The Content Of The Article:

Firewood: good advice

A quality firewood is primarily a dry wood. Spring is the best season to do the work of debitage, storage since summer will be able to provide, in principle, the optimal conditions to rid the wood of its natural moisture.

How to choose your firewood

Generally debited at the end of one meter (the unit of volume, the stere corresponds to m3), the wood will dry faster if it is cut (0.50 or 0.33 m) and split (diameter 4 to 5 cm ).
Dry firewood

If you intend to split your wood yourself, you should do it early in the spring. You can cut the wood in short lengths and then split it to store it outside during the summer. A lot of water will evaporate, so remember to store it in a well-ventilated area.
In order to know if the wood is dry enough, you can knock two logs against each other and listen if their shock sounds "singing". You can also place a log in a narrow plastic bag in a warm room; if the wood is too wet, mist will form in the bag. In fact, the easiest way to know if the wood is dry, is to identify the presence of slits.

The essences

The mountain ash, beech, oak, ash, maple and birch are considered the best woods for open fireplaces. But many people prefer conifers because of the cracks they emit when burning; however, these types of wood require more vigilance since they cause projections of embers that can cause fires. Fruit trees such as apple or pear also burn very well.

How to light your wood fire

How to light your wood fire

There are many ways to light a fire, but be careful what you put in your stove. Do not burn painted or treated wood, or plastics containing chlorine derivatives, such as PVC.
These give off very toxic gases. Do not burn salvaged wood in the sea either. It contains salt that combustion converts to chlorine. However, you can rinse this wood by letting it out weather the weather for several years.
Wood stored outdoors or in a damp room should be placed at room temperature for at least one day before use. Split your log to obtain a diameter of about 4 cm. This size will facilitate the lighting and the draw.
Before lighting a fire, remember to open the air intakes; depending on the model, your stove has one or two. To facilitate the lighting of your fire, make sure to respect these different steps:

  1. Place two logs at the bottom of your firebox and stack smaller pieces of wood over the fireplace to renew the air. Finish with a beautiful log above.
  2. Place 2-3 briquettes fire starter or a similar product, just behind the top layer with small pieces of wood and turn it on.
  3. A good draw Now you can close the door and let the fire grow.

You can also place two large logs on each side. Add crumpled paper in the middle and stack smaller pieces of wood on top. You can add paper if necessary. Check every 10 to 15 minutes that your fire has enough air. If the draft is too low you will need to let in some air, opening the door slightly.

Add the fuel in the open hearth, in small quantities only. If your fire is too bright, a thermal shock may occur in the duct. It is better to have a moderate fire. Avoid letting your fire choke, it generates a lot of pollution. The ideal is a fire that burns well and almost invisible smoke out of the chimney.

(photos / visuals: © Jøtul, except special mention)

On the same topic

  • Questions answers
    • The chimney draw in 5 questions
    • What space between a chimney and a wood panel?
    • What type of heating for a new home?
  • DIY tips
    • Heat with wood or pellets in 2018
    • Wood fuel: efficient, economical and ecological
    • Wood stoves
    • How does a heat recovery system work?
  • records
    • Wood, a cost-effective and environmentally friendly source of energy

This may interest you

Firewood: good advice

FAQ - 💬

❓ What is the best quality firewood?

👉 Hardwoods such as maple, oak, ash, birch, and most fruit trees are the best burning woods that will give you a hotter and longer burn time. These woods have the least pitch and sap and are generally cleaner to handle.

❓ Why it is important to select a good firewood?

👉 Efficient and Hot Fire If you want the most efficient fires possible, burn hardwood. These dense logs have the highest BTU (British Thermal Units) content, which means that they give off more heat. A truckload of hardwood weighs much more than the same sized truckload of softwood and provides twice the heat.

❓ What is the most efficient way to burn wood?

👉 Use dry wood Aim for wood with a 15-20% moisture content and you'll use less and get a better burn that keeps you warmer, faster, for longer. Expect one split log to last an hour, as a rough approximation. Check your chimney; if everything is working well you should not see smoke.

❓ What should you not use for firewood?

👉 Be the fire pit champion instead of that host who smokes everyone out and makes them sick. It's easy — just learn what firewood not to burn.

  • Driftwood.
  • Green Wood.
  • Pine Wood.
  • Construction and Furniture Wood.
  • Non-Local Wood.
  • Poisonous Wood.
  • Endangered Wood.
  • Habitat Wood.

❓ Which firewood burns cleanest?

👉 When hardwoods are burned in good conditions for a fire, they produce very little smoke or unhealthy particulate matter. A few examples of the most popular hardwoods for fires are white oak, ash, birch, red oak, hard maple, beech, hickory, pecan, dogwood, apple, and almond.

❓ How can you tell if wood is good firewood?

👉 To test your firewood, split a log and stick the meter's prongs into the wood on the freshly split side. For accuracy, test several pieces of firewood from different places in the woodpile. If the moisture content is below 20% it will burn cleanly and efficiently.

❓ Which tree is best for firewood?

👉 The best-known firewoods are white and red oak trees. The wood from these oak trees is prized for its strength and density, and that density makes it one of the best at producing heat.

❓ What firewood burns cleanest?

👉 When hardwoods are burned in good conditions for a fire, they produce very little smoke or unhealthy particulate matter. A few examples of the most popular hardwoods for fires are white oak, ash, birch, red oak, hard maple, beech, hickory, pecan, dogwood, apple, and almond.

❓ What is the fastest way to season firewood?

👉 The fastest way to season firewood is to properly stack, store, and dry it. However, the best way to speed up the drying process has to do with storing. Some ideas are to store in a hot and dry shed, a south-facing room (north-facing if you're in the southern hemisphere), or near your current fireplace or wood stove.

❓ Should I keep a tarp over my firewood?

👉 Avoid covering all of the firewood with a tarp, and instead, opt to only cover the very top layer of your stack of wood. If your firewood is trapped beneath numerous layers of a tarp, it will not dry properly, which may cause the rotting process to expedite.

❓ What is the hottest burning firewood?

👉 Most oak trees put off a ton of heat when they burn, but the white oak is at the top of the list with an astounding 30.7 million BTUs of heat per cord of wood.

❓ Is Ashwood good for firewood?

👉 Ashwood is mostly used in making of furniture, baseball bats, hockey sticks because it is durable and hard that can last long. Walnut burn well and last long that why you need very little wood to keep the fire going. Walnut wood is best when burnt in wood stoves and produces very little smoke.

❓ Is seasoned wood good for burning firewood?

👉 Though, it isn’t the best for heating your home for long periods of time as it burns up pretty quickly in comparison to hardwood. When you are burning firewood, seasoned wood should be your first choice. It is the kind of wood that has been left out in the weather after cutting for a long time.

❓ How to choose the right firewood for your fireplace?

👉 Before discussing these, here is the quick list of firewood you were looking for. Ideal moisture content is below 20 percent if you are looking to burn wood to heat your house. To get the Wood’s perfect moisture content, it should be seasoned for at least 6 to 8 months before it can be used for burning.

❓ How do you keep firewood from going bad?

👉 To help prevent firewood from going bad over a long period of time the most important thing is to keep the firewood dry, by keeping the firewood off any wet ground and sheltered from the majority of the rainfall. Another important thing is to allow air to be able to get to the wood.


Video Instruction: Helpful Tips For Wet And Damp Firewood