HEATING
From page 15
double cutting and handling
of longer logs into shorter
grate sized pieces.
Making firewood can be a
one-man task. Having an
assistant to handle the pieces
and do the stacking is helpful,
but requires the wielder of
the implement ~ chainsaw,
log splitter and axe ~ to be
much more vigilant as to
where he is pointing the saw,
axe etc, and where the
assistant is.
A felled tree produces a
remarkable quantity of scrub
~ twigs, leaves etc, and
material so small that it does
not warrant burning. This
should be trimmed away
from the firewood-sized
branches and stacked
separately to be shredded or
chipped later. The resulting
pile of chips or shredded
material can either be
composted or, better still,
used as mulch on your garden
and vegetable beds.
A neat woodpile fashioned out of used pallets
Experience with your
particular fireplace ~ its size
and how it draws air ~ will
tell you how well it burns
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wood of a particular size.
Remember that the principal
of combustion is that the
temperature of the fuel must
reach combustion point for it
to burn. Thus, if the fire is too
small, or its ability to draw air
so weak, that it cannot heat a
log sufficiently to combustion
temperature you will find
yourself constantly adding
paper, or blowing, in an
attempt to keep the fire
burning. Or you will simply
finish up with unburnt logs in
your fireplace.
Conversely, splitting the wood
into tiny pieces is also
counter-productive: firstly
there is the extra effort
involved in the splitting, and
secondly the wood will
simply burn faster, thus using
more fuel than necessary
each night.
Finally, you should try to
gauge how much wood you
will need through the winter
and prepare only that
amount ~ a difficult task,
granted, but a good thing to
do because wood cut and
exposed is more likely to
suffer from the attention of
wood borers in the summer
than logs with bark still intact.
By the same token, if you can
store your wood in a neat
pile under cover you are less
likely to be faced with a pile
of rotten, dusty, maggoty
matter well on its way to
becoming compost next
season, after having been
rained upon during the
summer.
And a neatly stacked
woodpile is less unsightly, and
takes up less space, than a
pile of stuff simply hurled
together.