Firewood Questions

[beenthere]

There is more need (science ? ) for seasoning firewood in the north where the flame is used for heat, than in the south where it is for looks.
Anyone going to a lot of work to make firewood and not getting all the BTU's out of it doesn't make good sense unless the exercise is the main benefit.
But me, I'm looking for all the energy out of the wood that I can get, and don't want to use it up just turning water into steam.

 

[EE_Bota]

There is more need (science ? ) for seasoning firewood in the north where the flame is used for heat, than in the south where it is for looks.
Anyone going to a lot of work to make firewood and not getting all the BTU's out of it doesn't make good sense unless the exercise is the main benefit.
But me, I'm looking for all the energy out of the wood that I can get, and don't want to use it up just turning water into steam.

NC may be considered as being in the "South" but I am with YOU on the need heat, not steam, and not creosote front.

But let's assume someone just wants a pretty fire...improperly dried wood is hard to burn, smokes way too much, and it not nearly as nice an experience as burning dry wood.

 

[EE_Bota]

Holy Cow!

I had no idea there was so much science to firewood.

We have a little firepit off the back porch where we intend to burn a few logs now and then.
Plus, we have an indoor fireplace, but we haven't decided if we'll burn wood, or use gas with some fake logs.

But, most of the wood will go to my daughter. She has a house with a fireplace that she uses to supplement her furnace.

Thanks y'all.
Mule

If it is literally a "fireplace" it is very doubtful she is actually supplementing her furnace, since a fireplace fire is notorious for providing radiant heat in that one room, while sucking all the warm air out of the house and up the chimney. But a truly good wood burning appliance is a controlled air device, and will do a much better job of limiting the wasted heat up the chimney.

So far as I know, the very best you can do is to either have an appliance outdoors which never sucks air out of your house, or the have an indoor appliance, EPA rated, controlled air, with fresh air makeup from the outside directly to the appliance air inlet.

 

[clemsonfor]

I bought a woodstove insert this last winter. Best money i ever spent. I can heat pretty much my entire 2500sqft with it on the midler to cold days and the really cold days here in SC will take some supplemental heat from the far side heatpump but the near side of the house will stay 65+ degrees never needing the HP.

I stack in a covered tinroof shed i built for that purpose, open air sides. Yes my fire is for heat and i do live in the south!

 

[jnelson]

One of the things that most influences seasoning time (besides the type of wood you are drying) is the cut length. The shorter the lengths the faster they dry.

I like cutting wood 18" to 21" long because it stacks so much nicer. On the other hand 16" to 18" lengths will split easier and dry faster. But the shorter lengths don't stack near as well.

I stack my wood on the top of a hill in the back of our property to expose it to the most sun and wind for seasoning. I make long stacks across the hill spaced about 18" between stacks. I use as much of the "ugly" wood (knots, branches, Y's, etc) as I can and I like to stack the piles high they can become lop-sided and tippy. To prevent them from falling over and knocking down the next stack like dominoes I have learned to use 12' 2 x 4's between the stacks to brace them. To do this stack your piles approximately 2/3 the height you will stack to and lay the 2 x 4's across the stacks diagonally about every 8 to 10'. Now take some 4" decking screws and run a screw through the 2 x 4 into the wood in each stack. This will brace your stacks and make them very steady even if you stack very high. You can bypass the screws if you want and still gain much of the advantage of placing the 2 x 4's across your stacks.

I know some guys make beautiful stacks that need no bracing, but I stack to get the job done as quickly as possible since I'm going to burn it later anyhow. For that reason bracing as I described above really helps. Particularly when stacking on soft ground where settling is a factor.

JN

 

[trailmaker]

1. I leave my wood uncovered
2. The best exposure to wind and sun on my property is about 3/4 mile from the house, that's where I season the wood.
3. Coast Live Oak seems best with at least two full summers, I'm going to season it for three or more. Doug Fir seems OK with less time.

I'm trying out some Holz Hausens right now made from live oak. I like the way they look compared to regular stacking, seems more organic and flows with the landscape. One nice thing about the Holtz is that they are well suited for crotch pieces, short pieces and oddballs.

 

[arrow]

1. I leave my wood uncovered
2. The best exposure to wind and sun on my property is about 3/4 mile from the house, that's where I season the wood.
3. Coast Live Oak seems best with at least two full summers, I'm going to season it for three or more. Doug Fir seems OK with less time.

