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We have had a wood burning stove installed over the summer and i have a few questions. WHat is the best way to store the wood outside and how long should it be inside before being used?
Ta
Best way to store outside is to cover it but allow it to breathe. Important to let the wind be able to get to it. Covering it with a tarpaulin isn't the greatest - condensation will get trapped. Either buy/build a proper woodstore, or stack it and put a sheet of old hardboard/corrugated steel (that sort of thing) on top to stop the rain soaking through. The wood needs to be seasoned for about a year if it's green - all depends on what you've bought.
I've got nice dry wood outside, but I still bring it in around a week before I use it to allow it to dry a little more and to warm up.
build a woodstore that keeps the logs off the ground and the rain from hitting it, but the airflow going through it. You could do something handy with some old pallets and some corrugated roof sheeting.
If the wood is kept dry outside, it doesnt need to be in kept in the house before burning.
As above really - buy properly seasoned logs and keep them in a ventilated place and you will be fine. Most people tend to bring in a load of logs and leave them by the fire then rotate them anyway, ensuring the next ones to be used are nicely dry and that bit more ready to burn.
Just to say that last weekend I was sawing and splitting wood for 2013 - I got it free, but I'll need to store it for a long time. It'll be great when it's burning, but my wife's not entirely happy that her garden is starting to resemble a lumber yard......
This sort of thing...
http://www.buyshedsdirect.co.uk/xtra-large-log-store
I buy a tonne of hardwood at a time, which I think is about twice what that example would hold. I like wood to dry over a summer in sunlight. You get to know when firewood is dry by the radial cracks at both ends (they vary with species) and by feel and weight.
I get most of my wood from a local hardwood sawmill. I built a couple of woodsheds and let it season for a couple of years. Be warned it's addictive.
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Then I built a log splitter......
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Can your stove burn coal too? If it can it will be hotter and much more efficient than just burning logs.
Its a bit of a lottery finding a good supply of logs if your buying, we now have found a good one in the Bradford area.
Hopefully I should be getting some free wood soon though, but that wont be used until at least next winter, unless we have a very dry hot windy summer!
Can your stove burn coal too? If it can it will be hotter and much more efficient than just burning logs.Its a bit of a lottery finding a good supply of logs if your buying, we now have found a good one in the Bradford area
And also WAY more expensive at £8 a bag. You end up using both wood and coal.
I put together a simple clamp made of 4 pallets. One on the ground and two sides and a back. stack the wood and cover with compost fleece (breathable and water resistant)
my wife's not entirely happy that her garden is starting to resemble a lumber yard......
I feel your pain I'm in EXACTLY the same position 🙂
Once again, I made to feel inadequate by McMoonter's wood store 😥
It really is a thing of beauty. 😀
This sort of thing...
I made something very similar to that using left over decking, left over oak flooring and an off-cut of roofing felt. Took me about 3 hours to knock it together.
I wish I had McMoonter's stores but unfortunately they are bigger than my entire house. and gardens.
"And also WAY more expensive at £8 a bag. You end up using both wood and coal."
Nope not in our stove. A bed of coal ie 6-9 lumps will last 6 hours or so, then just topped up with one log every hour or so.
When we used to burn just logs to get the same heat we would put a new one on every 15 mins ish
A bed of coal ie 6-9 lumps will last 6 hours or so, then just topped up with one log every hour or so.
I'd agree with this too. I don't feel too good about burning coal and would rather stick to buringing justlogs, but in reality a solid lump of coal will generally burn hotter for longer. We use a little coal to suppliment the logs and it works for us. I've also found that smokeless coal is particularly good in a stove as it burns hotter than normal coal so you don't need much - 4 or 5 lumps is plenty and it will stay in overnight.
I tried some smokeless on our open fire and it wasn't nearly as good as I think the extra heat inside the stove gets it going relly well.
In an ideal world I'd have a good supply of free hardwood but until then I'll use a wood coal mix.
Got 5m³ turning up next Saturday. Wood store will hold most of it, the rest will form a work of installation art somewhere on the garden.
Thing is, coal costs, and at the moment wood doesn't. I have a free supply, which I just have to saw to the required lenth (about 12") and then split.
Moving the subject on, anyone know where I can get a Fiskars X27 for anything other than silly money?
A Fiskar X27?
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Harry, that'd be ideal, perhaps with the [i]slight[/i] issue of running costs. And probably being crap at splitting logs.
What I was looking for was an axe (no guitar-based jokes please, I've been up since 4am), more precisely a maul. The X27 is what I'm looking for, buut I've seen it at £125 in the UK, which is about £60 more than I'm prepared to pay.
Ideal for splitting logs. Finding them afterwards can be a chore.
x27 is on ebay germany at that price.
FunkyDunc - MemberIts a bit of a lottery finding a good supply of logs if your buying, we now have found a good one in the Bradford area.
Ohh. Would you be prepared to say where?
Just had a decent delivery of wood tonight, pre-cut and ready to go... £70. About 13 deep barrow loads it came in at.
Both me and my boy are sitting here without shirts on SWEATING ... !!!
We use Ravenroyd Farm in Bingley. £50 for a tonne bag, it can go straight on your fire. He only delivers north Bradford though I think as he turns up on his tractor. It's unlikely you will get any now though as he normally has about a 3 month waiting list as he only delivers on Saturdays.
Thanks. I'll see if they can deliver.
Ticklinjock - cheers for that. I've ordered one, and even with the not-inexpensive delivery charge it's still coming in at under £70.
Is there such a thing, wood weight and volume aren't constant!£50 for a tonne bag
Is there such a thing, wood weight and volume aren't constant!
It's a tonne bag, not a tonne of firewood. The bag is designed to carry a tonne of builders sand. Its usually 0.8 x 0.8 x 0.8 m
I use this bloke, known only as 'Log Man' on my phone - 0795 082 3505
He delivers around Harrogate but I *think* he is from further afield so he may deliver to Bradford too.
He was dead helpful and happy to drive through a farmer's field in his dumper to get to where I wanted them delivering (he delivers them by the mini-dumper load full - just brings it on a trailer and drives off). They have been very good and cut to a decent usable size.
I use a tree surgeon in Ilkley called Quinten Smith. About £70 a load, which is probably a tonne bag. Mixture of good dry hardwood and softwood.
Apologies for the thread drift, but has anyone burned eucalyptus? I think a neighbour's tree may be not be around much longer, and need to decide whether to offer help.
Apologies for the thread drift, but has anyone burned eucalyptus?
I live in Australia, so it's the main wood source here. Do you know its species - some burn very slowly and some less so. All smell lovely!