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.

 

[Green Chile]

If burning a couple to three times a week, and 4-6 hours at a time, I think you’ll need a good bit more than 1/4 cord. Our “season” is much longer in Alaska, but also burn in a Nordic soapstone, masonry style stove that has a smaller firebox and burns pretty efficiently. I cut or have wood cut to 12-14” length to fit the smaller firebox and accordingly use less at a time as well. Even with that, we burned a bit over two chords last winter, which was an overly warm winter to boot. I’m in south central Alaska and our new place on the lake is only a few miles from the coast, so not the deep freeze of the interior. We don’t burn as primary heat, more ambiance and supplemental heat in our sunroom that’s 270-degree floor to ceiling windows.

Wish we had option to burn oak and hickory or other hardwoods. Most folks are burning spruce from all the standing dead due to spruce bark beetle, and I burn some as well, mostly because it starts so easily and it’s super, super cheap right now, but I burn birch mostly. We have a fire at least twice a week, and weeks we have our girls and home on a weekend vs off skiing, then may have fires 4-6 days a week, with one going most of the weekend.
View attachment 729351

I lived in Ft Yukon, Alaska (above the arctic circle) for several years and would cut wood all summer long from the Porcupine river. After the ice went out and the water levels dropped, there would be fallen trees all over the gravel bars. I would go up river and cut full length to fit my boat...bring it back to my ATV and trailer and put that in the yard. Every summer a couple of work teams from Lower 48 churches would come up to spend a week with me to cut firewood and do various updates on the buildings. The first year I was nervous about how much wood to have on hand for the long winter. We had an oil heater in the church and 2 story house but it would need a lot of wood to supplement it and you know fuel oil isn't cheap in the village. We cut 30 cords and used almost all of it. So each year we cut 30+ cords and I never regretted having that much on hand. It was mostly spruce and not great but what we had.

 

[Jefferry404]

as previously note, the fireplace is more for ambience, has a swing arm for the cooking pot...
but the cast iron in the game room, is another story
We do live at 9500ft in the mountains but usually only have fires for the mood.

 

[HankBuck]

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!

@Alistair - having a Fire is great and theres nothing as comforting as the heat from a wood fire place or wood stove. I’ve always had fireplaces in my homes and wood stove in my cabin —- wood stoves much more efficient and can easily heat an entire 1500 sf cabin. No need to “over think” what type of wood to get - any “hard wood” that’s seasoned for 6 months to a year will work fine and I never noticed a different ‘smell’ between the various hardwoods burned (Oak, ash, maple, cherry, etc..) they all smelled great and you shouldn’t be getting much smoke in the room anyway. How large the split logs are is more of a factor and I always used the “largest” that my fireplace or wood stove could accommodate = fire lasts longer with bigger logs….a few smaller ones to help get it “started”.
Regarding where to locate your wood - always as close to where you will be burning it as possible ie: Not down in your basement if you need to then lug it upstairs and Not a 100+ feet away from your house —- as carrying the wood becomes a “chore”. I had mine stacked in a ‘rack’ about 10’ long x 4’ deep x 4’ high. That would easily hold a full cord (4’x4’x8’). I covered the wood with a tarp over the top and half way down sides to keep rain off but allow air to circulate. I also kept it close to but Not up against the side of the house (bugs & mice love a log pile). Then inside the house a “Wood box” to hold 1 -2 days worth of fire wood.
There are many other ways - my cabin required wood for All heating so 3 cords a year were burned and that was with me only there weekends or a few weeks at a time. For your occassional fires —- for “enjoyment” you can make your life easy.. Enjoy your fire place !

 

[DaddyFlip]

I don't burn wood, but I keep a good supply split 'n stacked as trees in the yard fall or need to be cut for whatever reason. Hard to give away wood where I live-haha. I like doing it even if I don't need it. I just stack on free pallets as shown and keep covered. Covering isn't absolutely necessary but I like it dry-dry. I would start with a cord also. That's a full cord stacked as two 1.5 facecords on three pallets on the right. The other four stacks make up about another 1.5 cord. White and post oak. I've thought about getting one of those solo stove things for the backyard just to burn it all.

 

[Hornedfrogbbq]

It's harder to do in Texas but we buy cords of hickory. Smell great in the fireplace, the fireplace and then we cook/smoke using it all year long. We usually buy 2 cords at a time but we burn big fires for days.

 

[BonUm16]

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.
View attachment 729483

Bit surprised it took to the second page before Locust and Osage showed up in someone’s list. I don’t see near as many “monkey brains” smashed on the roads as I used to and haven’t been scraped up by a locust in years. Seems all the things that were so common when I was young aren’t near as abundant as I age.

 

[steve white]

Don't burn Bois de Arc in your fireplace unless you want burn holes in your carpet or worse. That stuff can spit sparks through a screen. Also avoid mesquite unless you have certified high temp brick. It will get a nail white hot--oak will only forge it red hot. It will damage old brick.