I'm trying out some Holz Hausens right now made from live oak. I like the way they look compared to regular stacking, seems more organic and flows with the landscape. One nice thing about the Holtz is that they are well suited for crotch pieces, short pieces and oddballs.

That has the makings of a great photograph. I wish there was more panorama. The sun is much better at this angle than if you shot at noon. A couple of these wood mounds,(which I have had little success with for drying wood thoroughly but never had the placement you have) and maybe 50-100 foot step back , with the same time of day and I betcha you'd have quite the picture. Beautiful place for a home.

 

[lockhaven]

a things i have read:
better to cut live trees with the leaves still green and leave it whole till the leaves die. This is supposed to draw the sap out, Then before the water starts soaking in cut, split and cover.
I heat with just a fireplace the "regular" heat has been shut off for the last 5 years. I wish I could afford a stove but i cannot.

 

[DAY]

Agreed that it is a nice photo, a few Holz Hausens would make some nice hardscape for the homestead. Just a few grazing sheep for contrast.
Q: How much time does it take to build Holz Hausens , vs dumping a front loader full of of wood in a pile, and covering with an old piece of roof tin?

 

[trailmaker]

That has the makings of a great photograph. I wish there was more panorama. The sun is much better at this angle than if you shot at noon. A couple of these wood mounds,(which I have had little success with for drying wood thoroughly but never had the placement you have) and maybe 50-100 foot step back , with the same time of day and I betcha you'd have quite the picture. Beautiful place for a home.

Actually there are two more Holz Hausens now about 100yards beyond this one. A few days ago there was similar lighting with two new HH in the background and fog had filled most of the valley below, but of course I had left my camera behind.

 

[trailmaker]

Agreed that it is a nice photo, a few Holz Hausens would make some nice hardscape for the homestead. Just a few grazing sheep for contrast.
Q: How much time does it take to build Holz Hausens , vs dumping a front loader full of of wood in a pile, and covering with an old piece of roof tin?

The HH takes a ton of time and effort compared to a dumped pile of wood covered with tin, but piles with tin scrap roofing just don't really pass muster with me. I guess if I had a seasoning spot that I would never have to look at I might just dump some wood but I'll be up on this hilltop hundreds of times with friends and family over the next few years while this oak is seasoning.

 

[DennisArrow]

Surely not to dimish the round method of curing/storing wood; but for me when I go up on top of my mountain to reflect on the view, it surely isnt to sit back in front of my friends with some fine vintage and brag about my woodpile........kinda funny actually.....but my wife long ago gave up trying to change my values............

What happens to that oh so lovely pile when you load up your first RTV load.........??????


Anyway, for me just stack it however wide and however tall. Usually 6 to 8 feet wide or a couple of pallets that it is stacked on by 5 or 6 feet tall and then run it out till I hit a tree in the way.....Again on pallets........Then long about the end of August cover it the TOP with a tarp and let it really season........Right now have perhaps 2 cords left from last years ready to burn and still covered to the stuff split and stacked this year that is perhaps 8 cords...............

God blessed us with 27 acres of hickory and oak and then He came along this year, since October, 2010, with heavy duty storms that leaves me needing to clean up perhaps 20 more cords............lolol......Bring your wine drinkin buddies, contemplate this beauty, do a bunch of cuttin, haul it outta here, and stack it any ol way you please......God bless.....Dennis

 

[trailmaker]

Well I don't drink wine or brag about my woodpile, I just don't like having tin scraps and tarps laying around the nicest spot on the property. To each his own I guess.
I'm not sure I understand your question about RTV loads. When the pile is done seasoning the splits get moved next to the house.

 

[EE_Bota]

Well I don't drink wine or brag about my woodpile, I just don't like having tin scraps and tarps laying around the nicest spot on the property. To each his own I guess.
I'm not sure I understand your question about RTV loads. When the pile is done seasoning the splits get moved next to the house.

I like what you did, and if I walked up on that scene, I'd gladly lift a Sierra Nevada Pale Ale to that stack of wood, and to that scene.

 

[trailbuilder]

One of my favorite topics!
Seasoning the wood dries it. How dry the wood needs to be depends on the fireplace/woodstove/furnace or outside boiler. Fireplaces like nice dry wood so split almost every piece since splitting makes the wood dry well. If you are burning roundies you need to allow more time for drying or throw them in on the hot coals. Wood dries due to many factors: time, the air flow, humiduty/heat, storage, wood species and most importanly how it is prepared split or round.

