Are You Picking The Best Possible Wood For Your Wood Burning Stove?

Here’s What You Should Be Looking For

What appeals to you about having a slow combustion wood burning stove? Perhaps it’s the great heat output, long burn times or the low emissions? Regardless of your reasons for owning a slow combustion fire, it is imperative that you use the right firewood. Choosing the wrong firewood can affect the performance of the fireplace and your enjoyment of it. The wrong wood won’t burn properly, deprives you of warmth, and the flames will be weak.

Prevent this from happening by making sure you always choose the right wood for your stove. You don’t have to be an expert in Australian tree types to be able to pick the right kind of wood. If you are buying it from a retailer, seasoned wood is the way to go. Now you just need to keep the following in mind – always pick the oldest wood available to you. Old wood is good because old wood is dry. This is known as seasoned wood.

Wood sold at stores for burning is usually sold by cord, which is the gross measurement of how long, deep and tall your wood pile purchase is. Your aim is to pick the oldest and driest cord from the pile in front of you. You can do this by looking for a few tell-tale signs of dryness and aging. These signs include cords that have logs with cracked ends and that are split. Choose wood that makes a cracking sound when they bump up next to each other.

The easiest way to pick out the cord that meets all these qualities is to use your common sense and select a cord from the bottom of the pile – not the top. This will be older and more likely to have the clean burning, long lasting qualities you are looking for.

Follow this wood picking advice and you’ll never go wrong. Winter will be filled with warmth and you’ll be cursing the coming spring.