
day a lot of heat is wasted.

The most effective way to bring wood into a house is to load up on it
during a warmer day.

wrote in message

The BTU's lost during that 30 seconds is more than the stove puts out
in the same 30 seconds.

So what? If you bring in enough wood to fire the stove for many hours, you
are ahead of the game. If you want to be that picky, bring in the wood on
the same trip as when you go out for the mail. I don' tknow about you, but
we go in and out of the house many times in a day, even in winter.
Sometimes you just have to open the door.


The most effective way to bring wood into a house is to load up on it
during a warmer day.

Sure, but that is not always practical when you have 30 straight days of
below freezing.

In article ,
wrote:

The BTU's lost during that 30 seconds is more than the stove puts out
in the same 30 seconds.

Who cares? Sometimes a bit of fresh air is welcome, even on a cold day.

--
Life. Nature's way of keeping meat fresh. -- Dr. Who

The most effective way to bring wood into a house is to load up on it
during a warmer day.

Sure, but that is not always practical when you have 30 straight days of
below freezing.

You lose considerably less heat bringing wood into the house on a calm
31 degree day than you would on a windy 5 degree day. Both days are
below freezing.

George I'm not saying I will stack 8 cords in my basement at the same
time! I'm saying I might have to load a cord 8 times into the basement,
every few weeks. I am not a troll! And anyway, what's your contribution
to this thread?

Thanks everyone else. I'm really not worried about opening doors, the
air that escapes does not hold much heat, its a gas after all. Anyway,
I'm going in through the basement window!

Thanks for all the tips,

Dean

Are these full, honest cords of wood? 2-tons each, air-dried? 128 cu.
ft. each?

That's one huge amount of wood to be packing into a house, by any of
the means suggested.

You might be well-served by sealing and insulating the house, and
installing efficient (read also, clean) wood-burner(s). Then the wood
could also sit longer, and dry further.

Lower temps, and zoning help a lot, too.

HTH,
J

I'm putting in a charmaster furnace, its supposed to be very efficient.
And my house is very well insulated, its just got electric heat which
costs a fortune.

On 5 Oct 2005 08:25:48 -0700, "dean" wrote:

I'm putting in a charmaster furnace, its supposed to be very efficient.
And my house is very well insulated, its just got electric heat which
costs a fortune.
i have electric too. be sure your insurance company is OK
with you using wood to heat. if you're adding a chimney,
you might be in trouble.
....thehick

Edwin Pawlowski wrote:
wrote in message

The BTU's lost during that 30 seconds is more than the stove puts out
in the same 30 seconds.


So what? If you bring in enough wood to fire the stove for many hours, you
are ahead of the game. If you want to be that picky, bring in the wood on
the same trip as when you go out for the mail. I don' tknow about you, but
we go in and out of the house many times in a day, even in winter.
Sometimes you just have to open the door.



The most effective way to bring wood into a house is to load up on it
during a warmer day.


Sure, but that is not always practical when you have 30 straight days of
below freezing.



I agree, this thread is a little surreal. Do the
the kids, the dog, the cat, and guests get locked
in every time the temp drops to 32 or 0 or -20?
I suppose some people stay home from work too,
just so the door doesn't get opened? Crazy.

Two armloads of wood should be sufficient per day
unless it is well below 0 or somebody is heating
their house to 80 degrees or they are heating way
more than 2000 square feet.

I don't agree that the temperature of the wood
makes much difference. An armload of wood near a
wood stove will be up to room temperature in 5-10
minutes and a log thrown in a stove will go from
-20 degrees to 70 degrees before you can recite
the pledge of allegiance. In fact some of the
bark or the stringy parts will have already caught
fire in that time period. It is a non-issue.
What is an issue is having a bunch of wood piled
around your living room.

It sounds to me like a lot of people are giving
advice that have never heated with a wood stove.
The biggest issue will be what does the wife want
or more exactly what does she NOT want.

dean wrote:
George I'm not saying I will stack 8 cords in my basement at the same
time! I'm saying I might have to load a cord 8 times into the basement,
every few weeks. I am not a troll! And anyway, what's your contribution
to this thread?

Thanks everyone else. I'm really not worried about opening doors, the
air that escapes does not hold much heat, its a gas after all. Anyway,
I'm going in through the basement window!

