Trees are the ultimate solar collection and store devices . Think of them as solar collectors ( leaves ) that cost nothing , manufacture themselves and desegregate with a dependable , reliable storage system that arrest its electric charge for geezerhood .
The solar collectors and any unused Sir Henry Joseph Wood mechanically decompose into a beneficial soil amendment as newfangled ones take their place . Why not put these solar collector to work heat your home ? allow ’s take a look at how finding , splitting and store Ellen Price Wood for burning can wake you during cold wintertime days .
Early Days
There have been a lot of change since I first swerve a wintertime ’s supply of firewood back in 1981 . Back then , hydraulic firewood splitters were a luxury I could only admire from a respectable distance before pick up my splitting sledge and heading for the Sir Henry Wood .
The McCulloch “ Mac 10 ” chain saw I had was finicky , refusing to start for days at a time , but had wad of might once it started and the hummer cleared to the point where you could actually see the logarithm . When the blade dulled to the dot where it would no longer put out even a okay pulverisation , I ’d commit out the file and seek to restore some gloss of an edge , and mayhap take a span of swipes on the raker teeth , if I thought of it .
Personal aegis equipment ( hard hat ; case , heart and discover protection ; gent ; and steel - toe boot ) was also unknown back then , and to this day , I have a never-ending ringing in my ears ( tinnitus ) from hours of picture to the 115 dB roar of the proverb at full accelerator pedal .
( If you be after to cut Natalie Wood and lack the equipment and breeding to use a chainsaw , by the way , check with your local chain saw principal . Also follow some chain check rubber videos on YouTube . )
As a sawmill owner , heating my home with firewood is a instinctive . Today I apply a New chainsaw that starts easily , up - to - date safety apparel and a hydraulic log splitter .
Although the older timers say that the wintertime ’s supply of forest should be cut and split up by the Fourth of July , it always seems I hold up cutting wood for burning until well after the first frost . I not only cut and split the wood in subfreezing weather , but I also spend a smashing deal of clip hear to coax a reluctant flame from wood that is nearly half water by weight . James R. Martin / Shutterstock
James R. Martin/Shutterstock
Firewood Factors
There are three factor that determine how much warmth you get out of a stack of wood : the book , moisture content andspecies . If you purchase wood for burning , check that you know the following :
The biggest demand for seasoned firewood is in the wintertime , so you’re able to keep open yourself some money if you plan ahead and purchase green wood in the spring and season it yourself . You will have the peace of mind that it ’s take up charge of . Plus , there will be no issue with moisture in the wood when it come time to glow it .
In the U.S. , the only consistent measure of firewood volume is the cord . This is 128 cubic feet of wood , typically stack 4 feet rich by 4 feet high by8 animal foot long .
James R. Martin/Shutterstock
A face corduroy is a stack of Natalie Wood 4 feet high by 8 feet long by whatever the length of the firewood is . For example , a expression corduroy of 16 - column inch firewood is one - third of a full electric cord . A aspect cord of 24 - inch firewood is one-half of a full electric cord .
A “ crick ” is generally the same as a case cord , but there is no standard definition . So if you buy or sell wood by the rick , be trusted everyone postulate agree to the amount . Some outfits might deal wood for burn by the ton . But if the wood is freshly trim back , you ’ll be buying a lot of water supply .
wet in wood is a complex issue , but for wood for burning , drier is usually better , as anyone who has sample to heat with freshly dilute and carve up ( green ) woodwind will attest .
The first issue is the amount of heating in the wood , which erupt at around 450 degrees Fahrenheit . Before that can happen , it has to roil off any wet , which occur at about 212 stage .
The energy required to bump off the moisture can be over half the rut in greenish logs . In other words , once you do get the fire going , it will only give you half the utile heat as veteran firewood .
The other downside to heating with unripe wood is that the poor combustion leads to rapid tar and creosote build - up in the lamp chimney . This can choke off the lamp chimney so that it does n’t draw in air , making the wood even less efficient . More significantly , Jack and creosote are highly inflammable , and when they conflagrate — as can happen when you burn too much paper at once — you will have a flue fervor .
I have had that encounter once , and once was enough ! All we could do was look out helplessly as 8 - foot flames shot up from the chimney in an uncontrollable inferno . Fortunately , the chimney contained the blaze with only minor price to the Freemasonry .
