Seasoned Firewood Makes a Huge Difference in How Your Wood Burns
Canadians are the type to take advantage of the outdoors year-round, especially if it involves huddling around a scorching fire. In the winter, you might have a backyard fire pit keeping you warm under a starry, snowy sky. In the summer, no camping trip is complete without a dancing flame and roasting a few marshmallows for s’mores. How can you ensure that your firewood is primed to keep you warm and make the perfect treats to bring your friends and family hours of enjoyment?
Keep it Dry
One of the biggest problems you can run into with firewood is if it’s wet or damp. Wet firewood is harder to get started, gives off more emissions and smoke, provides less heat, and has a much shorter burn time.
This can be avoided with proper prep of your firewood and that starts with a consistent cut. Also, it’s more convenient to use and store firewood if it’s the same length. If this seems like a tedious process, a firewood processor rental would eliminate a lot of the work involved since only little manual handling of the lumber is required.
Split After Cutting
Once cut, the next step is splitting the wood. A variety of sizes is helpful so that when kindling the fire, you can gradually build its size. Cutting and splitting the wood isn’t only important for building the fire, but for drying out the wood. If you are preparing large quantities of firewood to use throughout the following season, a rental processor will make this job quick and easy.
Store it in Piles
After the wood is cut and split, pile it in a single row exposed to sun and wind. If you need to create a few rows of wood due to space limitations, try to leave enough space between them for the wind and sun to reach all sides. If you want properly seasoned firewood that produces the best burning fire, you will need to start the wood preparation approximately six months in advance.
Another benefit to properly seasoned wood that’s not often thought of is the reduction in the possibility of mold. When properly dried, mold will not have a chance to grow in your firewood and therefore will not be released into the atmosphere around you, or your home if you are using your firewood in a wood stove.
If you and your friends and family enjoy a good fire year round, take the steps to ensure a strong burn: keep it dry, cut and split your wood (remember, you can shorten this process with the help of a processor rental), and properly stacked it to prepare for future use.