The ABCs of Using Wood for Fuel
All wood is not created equal. Here is a snapshot view of what every homeowner and wood burner should know before they buy a chord of wood.
1) Your chimney should be cleaned every two to three years.
2) All wood should be "cured" or left to dry out for at least six months. Many people recommend two years, and while that is ideal, it is not always easy to find. One year is a good compromise.
Why does wood need to be cured at all? Because as wood loses moisture, while it is curing or aging, it becomes a more efficient fuel. So wood aged two years will burn more slowly, and give off more heat, than wood cured just six months. In fact, some sources say dry wood is only 20% moisture, where "green" wood (wood that has not been cured long enough) is up to 78% moisture. Green wood also creates more creosote, which is the soot-like stuff in your chimney that you get cleaned out every other year. Too much creosote, and the risk of a chimney fire starts to rise.
3) The cardinal rule of woodburning is that softwoods are for kindling and hardwoods are for cooking. For those of us who just want a fire in the fireplace, pine will do alright, even though it is considered a soft wood.
The reason softwoods are for kindling is that they have more resin than hardwoods, which makes them burn faster. They also tend to give off more sparks. Sparks, by the way, are created when there are air pockets in the wood. As the wood burns the air pockets heat and then burst, causing bits of wood to catch fire in mid-air. Of course, you have a spark screen in front of your fireplace so you do not have to worry about your carpet catching fire. But excessive sparks combined with a chimney that has not been regularly cleaned can, sometimes, result in a chimney fire. "Excessive" would be considered more than one loud spark every 3-5 seconds.
4) Different kinds of wood make for very different kinds of fires. If you were cooking food using wood, this would become a primary concern, because as all us cooks know, different foods needs different heat points to taste their best. But being that so much fire is now used just for a fireplace, we are getting less picky on which kind of wood we burn.
If you do get a choice of which wood you burn, here are some characteristics of different kinds of wood.
- Cedar is nice for its smell, but it sends out so many sparks that you may have legitimate fire safety concerns.
- Birch is a bit like cedar - it burns fast, smells good, but sends out quite a lot of sparks.
- If you can get it, oak is as fine a wood to burn as it comes. It burns very slowly and has a rich, distinctive smell.
- Some people feel cherrywood makes the finest kind of fire going. It makes a hot fire.
- Pinyon and Mesquite are smell-smelling burners popular in the southwest.
1) Your chimney should be cleaned every two to three years.
2) All wood should be "cured" or left to dry out for at least six months. Many people recommend two years, and while that is ideal, it is not always easy to find. One year is a good compromise.
Why does wood need to be cured at all? Because as wood loses moisture, while it is curing or aging, it becomes a more efficient fuel. So wood aged two years will burn more slowly, and give off more heat, than wood cured just six months. In fact, some sources say dry wood is only 20% moisture, where "green" wood (wood that has not been cured long enough) is up to 78% moisture. Green wood also creates more creosote, which is the soot-like stuff in your chimney that you get cleaned out every other year. Too much creosote, and the risk of a chimney fire starts to rise.
3) The cardinal rule of woodburning is that softwoods are for kindling and hardwoods are for cooking. For those of us who just want a fire in the fireplace, pine will do alright, even though it is considered a soft wood.
The reason softwoods are for kindling is that they have more resin than hardwoods, which makes them burn faster. They also tend to give off more sparks. Sparks, by the way, are created when there are air pockets in the wood. As the wood burns the air pockets heat and then burst, causing bits of wood to catch fire in mid-air. Of course, you have a spark screen in front of your fireplace so you do not have to worry about your carpet catching fire. But excessive sparks combined with a chimney that has not been regularly cleaned can, sometimes, result in a chimney fire. "Excessive" would be considered more than one loud spark every 3-5 seconds.
4) Different kinds of wood make for very different kinds of fires. If you were cooking food using wood, this would become a primary concern, because as all us cooks know, different foods needs different heat points to taste their best. But being that so much fire is now used just for a fireplace, we are getting less picky on which kind of wood we burn.
If you do get a choice of which wood you burn, here are some characteristics of different kinds of wood.
- Cedar is nice for its smell, but it sends out so many sparks that you may have legitimate fire safety concerns.
- Birch is a bit like cedar - it burns fast, smells good, but sends out quite a lot of sparks.
- If you can get it, oak is as fine a wood to burn as it comes. It burns very slowly and has a rich, distinctive smell.
- Some people feel cherrywood makes the finest kind of fire going. It makes a hot fire.
- Pinyon and Mesquite are smell-smelling burners popular in the southwest.
