Ready for Winter!

[jannie]

feeling rather smug .. just finished filling the log store .. still got a pile of seasoned wood to be cut ..but knowing how much we needed to get through last winter we have more than enough in the log store to see us through .. another winter of free heating..

[fabindia]

Nice one Jannie. It certainly looks like a lot of logs! Where do you get them from?

I have been getting my logs ready for the winter. They are from trees I cut down a year ago but now I have moved them into our store for a final dry out (I'll try to post a picture if I think on). I have plenty of timber for a few years but will run out eventually.

The problem is that we burn our on an open fire so I am considering buying a multi-fuel stove.

Winter though - it is a depressing thought.

[jannie]

It certainly looks like a lot of logs! Where do you get them from?

I live in a densly wooded valley so get it locally .. we have a few farmer friends who let us forage in their woods .. also a friend is the local river warden and he drops of any trees he finds in the rivers .. and a local tree surgeon drops of logs for us .. so lots of sources .. the hardest part is finding the room to season them

[baileysgnasha]

Very nicely stored too if I do say so myself . You look very well organised and nothing better than FREE heating!

[Ryan]

Very impressed - as usual I have left it late so will be scrambling around like mad to get a few big logs in and cut up!!

I do like your log store though - did you make that as well?

Ry

[Spreckly]

Your long store is really neat! We have a pile of logs and wood stored between OH's workshop and our garage, we also have bags of wood in the garage, and a pile of old wood under one of our caravans, and I bet by the end of the year we have got through most of it.

[Panteg Produce]

[jannie]

Thanks everyone .. yes Ryan we built the log store ourselves at a fraction of the cost of buying one and it's built to last .. each section holds 1.5 cu metres .. so knowing that we need about 3 cu metres to last the winter we know we won't run short .. it is a really good feeling when it's full .. but lots of hard graft getting it there.

[p.penn]

Well Jannie, I don't know where you live but a cubic metre down here in sussex, is nowhere near as big as yours! I ordered a m³ of logs last winter (£63) and had enough for a log fire each evening for under 2 weeks.

That certainly looks like a respectable amount of logs, great log store too!

[fabindia]

Hi Jannie - Do you burn your logs on an open fire or in a stove? I have an open fire and so get only about 35% heat efficiency and so get through more logs than burning on a stove. I'll have to see how quickly I get through my logs this winter.

[jannie]

Well Jannie, I don't know where you live but a cubic metre down here in sussex, is nowhere near as big as yours! I ordered a m³ of logs last winter (£63) and had enough for a log fire each evening for under 2 weeks.

That certainly looks like a respectable amount of logs, great log store too!

I know what you mean about the logs you buy Helen .. we bought 3 of those 'cubic metre' bags the first winter and they only filled 3/4 of one of the sections our log store .. they are a lot less when they are stacked aren't they .

fabindia, I have a Hunter woodburner

[Maggie1]

Think I'll stick to turf. It cost us €90 for a line which lasts us in an open fire all winter. We had some left over so with this lot we are just in the throws of collecting we should be OK for the winter. We had a stinking winter last year and we wasn't cold at all so hoping we're be OK.

[Benny&Co]

Well done Jannie

[jannie]

Thanks Bev
You've worked hard for that turf though Maggie .. didn't realise that you had to pay for it too.. but still very cheap for heating ..we only paid for wood the first year we moved in and had the logburner installed because we didn't have any seasoned .. but since then it has become a habit collecting wood .. although we don't pay for wood any more there is a cost in time and effort .. and you have to be organised ..this is a pile of seasoned wood ready for cutting into logs and there is a similar pile behind the shed that is ready for stacking here when this load goes in the log store and so it goes on .. but well worth it for the savings and a much nicer way to heat the house.

[Maggie1]

You can buy it Jannie but its costs €3.50 a bag. Which considering we've got 16 bags left from last year it works out a very expensive way of buying it.
What actually happens is the man that owns the bog comes and cuts it. When he's done that it looks like a long bar of chocolate (no you can't eat it Lizzie) Then after about 3 weeks we go and stack it into piles to let the air get to it and dry it. After about another 3 weeks and we've had reasonable weather(no rain) you collect it and bring it home. Its hard work and we've had enough after bringing home one load but well worth it. Its very warm and the smell is something you can't describe