Where does the wood for wood burning stoves come from?
There is something very special about wood-burning stoves – mention them in conversation and people tend to ‘ohh’ and ‘ahh’ as they dream up romantic images of cuddling up by their warmth and glow on a cold, dark wintery night.
I know someone who distributes wood-burning stoves here in the UK. Over the past six months, they have had a surge of interest and sales due in the main part to the rising price of gas, and partly because burning wood in a proper wood-burning stove is seen as environmentally ‘right on’.
Orion Stove from ACR Heat Products
In theory, burning wood in an efficient manner should only release CO2 equivalent to the amount the tree absorbed during it’s growth, and wood is a renewable and potentially sustainable resource, unlike gas or coal. However there are other factors which can affect the efficiency and environmental credentials of a wood burner.
It’s really key that the wood is ’seasoned’ (ie dried) so the moisture content is low, otherwise steam is generated which can affect the burning process, resulting in a lot of soot (which can dangerously clog up chimneys/flue). Burning wood in an open fire is also much less efficient than burning it in a properly designed wood-stove, where the airflow is controlled and a process called ’secondary burning’ can take place, which greatly reduces the amount of smoke and fumes emitted.
So if you have a wood-burning stove or fireplace, where do you get your wood from? You might be extremely lucky and have your own woodland which can be sustainably harvested or coppiced to provide your fuel, or maybe you pay someone to deliver wood (seasoned or otherwise). However, the recent increased demand for firewood in the UK has led to an big rise in the price consumers pay, particularly for pre-seasoned wood.
To my utter dismay, I have learned that some companies are now drying fresh, unseasoned firewood in large, specially made ovens (I presume these are natural gas powered), in a bid to short circuit the natural drying process which normally takes a year or more. Whilst I appreciate that if you have just purchased a stove, you would be keen to use it and may not have built up a stock pile of seasoned fire wood, but this is so environmentally unfriendly – it’s like using double the amount of resources!
You might as well sod the wood and be burning natural gas as you are depleting precious fossil-fuels, as well as adding CO2 into the atmosphere, both at the drying stage and then again at the wood burning stage. How backward is that?
In case you are unsure which woods are best for burning, and how long they need seasoning, I found this old passage on the net somewhere (sorry, can’t remember where I came across it)…
Oaken logs if dry and old,
Keep away the winter’s cold;
Poplar gives a bitter smoke
Fills your eyes and makes you choke;
Elm wood burns like graveyard mould
Even the very flames are cold;
Apple wood will scent the room
Pear wood smells as flowers in bloom;
But ash wood wet and ash wood dry
A King to warm his slippers by.Beech wood fires burn bright and clear
If the logs be kept for a year;
Chestnut’s only good they say,
If for years, ’tis stored away.
Birch and firwoods burn too fast
Blaze too bright and do not last;
But ash wood green and ash wood brown
Are fit for a Queen with a golden crown!
So where do you get your firewood from?
Photo credit: ACR Heating Products
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Anthony says:
Nice to read a thinker, but remember to read,thaks
June 3rd, 2009 at 11:52 pm
Tony says:
Well thought trough piece, good critical thinking.
June 11th, 2009 at 6:18 am