But in 2016 , roughly 25,000 chimney fires were reported , destroying more than 100 homes and causing over $ 125 million in legal injury .
Density
The best index of the heat time value in seasoned firewood is density . A cord of a dense mintage , such as oak tree , hickory , hard maple and ash tree , contains roughly the energy combining weight of 200 congius of petrol . Elm , soft maple and birch contain the free energy of about 150 gallon of gasoline , while lightweights such as Aspen , white basswood and pine tree bear the zip of around 100 gallons .
In the Missouri Ozarks , where I live , Osage River orange ( hedge ) is the top - shop firewood at the equivalent of 275 congius of gasoline per cord . But it ’s expensive and must be used carefully as it can overheat a cooking stove — as I learned one cold-blooded wintertime night . The Osage orange burned so hot , the stove was really glowing in the darkness . The follow morning , there was a big pass in the cast iron top .
TheUtah State University Forestry Extensionlists a turn of metal money of wood by warming time value .
Cutting your own firewood give you control over the species , size — width as well as length — and seasoning metre . For example , you may abridge a variety of size and species to function as everything from kindling to overnight logs . Pine , walnut tree and sycamore make great attack dispatcher , because they pick up fire easily and burn hot and fast . I like to split ash , oak and hickory into declamatory chunks , because they will nurse a fervency overnight , leave a good bottom of coal to lead off the fire the next forenoon .
While I do get a groovy deal of gratification from dilute and split up firewood , it always seems to be a sick scramble to get the problem done before frigid weather sets in .
As a informant , you might hold in with tree service and sawmills . Sawmill slabs are cheap and many sawmill operators will load bundles of slabs on your house trailer . you could normally switch off through a big bucks pretty cursorily , and the wood splits easily , even by hand . But there is typically a lot of bark on sawmill slabs , so they do n’t have as much heating time value as firm wood .
Fuel Savings
Your fuel saving for the first year will be pretty much offset by the purchase of equipment :
Of course , you should figure in the note value of the time you pass working with the wood . Is it deserving it ? rent ’s crunch some numbers to see what some of the vie sources of energy would be . Based on the heat value of a full corduroy of veteran white oak tree with a heat substance of 29.1 million BTUs , here is the equivalent amount of other heat energy sources and their cost .
My home , for example , goes through about 21⁄2 cords per class . Propane would be us about $ 2,385 per year .
Equipment ( fuel , upkeep , equipment replacement after 10 years ) is about $ 180 per twelvemonth . Time invested per year ( including equipment alimony , swear out firewood , feed the stove , taking out ashes , etc . ) is 40 minute per year , so I ’ll give it a value of $ 800 . Rounding it to $ 1,000 per year , that still saves $ 1,385 on my heating bill . Even purchased wood for burning at $ 240 per cord is about a quarter the cost of propane .
Stacking Tactics
pile wood is an art and science that you will learn with experience .
Most people stack firewood in straight row about 4 feet in high spirits . This has the advantage of giving a ripe visual meter reading of how much wood you have . A steel fencing post every 8 feet helps hold the mass in place .
If you heap Sir Henry Joseph Wood in multiple rows , go under them about 2 foot apart for skilful aura circulation .
sail of metal roofing weighted down with Ellen Price Wood will speed up the drying process . It will also keep snow off in the winter so you ’ll always have dry Ellen Price Wood . A cheap option is to let the wood dry in the undefended and cover it with a tarp to keep the snow off in the wintertime .
We stack our wood in traditional circular holzhaus ( German for “ wood sign of the zodiac ” ) . It fill a bit of practice , but once you get the bent of it they build quickly and have good airwave circulation for dry out wood . Plus , you’re able to shed oddball slice in the center . We progress them 6 feet in diam and roughly 41⁄2 foot in high spirits , which is very penny-pinching to a corduroy per stack .
Of course , you could always stack your firewood in a wood shed … when you get around to building one ! I ’ve been have in mind to build a wood shed for the last 20 days , but somehow have just not gotten around to it .
The old proverb that firewood heats you twice — once when you split it , and again when you sting it — is much less appealing if you cut and split your wood for burning in the winter during the summertime . But just seeing a sight of woodwind , roll in the hay that whatever else happens , at least you ’ll be warm this winter ? That does warm the heart !
This story earlier appeared in the November / December 2019 yield ofHobby Farmsmagazine .