Thanks for all the tips,

Dean

You are the dopey one. How can you burn 8 cords
every few weeks? That's enough to heat a good
sized house in an northern climate for a whole
winter. Gees, get real. 3 cords would usually do
me even when it got to -20. North and at higher
elevation they use more, but not even 8 cords.

"George E. Cawthon" wrote in message
...
dean wrote:
George I'm not saying I will stack 8 cords in my basement at the same
time! I'm saying I might have to load a cord 8 times into the basement,
every few weeks. I am not a troll! And anyway, what's your contribution
to this thread?

Thanks everyone else. I'm really not worried about opening doors, the
air that escapes does not hold much heat, its a gas after all. Anyway,
I'm going in through the basement window!

Thanks for all the tips,

Dean

You are the dopey one. How can you burn 8 cords
every few weeks? That's enough to heat a good
sized house in an northern climate for a whole
winter. Gees, get real. 3 cords would usually do
me even when it got to -20. North and at higher
elevation they use more, but not even 8 cords.
Pot Kettle Black. The rest of us understood what he meant- 8 cords for all
winter, bringing in 1 cord at a time, 1 cord every few weeks.

aem sends...

The most effective way to bring wood into a house is to load up on it
during a warmer day.


Sure, but that is not always practical when you have 30 straight days of
below freezing.



I agree, this thread is a little surreal. Do the
the kids, the dog, the cat, and guests get locked
in every time the temp drops to 32 or 0 or -20?
I suppose some people stay home from work too,
just so the door doesn't get opened? Crazy.

Your argument is what is surreal. You have a choice of when
to bring the wood in, and it does make a difference.

Two armloads of wood should be sufficient per day
unless it is well below 0 or somebody is heating
their house to 80 degrees or they are heating way
more than 2000 square feet.

32,000 BTU's per hour are available with two armloads
each consisting of a 18" square of typical split hardwood.

I don't agree that the temperature of the wood
makes much difference. An armload of wood near a
wood stove will be up to room temperature in 5-10
minutes

At what cost? A cold piece of anything absorbs heat in order
to get to room temperature. Do this wood warming on a warm day
if possible. A cold load of wood stuns the stove and creates less
heat and more tending.

and a log thrown in a stove will go from
-20 degrees to 70 degrees before you can recite
the pledge of allegiance. In fact some of the
bark or the stringy parts will have already caught
fire in that time period. It is a non-issue.
What is an issue is having a bunch of wood piled
around your living room.

Stored wood can be a problem.

It sounds to me like a lot of people are giving
advice that have never heated with a wood stove.
The biggest issue will be what does the wife want
or more exactly what does she NOT want.

I've burned wood enough to realize that unless you
have a cheap supply it isn't worth the effort.

ameijers wrote:
"George E. Cawthon" wrote in message
...

dean wrote:

George I'm not saying I will stack 8 cords in my basement at the same
time! I am not a troll! And anyway, what's your contribution
to this thread?

Thanks everyone else. I'm really not worried about opening doors, the
air that escapes does not hold much heat, its a gas after all. Anyway,
I'm going in through the basement window!

Thanks for all the tips,

Dean


You are the dopey one. How can you burn 8 cords
every few weeks? That's enough to heat a good
sized house in an northern climate for a whole
winter. Gees, get real. 3 cords would usually do
me even when it got to -20. North and at higher
elevation they use more, but not even 8 cords.

Pot Kettle Black. The rest of us understood what he meant- 8 cords for all
winter, bringing in 1 cord at a time, 1 cord every few weeks.

aem sends...


Read it again. Not what he wrote. He said, "I'm
saying I might have to load a cord 8 times into
the basement, every few weeks."

I'm not a mind reader just read what he said. May
not be what he meant, but that is up to him, not
me to determine.

wrote:
The most effective way to bring wood into a house is to load up on it
during a warmer day.


Sure, but that is not always practical when you have 30 straight days of
below freezing.



I agree, this thread is a little surreal. Do the
the kids, the dog, the cat, and guests get locked
in every time the temp drops to 32 or 0 or -20?
I suppose some people stay home from work too,
just so the door doesn't get opened? Crazy.


Your argument is what is surreal. You have a choice of when
to bring the wood in, and it does make a difference.


I'm in and out of the house several times a day,
take a walk around outside for exercise, maybe
walk to a grocery store and carry the stuff back.
Drive the car out of the garage to go shopping,
that' about 2 tons of metal. The stuff gets
cold, I get cold, all get heated up by the energy
in my house, whether it is in the living room or
the garage.

