Fireplaces & Firewood

[Alistair]

The fireplace in question!

 

[Hogpatrol]

We heat with an airtight. Up until last year, I cut all the wood needed and that's about three cords a year. I take what I can get from the local farms but burn mostly ash, oak, locust, walnut, cherry, apple, hickory, mulberry and when I can get it osage orange, the highest BTU wood. Walnut stinks but the others are ok for odor. Agree to use two year old wood. All mine stays outside with just the top row covered. If you can find a sawmill, scrap wood can be usually bought cheap. The last two years, have been buying scrap wood from a pallet company, That consists of oak and ash blocks for $35 a pickup load. The pile in the photo is one load stacked neatly in the truck. Sometimes get lucky and a horse farm will be replacing their fencing with pressure treated posts and I get the 1 by 8 oak rails and locust fence posts, no seasoning necessary.

 

[Ontario Hunter]

I burned birch in our furnace but it is very hot. Easily overheated the house. Thermostat controlled damper did help but also made the furnace burn dirty. Eventually I switched mostly to jack pine (almost the same as lodgepole pine). It burns hotter and seemed easier to control. Also lighter and easier for my tiny late wife (4'10" & 80 lbs) to handle during the months/years I was working/studying out of town. I just made sure to periodically burn out the creosote. Light some cardboard in the chimney. That usually got the neighbors' attention. Stinks and quite the show out the top of chimney, especially at night. I had a water tap and hose a few feet away from the furnace in case the "controlled burn" got out of hand. Never did.

 

[Rifleman97]

Hello chaps.

Winter is well and truly upon us here in WI, so my mind has turned to firewood.

My fireplace is mostly an aesthetic thing. I like the appearance, the smell, the noise, and the coziness, but realistically it isn't a primary heating source. It's a fairly large, totally open grate fireplace with an excellent draw. To be perfectly honest it's probably pulling as much heat up the chimney as it's putting into the room. The advantages of old, brick built Tudor-revival style houses.

I muddled through the last couple of winters purchasing bundles from the gas station on an ad-hoc basis, which worked fine, but this year I'm thinking I want to use my fireplace a bit more regularly and should probably buy some wood in bulk.

A few questions to those with more experience with that.

Firstly, how much is a reasonable quantity to last a season, assuming a couple burns a week, call it 4-6 hours each? I'm thinking a 1/4 cord should be sufficient? This is WI, so I'm using it now, and I'll still want to use it in late March.

Do you have specific recommendations on type of wood I should consider? Oak seems a default choice, but open to Cherry, Hickory, or whatever if it's worth it. Again, smelling nice, looking pretty is as important as actual heat output, but it does need to chuck out enough to make the room feel cozy. I'm happy to do some tending of it, but something that'll last a little while without stacking on more logs would be welcome. Price isn't really a factor, I'm not using much and there doesn't seem to be meaningful differences either way.

Where are you guys storing your wood, and do you have a recommendation on a storage frame or similar? I can set something up in the basement, or outside, and am happy to spend a few hundred bucks for a convenient solution. I'll probably buy kiln dried stuff for the most part, so bugs etc shouldn't be an issue if storing inside.

Cheers!

All of the species you listed are great. Also Ash, sycamore, etc.

I’m not sure of anyone that sells 1/4 of a cord, but you can get 1/3 of a cord and will probably suit you better anyway, it’s called a “face cord” meaning it’s 4 feet tall, 8 feet long, and the “average” length of a piece is 16”. A full cord is 4x4x8, which is around 3 face cords.

All that said, if you burn a fireplace up to let’s say 18-20 hours a week, you’ll probably go through a face cord pretty quick, faster with the faster burning woods. I’d get 2 face cords to start and measure how much you burn over about 2 weeks, and from there you can extrapolate how much you’ll need for the winter.

 

[Scott CWO]

Thanks guys.

Sounds like I've underestimated the amount.

I think I'll kick things off with a cord then, see how things go. If there's anything left it'll keep for next year.

I can plan to store along the wall of the garage I think, probably easier for unloading and it'll stay dry in there.

Oak seems a decent starting point, and maybe I'll pick up some other types for interest in the future.

To a couple points above, no, just lighting a fire for a few hours every now and again is not an efficient way to heat the house. I know that, but I also don't care. I have a perfectly effective furnace for keeping things warm, this is just for 'the vibes' to enjoy on cold nights with a book and a glass of whisky!

The chimney is in good shape. I got it cleaned and inspected back in September, same as every year. No issues there.

Cheers!

Sounds like you got it about right. Yes, get one cord and go from there. I grew up in a home with a wood furnace and a fireplace. We used oak and it worked well.