The summer months are good for seasoning logs

Acting now for a warmer winter

Wood stove owners have a tendency to underestimate just how much moisture firewood contains. Nothing will cause your stove to function less efficiently than to fill it with green wood, so to avoid the problem you should begin the seasoning process in the early spring if you want your wood to be ready by the next winter. To make life a lot easier you can buy a moisture content meter to measure your woods consistency, ask locally or search the www.

If you plan to use any wood that is larger than normal, you will need to set it out to dry even earlier. Essentially, you should be harvesting your wood about 18 months in advance of when you actually plan to burn it, if you want to guarantee that it will be properly seasoned.

Summer time is a great time to season wood, just make sure the air can flow round the stacked timber for efficient drying.

Season Your Wood Sensibly

Wood being dried should be stacked in open areas, under some kind of a suspended cover or roof, where it will be exposed to the sun and the wind. If you put it in a shed, garage, or outdoors in the shade, you will inhibit the seasoning process significantly. Of course, you have to be ready to wrap your wood completely with plastic if it rains, but if you add extra cover overnight you should only put plastic over the top and not over the entire stack.

One thing you should never do is put wood on the ground to dry; instead, you will want to pile it on rails so that air can circulate underneath.

Can we help?

If you would like some help choosing or installing a new stove please do make contact and one of our qualified fitters (HETAS registered) will be happy to assist.