How much wood do I need?
Firewood is sold as a thrown m³. Here are some rough quantities of how much wood you may burn in a season, the average house would use approximately 10m³ a season.
If you have 1 to 2 fires a week:
- Approximately 3.5m³
If you have 2 to 3 fires a week:
- Approximately 7m³
If you have 4 to 5 fires a week:
- Approximately 10m³
If your fire is going all the time:
- Up to 14m³ or more
Wood Types
Pine Blocks: Good clean easy to stack, easy to light, kiln dried firewood for all fire types.
Split Pine: Is a low density wood, the older the tree the better the burning properties. Trees 30 years + have a high content of resin/gum which is a flammable product. Suitable for all fire types.
Split Macrocarpa: Is a low to medium density wood, it has a tendency to spark so is not suitable for open fires but well suited to box fires and pot belly’s.
Split Gum: Is a high density wood. It is very hot burning but requires a longer drying period than other wood so plan ahead and get it in early. Suitable for all fire types.
Tips:
To light your fire scrunch up newspaper, or I find if you tie the paper into a lose knot it doesn’t burn so quickly. Alternatively, use fire starters with plenty of dry kindling on top.
Once it is blazing well, add progressively larger pieces until you have established a good ember bed. Only then should you add split logs.
Also:
- Get your firewood early to allow maximum drying time
- Dry wood burns hotter and cleaner
- Keep your fire burning well – burning wood at a high temperature results in a cleaner burn
- Dry wood won’t soot-up your chimney as much
- Get your chimney swept regularly – this will keep your fire more efficient and reduce the risk of a chimney fire
No time like the Present
When to get your firewood in and how to store it
After a long cold winter the last thing you want to think about is firewood but believe me if you want seasoned dry wood for next winter this is the time to do it. As soon as your wood shed is empty fill it up, that gives it all summer to season. Seasoning firewood is like hanging your washing on the line! It needs to be stacked somewhere where there is plenty of airflow and it won’t get wet when it is dry. If you have a well ventilated wood shed with plenty of air flow your firewood can be stacked away wet or green. If you stack your firewood away in your garage or under your house you will need to season your wood to a certain degree first, this can be done by just leaving it outside to weather. The actual process of the wood getting wet and drying actually helps the seasoning or drying process.
Pine Blocks: Need to be kept dry, but if they do get wet it’s best to let them dry again before you stack them away or they might go moldy.
Split Pine: Can be left outside in the weather and season during the warmer months but then it needs to be put away or covered. Once seasoned it doesn’t like getting wet. If there is no airflow it will more than likely go moldy.
Split Macrocarpa: Is pretty hardy, it can be left out in the weather to season then put away. If it gets wet it won’t go mouldy like pine, but it pays to keep it covered so you’re burning dry wood not rain wet wood.
Split Gum: Really hardy can be left out in the weather for months to dry but eventually will need to be stored preferably somewhere with airflow as gum takes a good twelve months or more to dry.
If you don’t have a wood shed, this is another good way of storing your firewood (plenty of air flow around it, sitting on old pallets to keep it off the ground and an iron roof to keep the driving rain of) Bloody beauty, and cheap.
Here’s a good example of a simple wood shed. The vertical boards have gaps to let the air flow through and a concrete floor for keeping the wood clean and dry. This particular woodshed has a garden shed on the other end.