Most folks up North cut live trees and split them in the summer, July, stack them and burn them in the fall, November, in their wood furnaces. These wood furnces draw well and stay burning until May or June. We do not cover our wood during the dry process.

Why do you need a fireplace in Mississippi? Is it for heat or?

 

[jimmyj]

We cut in the winter when the forest and the trees are frozen and then split before spring. We keep it for 2 years before burning to season properly as we use the woodstove as our heat source for the home.

This is our woodshed, it holds 7 cords and I can take the sides off in the hot summer to really cook it dry. It doesn't get too dry though as it's very humid up here near the great lakes. Any wood that does not fit in the woodshed gets stacked on pallets in a windy sunny spot with tin on top until it can fit into the shed.

Love a full woodshed, it's like money in the bank.

 

[EE_Bota]

Love a full woodshed, it's like money in the bank.

I've heard it said, and this is very informative to a newby:

Firewood is money in the bank, and while it is drying, it is drawing interest.

 

[jnelson]

Firewood is money in the bank, and while it is drying, it is drawing interest.

I subscribe to that train of thought and agree completely. It's kind of interesting that once you start heating exclusively with wood how much differently you look upon a stack of cut and split wood. There is a real secure feeling gazing upon large stacks of seasoned wood in late summer and knowing that it will be there for you when the mercury takes a plunge towards zero.

Once you burn wood for heat you also learn how much more heat you get from a cord of properly seasoned wood vs partially green wood. There is a big difference between just burning the wood and extracting all of the heat potential from it in the process.

While I agree that splitting does help season wood the biggest factor is cutting it into firebox lengths. Think of wood as a large bundle of straws wrapped together capped on the ends with water in them. If you want to get the water out of them the best way is to cut them into sections opening the cell structure to allow the moisture to escape. The reason that a log rots in the woods is that there is moisture trapped in it. Even a log that has been dead and down for years is not really seasoned until it has been cut to short lengths and allowed to cure.

I also believe that it is easier to split green wood than to wait until it has dried out. It seems that the water moisture in the green wood provides more 'hydraulic' effect when I split with a maul. I don't have a splitter. I cut logs to length and then split them down right where they fall into easy to carry and stack pieces. This seems less work to me than having to lift and carry logs to a splitter.

JN

 

[DAY]

"Firewood is money in the bank, and while it is drying, it is drawing interest."
-And wood split with my beer powered maul has "sweat equity" :laughing:

While I agree that splitting does help season wood the biggest factor is cutting it into firebox lengths. Think of wood as a large bundle of straws wrapped together capped on the ends with water in them. If you want to get the water out of them the best way is to cut them into sections opening the cell structure to allow the moisture to escape. The reason that a log rots in the woods is that there is moisture trapped in it. Even a log that has been dead and down for years is not really seasoned until it has been cut to short lengths and allowed to cure.

I also believe that it is easier to split green wood than to wait until it has dried out. It seems that the water moisture in the green wood provides more 'hydraulic' effect when I split with a maul. I don't have a splitter. I cut logs to length and then split them down right where they fall into easy to carry and stack pieces. This seems less work to me than having to lift and carry logs to a splitter.

JN

Would the firewood dry just as quickly if it was cut into, say, 6 or 8 inch long pieces, and not split at all? Because splitting doesn't expose 90% of those "straws" to the air.

Different types of stoves burn wood differently. Masonry stoves are fired with a very hot, quick burning fire, using small pieces of wood, the idea being to get that masonry mass hot, and then let it radiate the heat over a long period.

 

[bellweather]

I store firewood in a shed with open sides, located about 50 yards from the house, it is south facing for maximum sun exposure. I usually cut/split green wood in the late fall and winter when there are less insects around plus I really enjoy splitting with an axe on a cold day. I split wood from 15"-18" logs, burn the smaller pieces the following winter and allow the larger pieces an extra 6 months or more to season. I burn nothing seasoned under 12 months. Most of the wood I burn is Norway Maple (an invasive species), some Larch, Ash, birch as well. Don't waste your time trying to split Elm, if you can still find any. There's lots of good web sites on this subject by the way, just google firewood.