Warming firewood is trivial compared to all the
rest. I waste more energy and cost by running a
small rock tumbler.

You are the dopey one. How can you burn 8 cords
every few weeks? That's enough to heat a good
sized house in an northern climate for a whole
winter. Gees, get real. 3 cords would usually do
me even when it got to -20. North and at higher
elevation they use more, but not even 8 cords.

Pot Kettle Black. The rest of us understood what he meant- 8 cords for all
winter, bringing in 1 cord at a time, 1 cord every few weeks.

aem sends...


Read it again. Not what he wrote. He said, "I'm
saying I might have to load a cord 8 times into
the basement, every few weeks."

I'm not a mind reader just read what he said. May
not be what he meant, but that is up to him, not
me to determine.

Um.. He said he may have to load a cord. "a cord" is singular.
"Every few weeks" is plural. "Eight times" is plural. He stated
his intention accurately.

It is up to you to improve your reading comprehension.

wrote:
Are these full, honest cords of wood? 2-tons each, air-dried? 128 cu.
ft. each?

That's one huge amount of wood to be packing into a house, by any of
the means suggested.

You might be well-served by sealing and insulating the house, and
installing efficient (read also, clean) wood-burner(s). Then the wood
could also sit longer, and dry further.

Lower temps, and zoning help a lot, too.

HTH,
J

I burn around 6 cord a year. One armful at a time or a barrow full it
all comes into the house eventually. Curious here. Where did you get
2 tons per cord? AFAIK the specifications of a cord do not mention
weight. While all wood has approx the same BTU per pound, the weight
per cord will vary all over the place.

Harry K

Just for George (it is complicated, I'm sure we all agree): I meant to
say I will bring 1 (ONE) cord of wood into my basement, every few (FEW)
weeks (just one at a time, mind you), for approximately 8 times (which
I assume covers the cold period here is NJ). That makes 8 (EIGHT) cords
per winter. I have 20 cords right now outside my driveway, so I know
how much work it is to stack and split. The good thing about a furnace
is that it takes unsplit wood up to around 10-12" diameter.

Claro?

Dean

wrote:
You are the dopey one. How can you burn 8 cords
every few weeks? That's enough to heat a good
sized house in an northern climate for a whole
winter. Gees, get real. 3 cords would usually do
me even when it got to -20. North and at higher
elevation they use more, but not even 8 cords.

Pot Kettle Black. The rest of us understood what he meant- 8 cords for all
winter, bringing in 1 cord at a time, 1 cord every few weeks.

aem sends...


Read it again. Not what he wrote. He said, "I'm
saying I might have to load a cord 8 times into
the basement, every few weeks."

I'm not a mind reader just read what he said. May
not be what he meant, but that is up to him, not
me to determine.


Um.. He said he may have to load a cord. "a cord" is singular.
"Every few weeks" is plural. "Eight times" is plural. He stated
his intention accurately.

It is up to you to improve your reading comprehension.

Well that makes sense, dumb me! He loads a (1)
cord eight times. I guess he could load the same
cord eight times, meaning that he moved the same
cord into the basement eight times. But if he
does that, doesn't he have to move it out to again
move it back in? loads it into? eight times?
Seems like he would have to load (move) the same
cord 24 times, 8 into the basement and 8 out of
the basement and then 8 more into the basement. I
don't see why he would move it into the basement
just to move it back out and then again move it
into the basement.

You mean I got it wrong? or did he mean he was
moving a cord into the basement and after a few
weeks he would move another cord into the
basement. He would do this with eight cords.
Let's see, a few weeks means 3 or 4 weeks, so lets
split it and make it 4 x 3 weeks and 4 times 4
weeks. That's 28 weeks. Where the hell does this
guy live that winter is 28 weeks long?

Harry K wrote:
wrote:

Are these full, honest cords of wood? 2-tons each, air-dried? 128 cu.
ft. each?

That's one huge amount of wood to be packing into a house, by any of
the means suggested.

You might be well-served by sealing and insulating the house, and
installing efficient (read also, clean) wood-burner(s). Then the wood
could also sit longer, and dry further.

Lower temps, and zoning help a lot, too.

