Keeping Warm with Wood

With high fuel costs, heating with wood has become an attractive option to warm the home and keep bills down. Unlike petroleum, wood is a renewable resource that comes right from your backyard or the tree lot. The thinning out of trees is good woodland management. After you cut down a tree to be used for firewood, make sure you give it ample time to dry. Don’t mind doing some physical labor? Then heating with firewood can be a rewarding experience.

Heating with wood does have some drawbacks. You have to tend to a fire which makes it impractical during nighttime sleeping hours, wood can be cumbersome to store and carry, and there are possible fire hazard considerations. But the possibility of cutting home heating bills by up to 50% and the comfort of a toasty wintertime fire make it worth the effort.

Store It Before You Burn It

In order to get the most heat out of wood, it is necessary to loosely store it in a dry, sunny, well-ventilated area, off the ground for a season to properly ‘season’ or dry it out. Green wood that has not been allowed enough time to dry – or wood that is exposed to moisture by rain or snow – creates more smoke and burns at a lower temperature. Heavier, denser wood that is allowed adequate time to dry creates cleaner, more intense heat.

The Best Woods for Your Stove or Fireplace

The type of wood that you cut and split is important as well. The best woods to burn in fireplaces and stoves are the dense woods of ash, hickory, locust and white oak. Less desirable woods include relatively soft woods like shortleaf pine, cottonwood, silver maple and box elder.

Perform a Chimney Sweep

It is periodically necessary to clean tars and creosote from the chimney flue. Schedule a chimney cleaning every year. If you haven’t used your chimney in a good while, schedule an inspection to verify its structural soundness. Avoid burning things like large cardboard boxes or dry Christmas trees or wreathes that could produce high flames. These flames could ignite a flue fire.

Thin It Out and Heat It Up

The right trees to cut – other than a species that burns well – are dead trees unconsumed by rot, diseased or insect-infested trees, and trees that are choking out other desirable species. Weak trees, trees that are crooked or forked, come down eventually in ice storms or thunderstorms. It’s better to be proactive; cut these trees down on your own terms and enjoy the heat they can provide for your family at a fraction of the cost of heating with fuel.

For advice, the right equipment and protective apparel to cut your own firewood, visit your local servicing STIHL Dealer.

See you soon with more helpful tips from GardenPower and Crader Distributing!

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