Firewood – Seasoning and Drying Energy Efficiency Green wood will burn, but seasoned, dry wood has more heat value and will not deposit excessive creosote in chimneys and stovepipes. Any moisture in wood reduces the available heat because some heat is lost in the process of changing water to steam which then escapes, allowing the … [Read more…]
Firewood – How Wood Burns Combustion In any wood burning device, combustion (fire) changes wood into heat, chemicals, and gases. Hydrogen and carbon in the wood mix with oxygen in the air when wood burns. Complete combustion or burning produces water vapor, carbon dioxide, heat, and noncombustible ash. When incomplete combustion occurs, carbon monoxide, hydrocarbons, … [Read more…]
Firewood – Understanding Fuel Values Hardwoods and Softwoods Firewood is a popular choice for home heating due to its environmental benefits and low cost. There are many aspects of firewood that are unknown or misunderstood by the public so hopefully this post will be useful in that regard. In getting the most usable heat from … [Read more…]
Firewood – Understanding Some Basics Wood Qualities When considering the type of wood to burn, some characteristics other than heat value are often important. These characteristics include ease of splitting, ease of ignition and burning, extent of smoking, extent of sparking and coaling qualities. The wood’s moisture content and the number of knots in it … [Read more…]
Heating Your House With Firewood: Part 3 Importance of 20% MC In Part 2, we discussed the importance of drying to bring down the wood moisture content (MC) and increase its Btu yield. The longer the wood sits, the greater its risk of attack by insects. This is particularly true as long as the wood … [Read more…]
Heating Your House with Firewood – Part 2: Drying Importance of Drying In Part 1, we discussed the importance of wood moisture content on energy generated from burning wood (Btu). Freshly cut firewood will have a higher moisture content (MC). Therefore, the wood must be dried (or seasoned) to reduce the moisture content and increase … [Read more…]
Heating Your House with Firewood – Part 1: Getting Started Global Wood Use Most people do not realize that the primary use of wood in the world is not for building materials or paper but rather as an energy source for cooking or heating. This is particularly true in developing nations that are highly populated … [Read more…]
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