Make sure your wood is ready

People tend 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 this problem you should begin the seasoning process in the early spring if you want your wood to be ready by the next winter.

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.

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.

Economy

Some people have access to free wood from gardens and the local area, which is fantastic – this essentially means once you have installed the wood burner, you can heat your home for free!!

If you are using electricity to heat your home, getting a wood burner is a lot cheaper – so it really is a no brainer if you have somewhere to put it!

Can we help?

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