wood burning stoves research

[PreppingPingu]

oh look ... new research saying that they aren't as bad as the gov told us they were

https://www.msn.com/en-gb/cars/news/woo ... ar-AATTN5N

The thing that makes me roll my eyes is the fact that you are only supposed to buy this super dried out wood now with low moisture content, but then you see folks storing it outdoors, with no covering from the elements so it re-gains some of that moisture that was driven off in order to sell it! Talk about false economy.

[jansman]

I took part in the original research ‘survey’. It was just a box - ticking exercise in reality.My final comment was that DEFRA had already made its mind up what the conclusion would be. It was so.

I suspect,in my cynical way, that the current energy crisis - soon to be a permanent crisis- has caused our leaders to realise that there are many who rely,and in the future,will rely,on solid fuel heating.

The link above mentioned outdoor burning.I did comment in the survey that bonfires,barbecues ,candles and anyone unfortunate enough to suffer a house fire should be subject to Eco- Puritan rules too.

Just gonna chuck more wood in the stove…

[British Red]

One of the great advantages of having a bit of land is that the new rules don't apply. If you take firewood in more than two cubic metres at a time, it doesn't have to be seasoned.

https://www.gov.uk/guidance/selling-woo ... in-england

That seems a lot but one decent tree is more than two cubic metres of firewood.

Cedar firewood by English Countrylife, on Flickr

We cut, split and stack into vegetable crates that, coincidentally hold 2 cubic metres - it's not nearly as much as it sounds - half a cord in American terms

Wood yard by English Countrylife, on Flickr

That said, I totally understand how frustrating it is if you haven't got the space. Heating and cooking with wood is space hungry, no two ways about it

[jansman]

One of the great advantages of having a bit of land is that the new rules don't apply. If you take firewood in more than two cubic metres at a time, it doesn't have to be seasoned.

https://www.gov.uk/guidance/selling-woo ... in-england

That seems a lot but one decent tree is more than two cubic metres of firewood.

Cedar firewood by English Countrylife, on Flickr

We cut, split and stack into vegetable crates that, coincidentally hold 2 cubic metres - it's not nearly as much as it sounds - half a cord in American terms

Wood yard by English Countrylife, on Flickr

That said, I totally understand how frustrating it is if you haven't got the space. Heating and cooking with wood is space hungry, no two ways about it

I am also fortunate in having enough space to store wood.It takes work and time,but then again,many of my neighbours put time and work in at the gym.I get a workout AND fuel.

[British Red]

Couldn't agree more. I have a hydraulic splitter but still resort to "maul and wedge" about half of the time. With nice straight grained stuff like beech that just "pops" it's quicker and with the monster 3' plus rounds it's easier than moving them frankly.

Honestly though, I don't saw much manually now. I have all manner of saws including one immaculate crosscut and one awaiting setting & sharpening, but if I'm honest, the chainsaws are just less like hard work now . It's still a good workout stacking the benches and setting the finished logs to season though.

Log bench by English Countrylife, on Flickr

Logs for seasoning by English Countrylife, on Flickr

[grenfell]

Good to see you know what you are doing with regards to drying the wood. To be honest having seen people burning wet wood , painted wood and treated wood and even plastic I have some sympathy with the regulations. If the minority can't or won't act sensibly then I suppose using the law seems the only way to go unfortunately for the rest of us.
I re-enact and in that community there is something known as English Heritage safety wood. They don't seem to understand the idea of supplying dry firewood and sometimes it's as if the trees have been cut a few days earlier and stored in a canal in the meantime. We got into the habit of taking wood with us to burn and taking their wood back home to use the following year.

[Vitamin c]

Good news or bad .

With the price rises i see many thousands of folk getting these fitted and skip divers like me getting my free wood life will get more and more competitive.
I can remember 26 years back when most of the area where I lived had open fires fist fights were not unknown on the local industrial estate every body wanted free wood .
Now and again I come across someone doing the same as me this is going to change.

[British Red]

Good to see you know what you are doing with regards to drying the wood. To be honest having seen people burning wet wood , painted wood and treated wood and even plastic I have some sympathy with the regulations. If the minority can't or won't act sensibly then I suppose using the law seems the only way to go unfortunately for the rest of us.

If anyone wants a visual demonstration of why wood has to be seasoned, I did a quick video on Instagram. The sap flying out of some freshly felled willow was hitting me in the face as I split it

https://www.instagram.com/reel/CY2TH93o ... hare_sheet

[grenfell]

Done similar myself , the chopping not the posting video bit. I remember as a kid helping dad cut and chop a birch. The sap was running out of that and at one point my father held a piece up and let it run into his mouth and then sucked at the log. Bit of a shock to a young lad as this was the first time I'd seen anything like that but a good way to introduce me to such a thing.