 

[Biddleman]

I heat our 1840 stone farmhouse exclusively with wood. I live in PA and burn 4.5-5 cords a year oct-end of april, sometimes may also
Primarily first thing is to be sure wood is dry. NOT "seasoned" you season food, not firewood. Splits could be dumped in a pile for 4 seasons and not be dry. Try to get under 20% moisture, the drier, the better.
Keep it stacked and top covered, not side covered. Airflow and sun is your friend.
Oak is good firewood, just be sure it's dry. Takes about 2.5 years in this area for oak to get to 20% moisture.

If you can find black locust, that will give you a hot and long burn. Locust is better than oak in my opinion. Dries faster and has good BTUs, but Im burning for warmth, not just atmosphere.

 

[steve white]

I heat our 1840 stone farmhouse exclusively with wood. I live in PA and burn 4.5-5 cords a year oct-end of april, sometimes may also
Primarily first thing is to be sure wood is dry. NOT "seasoned" you season food, not firewood. Splits could be dumped in a pile for 4 seasons and not be dry. Try to get under 20% moisture, the drier, the better.
Keep it stacked and top covered, not side covered. Airflow and sun is your friend.
Oak is good firewood, just be sure it's dry. Takes about 2.5 years in this area for oak to get to 20% moisture.

If you can find black locust, that will give you a hot and long burn. Locust is better than oak in my opinion. Dries faster and has good BTUs, but Im burning for warmth, not just atmosphere.

Don't BURN black locust--that stuff is rare. I know bow makers that would pay you good money for that for the shorter laminate sections/handle of a traditional bow. Wow.

 

[Biddleman]

Don't BURN black locust--that stuff is rare. I know bow makers that would pay you good money for that for the shorter laminate sections/handle of a traditional bow. Wow.

Black Locust isn't rare. My property is loaded with live and standing dead black locust. Hell, it grows along the roads everywhere here. It will grow in any type of soil, clay, sand, rock, whatever. It's actually pretty invasive.
You can send those bow makers my way. They can pay me the good money, but the smart ones, will just get the black locust laying along the road.

 

[375Fox]

Don't BURN black locust--that stuff is rare. I know bow makers that would pay you good money for that for the shorter laminate sections/handle of a traditional bow. Wow.

We have it everywhere in NW PA

 

[375Fox]

I don't burn wood, but I keep a good supply split 'n stacked as trees in the yard fall or need to be cut for whatever reason. Hard to give away wood where I live-haha. I like doing it even if I don't need it. I just stack on free pallets as shown and keep covered. Covering isn't absolutely necessary but I like it dry-dry. I would start with a cord also. That's a full cord stacked as two 1.5 facecords on three pallets on the right. The other four stacks make up about another 1.5 cord. White and post oak. I've thought about getting one of those solo stove things for the backyard just to burn it all.
View attachment 729625View attachment 729626View attachment 729627

This is what the OP should consider. That’s proper way to stack firewood. Buy a delivered pickup truck load or two at a time from Facebook marketplace. Stack on pallets you can usually find free by curb. Cover with plastic tarps.

I’m always impressed seeing your set up. My system isn’t as pretty, but less work. I stack green wood on pallets to season and dry for a year then I split and move to a pile I made from telephone poles and wire to keep the wood off the ground. I mainly cut maple and cherry because that’s most readily available on my land. I also cut oak and locust as I have opportunity. I also cut a lot of yellow poplar if easy to get to, but it burns quick and will rot faster than other wood, so it never goes in pile and always gets burned that winter.

 

[steve white]

We have it everywhere in NW PA

Sure it's not Honey locust?

 

[375Fox]

Sure it's not Honey locust?

I’ve never heard of honey locust. This is what google says and what they look like when younger and older. All the old fence posts are locust because it doesn’t rot. They generally grow back fast too.

 

[DaddyFlip]

This is what the OP should consider. That’s proper way to stack firewood. Buy a delivered pickup truck load or two at a time from Facebook marketplace. Stack on pallets you can usually find free by curb. Cover with plastic tarps.

I’m always impressed seeing your set up. My system isn’t as pretty, but less work. I stack green wood on pallets to season and dry for a year then I split and move to a pile I made from telephone poles and wire to keep the wood off the ground. I mainly cut maple and cherry because that’s most readily available on my land. I also cut oak and locust as I have opportunity. I also cut a lot of yellow poplar if easy to get to, but it burns quick and will rot faster than other wood, so it never goes in pile and always gets burned that winter.

That tel pole pile is nicely aged; that's a good setup. I generally split green, within a few months. This big post oak was cut August 2024 and I was finished processing it by January 4 of this year. Held it together with a strap for almost four years but I didn't want it to uproot. The base of the tri-trunk was 56 inches; that's a 32-inch bar on the saw for scale. The small stuff gets made into 9-inch splits for small smokers (back right corner of third pic). Medium limbs are the four rows of 16-inch splits and the large stuff is on the front in 18-20 inch splits. I have a YardMax 35-ton hydraulic I can move to the rounds and split on location, then I haul the splits to the stacking place. I have two hickory trees that have been aging in rounds for several months I'll get to in a little while.