Top-notch Firewood for Wood-Burning Stoves, Including Stack-up Strategies, Storage Solutions, and Flame-building Guidelines
Preparing for Winter: A Guide to Wood Burning
As the cold weather approaches, it's time to think about keeping warm and cozy. One popular choice for heating homes is wood burners, and understanding the best woods for burning can make all the difference.
Choosing the Right Wood
Hardwoods such as oak, ash, maple, birch, and beech are ideal for wood burners. They are dense, burn longer, and produce more heat compared to softwoods like pine, fir, or larch. Hardwoods also create less creosote buildup, reducing the risk of chimney fires and ensuring a cleaner, more efficient burn.
Oak and ash, in particular, are noted for their clean and consistent burn. Oak delivers slow and steady heat, while ash burns well even when not fully seasoned.
Key Characteristics of Hardwoods
- Density: Denser woods burn longer and generate more sustained heat.
- Heat output: Hardwoods like oak and beech provide extended burn times with steady heat.
- Clean burn: Hardwoods produce less smoke and creosote, enhancing safety and reducing maintenance.
- Moisture content: Seasoned wood with 15-20% moisture is optimal; kiln-dried woods, such as kiln-dried oak or birch, offer ready-to-burn convenience and high efficiency.
Best Woods for Wood Burners
- Birch, available at B&Q for £25.99 and Logs Direct for £25.99, produces a good heat but burns quickly. It is best used in a mix of slower-burning woods such as elm or oak. Unseasoned birch can cause deposits in the flue, and the bark can be used as a natural firelighter.
- Beech wood, when seasoned for three years, is a superb wood for burning in a wood burning stove.
- Cherry wood burns slowly with a good heat output and gives off a lovely aroma. It needs to be well seasoned, and strips of the bark can be used as natural firelighters.
- Ash tree wood, available at B&Q for £23.99, produces a steady flame, good heat, and burns well even when green. It can be burned on its own and is suitable for wood burners.
- Oak wood, available at B&Q for £17.99, takes a long time to season and burns slowly. It is best used in a mix of faster-burning logs and can help keep the fire burning at night.
Preparing Your Fire
To light a fire, start with a good layer of loosely rolled balls of newspaper, add a generous handful of kindling, and finish with the logs, starting with smaller ones and ending with the largest on top. When stacking firewood, keep it as dry as possible, never on the ground, under cover but open on at least one side, and stack it level to avoid any sloping.
Storing Your Logs
When ordering logs, be sure to store them properly, and stylishly, with indoor log baskets or outdoor log cupboards. To store logs indoors, consider using a log holder or similar indoor storage.
Enjoying Your Wood Burner
The fire pit or wood burner provides comfort during winter with a glow, flickering flames, cracking and popping sounds, and the smell of woodsmoke. Building a fire when you have a spare moment ensures it'll be ready to go in an instant whenever you need it.
By following these guidelines, you can enjoy a safe, efficient, and enjoyable wood burning experience this winter. Happy heating!
[1] Wood Burning Stove Guide [2] Best Firewood for Your Wood Burning Stove [3] Choosing the Right Firewood [4] The Best Firewood for Your Wood Burning Stove [5] Best Firewood for Wood Burning Stoves
- To complement the home-and-garden lifestyle during winter, consider nestling a wood burner in your landscape as a means to bring warmth and ambiance.
- Alongside a variety of plants and gardens, expand your home-and-garden space by storing logs in trendy indoor log baskets or outdoor log cupboards.
