More about Wood Stoves

Condition of the wood for burning.

All woods burn better when seasoned and some burn better when split rather than as whole logs. Seasoned wood is much better for your wood burning stove and the chimney. Using un-seasoned wood produces tar deposits which can block up your chimney, causing reduced draught and reduced working conditions.
Waste wood or dirty, decayed and very wet wood requires energy for drying, produces less heat and reduces the service life of the stove. You can only achieve maximum heating performance of the stove (nominal output) and minimum emissions by using dry wood. The simplest way to remember this is, 'you can't burn water'!

Wood takes a very long time to dry in the British Isles because of the atmosphere has a high humidity but you can shorten the time considerably if you store the wood correctly. By splitting the logs you break the waterproof bark layer and open up the growth rings plus it makes stacking the wood safer as it won't roll!

As an operator of a wood heating system, you can considerably influence its efficiency and emissions. A minimum of emissions can be achieved by burning well dried, split wood. The huge influence of water content upon the thermal value is made clear by the following diagram

Storing logs.

Storing the logs in a log store is ideal but anywhere in the open is acceptable as long as:

1. the pile must be lifted from the ground by bricks or concrete blocks with spaces between them
2. The logs need to be stacked split side down and at right angles to the previous layer to stabilise the pile.
3. There must be a water proof cover over the top but not tucked in as air needs to circulate.
4. Always remember to take from the top not from the end as this causes the pile to slide.

Which wood to burn.

There are many types of wood and this can be confusing as to which to burn on your wood burning or multi fuel stove stove. Here follows 2 poems by anonymous poets outlining the best wood to burn and the way that it burns. Followed by a list of different kinds of wood and their properties. Please make note that in the poems it does mention burning damp wood and we as a company and our manufacturers strongly advise you DON'T burn damp wood as the reasons explained above. Remember, 'you can't burn water'!

In general the better woods for burning that you are most likely to come by (including non-native species) are:

Apple and pear - burning slowly and steadily with little flame but good heat. The scent is also pleasing.
Ash - the best burning wood providing plenty of heat (will also burn green but you should not do this!)
Beech and hornbeam - good when well seasoned
Birch - good heat and a bright flame - burns quickly.
Blackthorn and hawthorn - very good - burns slowly but with good heat
Cherry - also burns slowly with good heat and a pleasant scent.
Cypress - burns well but fast when seasoned, and may spit
Hazel - good, but hazel has so many other uses hopefully you won't have to burn it!
Holly - good when well seasoned
Horse Chestnut - good flame and heating power but spits a lot.
Larch - fairly good for heat but crackles and spits
Maple - good.
Oak - very old dry seasoned oak is excellent, burning slowly with a good heat
Pine - burns well with a bright flame but crackles and spits
Willow - very good - in fact there is growing interest in biomass production of coppice willow as a fuel.

What wood not to burn.

Poplar - avoid all poplar wood - it burns very slowly with little heat - which is why poplar is used to make matchsticks.

Be careful with scrap wood. We know that broken up pallets have been used but even with this seeming innocuous wood there can be problems from unpleasant spitting to the release of fumes. Remember that most pallets, decking, scaffolding boards and any thing other than logs is likely to had had some form of chemical treatment.

Iin particular scrap wood with varnish or paint upon it should be avoided. not just because of the unpleasant smells that will be released, decidly unhealthy fumes but also because the heavier deposits from the chemicals will most likely not make it out of your chimney and so cause a potential fire risk.

Useful conversions.

Wood Moisture Comparison:
Water content (wet basis) 15%, 20%, 25%, 30%
Wood moisture (dry basis) 18%, 25%, 33%, 43%

Conversion Factors:
1 litre of heating oil generates 2.676 kg CO2
1 litre of heating oil corresponds to 2.5 kg of wood
1 kg wood (w = 20 %) generates 4.0 kWh/kg

1000 Litres of Heating Oil Corresponds to:
Approx 5 - 6 rm hardwood, stacked log wood
Approx 7 - 8 rm softwood, stacked log wood
Approx 10 - 15 srm wood

Explanations and Abbreviations:
1 srm = 1 m3 of poured wood (loose)
1 rm  = 1 m3 of stacked split wood (stere)
1 fm  = 1 solid metre of wood (without gaps)

Some poems with wood as the theme.

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