Wood Heating: Part Three

Here is the last installment on wood heating. I hope this has been of use to some of you.

Storing Wood

In the early spring, wood should be cut to the right length, split to a variety of sizes and stacked off the ground on rails in an open area exposed to sun and wind. Prepared this way, the firewood will be ready for burning that fall. The tops of the stacks should be covered to prevent rain from soaking down through them. Prime time for firewood seasoning is the very hot days in July and August when the sun beats down, warming each piece of wood while gentle summer breezes rinse away the moisture driven out of the wood. If possible, don’t pile wood in a shady area and never stack green wood in a woodshed because it will not dry properly in time for the heating season.

In the fall, ideally after a few sunny days, the wood is moved to its winter storage location. Winter storage should be close to, but not inside, the house and fully sheltered from rain and snow so the wood stays dry.

Different designs mean that no single set of procedures will work perfectly in all appliance types.These suggestions come from many years of experience and information from scientists, research studies, stove manufacturers, retailers, chimney sweeps and people who rely on wood to heat their homes.

The procedures are suitable for most current and older models where the fire is built on a solid hearth (not a grate); the combustion air reaches the fire at the front, nearest the loading door; and, there are no catalysts.

However, householders can adapt most of these suggestions to other designs, including catalytic stoves.

You may not be able to use all of the tips that follow exactly, but you can adapt most of them to your circumstances. The result will be more consistent, efficient fires that produce the heating results you want.

How to Start a Fire with Little or No Smoke

A kindling fire that collapses into a smouldering mess is frustrating and also embarrassing if someone is watching. By following the suggestions offered in this About Your House, you can avoid future frustration by building kindling fires that ignite quickly and burn reliably.

The kindling fire should quickly heat up the chimney to create strong draft and heat the brick and steel of the firebox to create a good environment for stable combustion. The type and form of kindling materials affect the behaviour of the fire. The edges of split firewood heat up and ignite first, so the more edges there are close together in the kindling fire, the faster it will ignite.

Kindling pieces need to be finely split to produce many edges where the fire will first catch. The lower density and usually higher oil content of softwoods like cedar, pine and spruce make them better for kindling because they ignite more readily than hardwoods. The drier and more finely split the kindling, the faster and more reliably will the fire ignite and burn.

In preparing to build a wood fire, remove excess ash from the firebox. Ash should never be allowed to build up to more than five cm (2 in.) in thickness. Next, locate where the main supply of combustion air enters the firebox — that’s where you want the fire to first ignite. Open the air control fully.

There are two popular strategies for building kindling fires that don’t collapse and smother themselves: the two parallel logs technique and the top-down fire technique.
Two Parallel Logs

Place two split logs parallel to each other in the firebox with a space between. Fill the space with crumpled newspaper and fine kindling and place several larger pieces of kindling crosswise on top. Light the paper.
Top-Down Fire

First, place two or three standardsized pieces in the firebox. Then add a few pieces of heavy kindling. Finally, add some fine kindling. Roll up single sheets of newspaper, tie a knot in each and place four or five on top of, or in front of, the kindling. Light the paper.

This type of kindling fire can provide two or more hours of effective heating without having to open the door to add wood or adjust the fire.

Owners of small stoves oriented east–west (see Figure 8) may have some trouble using either of these methods. One way to make lighting fires easier in small, east-west stoves is to cut some of your the firewood in half, especially logs intended for kindling, so that each piece is only about 20 cm (8 in.) long. A kindling fire of small, crisscrossed pieces should light easily if the wood is dry enough.

Leave the combustion air inlet open at least until the firebox is full of flame, the surface of the wood is charred black and the edges of the pieces are glowing red.