Wood heating

An alternative in today's world?

Even the smallest members of the household can help with the firewood!

Depending on where you live, wood heating may or may not be a feasible alternative. If you have property with access to an abundance of wood to burn, it may make a lot of sense.

Controversy about burning wood for heat has led to significant advances in wood heating technology in recent years. Compared to older stoves or fireplaces, energy efficient wood stoves and fireplaces increase the amount of heat recovered and lower environmental pollution. As well, with high efficiency burning, you will reduce the amount of wood you use.

The efficiency comes from having an air tight burning chamber that controls the combustion by limiting the oxygen and thereby lengthening the burning time and providing a more even heat, and from a secondary combustion process that burns the smoke from the fire before it goes up the chimney. This results in lower atmospheric emissions.

Contrast that with a traditional fireplace, which is not energy efficient and increases airborne pollutants. As well, with older fireplaces and stoves the risk of chimney fires is greater as a result of unburned creosote coating the chimney.

We have an energy efficient wood stove at our lodge and it does an amazing job of heating up the main floor. And we're fortunate to have 12 acres of heavily wooded land so we have no shortage of firewood.

Purchasing firewood

If you don't have wood on your property that you can cut and split yourself, you will have to find a source where you can purchase it.

Firewood is generally sold in full cords or face cords. A full cord is three rows of 16" (41 cm) split logs measuring 4 feet deep by 4 feet high by 8 feet long. A face cord is the same dimensions for height and length but it's only one log (16"/41 cm) deep. I've read that you need to be careful as sometimes the logs are only 12 inches, which means you are not getting the full value of the cord or face cord.

Firewood should be stacked and covered and allowed to season for six months to a year to dry. Plan to buy wood that has aged for a season, unless you can store green wood and let it dry. You should pay less for green wood.

How much wood you will need?

This will depend on many factors such as

• the size of your cabin
• its insulation
• the efficiency of your stove, fireplace, or boiler
• the kind of wood you are burning (hardwood burns longer and hotter)
• how often you use your wood heating - all the time in cold weather or just intermittently
• how cold the winter gets

If you've been through one season using wood heating, you'll have a pretty good idea of your needs.