Fire wood Winter heat

[xplosiv1]

So earlier this year I installed a wood burning stove in my house, i've lit it up a couple of times just for fun but really havent had much use for it this time of year.

So getting prepped for winter I was looking to stock up some wood in one of my sheds, I'm guessing others on here have stoves and have used them a lot more than me I was wondering what type of wood the rest of you were using. Local supplier can get me kiln dried Ash, Birch, Beech or Oak.

[jansman]

Any of that will be perfect.Plenty of firewood is great, but make sure you have LOADS of kindling and tinder too.Starting the stove is as important as keeping it going.We use pallets for kindling,I break 'em up,run 'em through the bench saw and split into sticks with a hatchet.I store them in a plastic dustbin.Same with tinder,I use newspapers and all the waste paper and card packaging the house produces.Stored in plastic to keep bone dry.

[pseudonym]

As above....

Also get yourself a splitting maul and sledge ( mine are from Lidl) to split the bigger bits and a hand axe to make your kindling..

Beechwood fires burn bright and clear
If the logs are kept a year
Store your beech for Christmastide
With new holly laid beside
Chestnuts only good they say
If for years tis stayed away
Birch and firwood burn too fast
Blaze too bright and do not last
Flames from larch will shoot up high
Dangerously the sparks will fly
But Ashwood green and Ashwood brown
Are fit for a Queen with a golden crown

Oaken logs, if dry and old
Keep away the winters cold
Poplar gives a bitter smoke
Fills your eyes and makes you choke
Elmwood burns like churchyard mould
Even the very flames burn cold
Hawthorn bakes the sweetest bread
So it is in Ireland said
Applewood will scent the room
Pears wood smells like a flower in bloom
But Ashwood wet and Ashwood dry
A King may warm his slippers by.

Logs to Burn, Logs to burn, Logs to burn,
Logs to save the coal a turn,
Here's a word to make you wise,
When you hear the woodman's cries.

Never heed his usual tale,
That he has good logs for sale,
But read these lines and really learn,
The proper kind of logs to burn.

Oak logs will warm you well,
If they're old and dry.
Larch logs of pine will smell,
But the sparks will fly.

Beech logs for Christmas time,
Yew logs heat well.
"Scotch" logs it is a crime,
For anyone to sell.

Birch logs will burn too fast,
Chestnut scarce at all.
Hawthorn logs are good to last,
If you cut them in the fall.

Holly logs will burn like wax,
You should burn them green,
Elm logs like smouldering flax,
No flame to be seen.

Pear logs and apple logs,
They will scent your room,
Cherry logs across the dogs,
Smell like flowers in bloom

But ash logs, all smooth and grey,
Burn them green or old;
Buy up all that come your way,
They're worth their weight in gold.

[grenfell]

I've always thought that woodburners are more expensive to run if you have to purchase the fuel than say gas central heating. Luckily I've always been working with wood so offcuts have been my mainstay although with joinery offcuts burners do have a tendency to be on the greedy side. I always remember getting through 12 bags in one day although I was up early and went to bed very late. As said hardwood is better and working in restoration I had access to both new and old timber . Part of my work is gardening and I some times have to trim trees. I have a large pile of oak and chestnut currently drying in the stores. I also keep a eye open for other trees being felled or trimmed. A friend and myself recently salvaged as much as we could from a building site clearance ,oak , birch and sycamore . Then there's skips to check out. Non euro sized pallets are normally a one use product and aren't treated and end up being chucked so are worth picking up although I tend to steer away from painted or treated timber. Plywood burns ok as does mdf though some don't like the smell which can sometimes come from that. One other thing to give a miss to are paper bricks. Practically everyone who has tried making them , myself included , have decided they just aren't worth the effort put in.

[preparedsurrey]

Ply and MDF can burn with really dense black smoke and horrible smelling fumes. Otherwise virtually everything I burn is off cuts from carpentry work

[grenfell]

As above....

Also get yourself a splitting maul and sledge ( mine are from Lidl) to split the bigger bits and a hand axe to make your kindling..

Beechwood fires burn bright and clear
If the logs are kept a year...

But Ashwood green and Ashwood brown
Are fit for a Queen with a golden crown...

But Ashwood wet and Ashwood dry
A King may warm his slippers by....

But ash logs, all smooth and grey,
Burn them green or old;
Buy up all that come your way,
They're worth their weight in gold.

Curtesy of the ash marketing board

[pseudonym]

I've always thought that woodburners are more expensive to run if you have to purchase the fuel than say gas central heating.

They are, but....

With my old house radiators it's all on or off, so I can heat my living room from the wood burner when I just need that room heating.

When that heats up I can then just open the door and heat my hallway and stairs before bed.

Plus, they look good.

[grenfell]

Ply and MDF can burn with really dense black smoke and horrible smelling fumes. Otherwise virtually everything I burn is off cuts from carpentry work

Worst stuff I've ever had was some pallets supplied by the organisers of a re-enactment. It must have been treated because it gave off some very nasty smoke , really quite acrid. Thankfully organisers now when they supply provide decent hardwood although there's a joke about English heritage safety wood that seems to have been cut down the week before and stored in a lake until we get it . Doesn't burn at all without much effort so we tend to take some with us and bring home the new wood to dry out for next year.
One other thing to mention is the ashes. I riddle the ashes afterwards to remove any big lumps of clinker and go over with a magnet to remove nails etc and I'm left with a fine ash that can be used on the garden. I also throw any old bones on the fire too. Again the bones will crush down easily for the garden and as all the soft bits have burnt away there's no problem with flies or vermin.

[grenfell]

I've always thought that woodburners are more expensive to run if you have to purchase the fuel than say gas central heating.

They are, but....

With my old house radiators it's all on or off, so I can heat my living room from the wood burner when I just need that room heating.

When that heats up I can then just open the door and heat my hallway and stairs before bed.

Plus, they look good.

Oh yes I do agree and much prefer to be with one than without and for us at least the fuel is free. On the subject of looking good my sister in lard was decrying ours a while ago. Ours is , well , functional is probably the best word. We have a couple of metal buckets on the hearth with logs in but we also had a couple of bags close by , a small paper sack with ashes in , an old paint tin for any nails I pick out , and a bit of copper tube should I need to give it a bit of a blow to get it going better. " Looks a mess" she said and showed us a picture of her friend's . Neatly cut and stacked logs to each side and to cap it all little led lights surrounding the fireplace

[ForgeCorvus]

Worst stuff I've ever had was some pallets supplied by the organisers of a re-enactment. It must have been treated because it gave off some very nasty smoke , really quite acrid. Thankfully organisers now when they supply provide decent hardwood although there's a joke about English heritage safety wood that seems to have been cut down the week before and stored in a lake until we get it . Doesn't burn at all without much effort so we tend to take some with us and bring home the new wood to dry out for next year.
.

BTDT
One event I went to was at Easter and all the tents froze, on the second day the only source of heat (outside of the Medical tent or the computer servers in Event Control) was the supplied firewood... Willow so wet you got splashed with water when you cut it. Its the only fire I've ever lit that seemed to suck heat out of the air