Frank’s Firewood Tip#1 the Difference between Seasoned & Unseasoned Wood
Burning unseasoned wood can be difficult, mostly because wet wood smokes a lot & does not burn well. Seasoned wood that has been split, stacked, stored provides you with the best heat to weight ratio. Call or Text Frank: 203-627-5189
Frank’s Firewood Tip#2 Preform a thorough cleaning at the end of the season!
Remove all fuel and ashes, and clean the interior of the stove, or the heat transfer surfaces of a furnace or boiler, for rust protection during the summer. Also have the chimney and stove pipe cleaned. Check the operation of heating system controls.
Frank’s Firewood Tip#3
Keep Your Kindle!
After stacking wood, you will find small pieces of wood (Kindling) left over. Don't throw it away! Kindling helps a fire get going because it's small, dry, and easily flammable. Once the kindling is burning, it can ignite the larger pieces of wood in your fire.
Frank’s Firewood Tip#4
Buy wood by weight,
not by water
When dried to about 20% moisture content dense hardwoods (oak, hickory, and maple) weigh about 3,500-4,000 pounds per standard cord.
Frank’s Firewood Tip#5
Check and clean your chimney
Chimney cleaning prevents chimney fires and improves the draft. How often a chimney needs to be cleaned depends on how frequently the stove is used and how it is operated. Some need cleaning only once or twice a year.
Frank’s Firewood Tip#6
Proper storage is key
Firewood is best stored outdoors, under cover, and near the house so that valuable space in the house is not used, insects are kept outside, and the dirt problem is reduced. It can be stored in a woodshed utility building, garage, or under a sheet of plastic or sheet-metal roofing.
Frank’s Firewood Tip#7
Stack in the sun to season your wood
Seasoning can be accelerated greatly by stacking wood in a sunny location and covering the top of the pile with clear plastic sheeting, sheet-metal roofing, or lumber covered with asphalt tar paper. In sunny weather, temperatures under the cover will rise much higher than outside temperatures, warming the wood and evaporating the contained moisture. The water vapor produced is removed by the wind currents.
Frank’s Firewood Tip#8
Know your wood
When purchasing firewood, customers are often faced with a confusing array of measurement units. Firewood is normally sold by the cord or by a fraction of a cord. A standard cord is a compact stack 8 feet long, 4 feet high, and 4 feet wide. Be sure you have a clear understanding with the seller, about the amount of wood being sold.
Frank’s Firewood Tip#9
Plan ahead cutting a cord takes time
It generally takes about four to ten hours of work to ready a standard cord of wood for the fire. The beginner may take longer.