Wood Heating: Part Two

So I guess I was wrong. I couldn't hold out any longer. I got the wood furnace started and away I go with the heating season. This part of the article may seem simple but beleive me there is importance to what is being said here. Read on...

Buying and Preparing Firewood

Good quality firewood is essential for efficient and convenient wood heating. Good firewood is the right size for the appliance firebox and is properly seasoned.

While hardwoods like oak and maple are fine for very cold winter weather, softer woods like birch and poplar make better fuel for milder spring and fall weather.

As much as half the weight of freshly cut logs can be water. This water content must be reduced to 15 to 20 per cent before the wood can burn efficiently. How you process and store the wood is critical to achieving this moisture reduction goal.

Cut the logs into pieces that are at least 75 mm (3 in.) shorter than the firebox. For convenient handling and fire management in most woodburning appliances, firewood pieces should not exceed 40 cm (16 in.) in length. Piece lengths as short as 30 cm (12 in.) can be better for small heaters. Just because your stove’s firebox can handle 50 cm (20 in.) logs does not mean that logs that long are needed or even desirable.

Split the wood into a variety of sizes for convenient fire building and maintenance. Large pieces are fine for large fires in cold weather but smaller pieces are needed in mild weather and for fast ignition of new fires or fires rekindled from coals. Commercial firewood is generally not split small enough. For most appliances, split the wood in a range of 8 to15 cm (3 to 6 in.) measured at the largest cross-sectional dimension. Although this means more splitting and more pieces to handle, each piece is easier to lift and more importantly, fire management will be much more convenient all winter long.