HTH,
J


I burn around 6 cord a year. One armful at a time or a barrow full it
all comes into the house eventually. Curious here. Where did you get
2 tons per cord? AFAIK the specifications of a cord do not mention
weight. While all wood has approx the same BTU per pound, the weight
per cord will vary all over the place.

Harry K



2 tons per cord is a pretty standard estimate.
Soft woods are around 30 pounds/ cubic foot and
hard woods are around 40 pound/cubic foot.

So 30 x 128 = 3840, and 40 x 128 = 5120 and you
have variables of water content and air space.
Air space is likely to range from 10 to 20 percent
and so is water.

4000 pounds (2 tons) per cord is a reasonable
estimate.

dean wrote:
Just for George (it is complicated, I'm sure we all agree): I meant to
say I will bring 1 (ONE) cord of wood into my basement, every few (FEW)
weeks (just one at a time, mind you), for approximately 8 times (which
I assume covers the cold period here is NJ). That makes 8 (EIGHT) cords
per winter. I have 20 cords right now outside my driveway, so I know
how much work it is to stack and split. The good thing about a furnace
is that it takes unsplit wood up to around 10-12" diameter.

Claro?

Dean


No, it is not complicated. You could have simply
said that you intended to burn 8 cords during the
winter season and to move it into the basement as
needed. I was pushing you to clarify if you would
really stack 8 cords in your basement since 8
cords would fill a 10 x 17 room stacked 6 feet high.

It really doesn't matter, the real point is that 8
cords is way to much. Furnaces, because of the
way they are operated tend to be use more wood
than a regular stoves but 8 cords is still a high
estimate.

Now for the saw question. The blade doesn't need
to be messed with very often. You ought to be
sharpening your chain at least every cord (assume
16" long blocks), possibly more depending on the
type of wood. You may want to lightly draw file
the blade every 3-4 cords just to make sure that
sharp edges are not developing and to keep the top
and bottom flat. With good oiling, keeping the
blade out of the dirt, a sharp chain, and
reasonable tension, the blade shouldn't need
attention more than every 5-6 cords and probably
would need replacement for 40 cords or more. You
will run through 3-4 chains before you need to
replace the blade.

Cutting in a curve may indicate a blade wearing on
one side but most likely is cause by incorrect
sharpening (teeth sharper on one side).

You mean I got it wrong?

Yes you did., but that's understandable. You're George.

George E. Cawthon wrote:
wrote:
You are the dopey one. How can you burn 8 cords
every few weeks? That's enough to heat a good
sized house in an northern climate for a whole
winter. Gees, get real. 3 cords would usually do
me even when it got to -20. North and at higher
elevation they use more, but not even 8 cords.

Pot Kettle Black. The rest of us understood what he meant- 8 cords for all
winter, bringing in 1 cord at a time, 1 cord every few weeks.

aem sends...


Read it again. Not what he wrote. He said, "I'm
saying I might have to load a cord 8 times into
the basement, every few weeks."

I'm not a mind reader just read what he said. May
not be what he meant, but that is up to him, not
me to determine.


Um.. He said he may have to load a cord. "a cord" is singular.
"Every few weeks" is plural. "Eight times" is plural. He stated
his intention accurately.

It is up to you to improve your reading comprehension.

Well that makes sense, dumb me! He loads a (1)
cord eight times. I guess he could load the same
cord eight times, meaning that he moved the same
cord into the basement eight times. But if he
does that, doesn't he have to move it out to again
move it back in? loads it into? eight times?
Seems like he would have to load (move) the same
cord 24 times, 8 into the basement and 8 out of
the basement and then 8 more into the basement. I
don't see why he would move it into the basement
just to move it back out and then again move it
into the basement.

You mean I got it wrong? or did he mean he was
moving a cord into the basement and after a few
weeks he would move another cord into the
basement. He would do this with eight cords.
Let's see, a few weeks means 3 or 4 weeks, so lets
split it and make it 4 x 3 weeks and 4 times 4
weeks. That's 28 weeks. Where the hell does this
guy live that winter is 28 weeks long?

Give it up George. You were wrong to start with. It was perfectly
clear to anyone who can read English. You have now compounded it by
picking some numbers to justify an unwarrantable conculusion. FEW = 2
or more. 16 weeks or even 24 is not an unreasonable period. By the
way. When discussing a chainsaw it is a BAR not a blade.

Harry K