Wood Burning Stoves

Overview: Using a wood burning stove to supplement home heating can be very economical if you live in a region, where firewood is plentiful.

Although all types of wood may be burnt in a wood burning stove, hard wood is preferred such as oak and maple. Birch and popular although somewhat softer is a good source. Hardwood produces the most heat or Btu and burns cleaner with fewer residues than soft wood. Soft woods are lower in Btu content produce lest heat.
The amount of heat obtained from wood is directly proportional to its moisture content. For maximum Btu output, the wood should be dried to less than 20% moisture content by weight. Wood higher than 20% is generally considered green (high moisture content per weight) and is not suitable for burning.

Not only will green wood produce less heat, it burns poorly and produces high levels of particular matter called soot, which dirties the chimney and is the primary cause of chimney fires. If the stove is an airtight stove there is less particular matter emitted because some of the smoke or gas is brunt before it enters the chimney.

It takes approximately 8 to 12 months to dry firewood to less than 20% moisture content providing it is split and stacked in sunny area. Wood must be split and stacked for proper drying. Stacking is usually in rows or in a Holz Hausen (a round wood house stile stacked pile). Stacked wood should be covered during the drying period.