Setting up a wood store

[d000hg]

NewHouse has a lot of trees and bounds on some woodland... So a continuous supply of wood from fallen branches, pruning and dead/fallen trees is to be expected. Lots of sycamore, leylandii, breech and oak as far as I see so far including several fallen trees.

I'd like to get self sufficient for our stove/fire fuel by setting up a woodstore, ideally from this winter if I can find enough dead wood lying around.

The north wall of our house has no windows and is nice and sheltered so seems a good option. I've seen online some people saying you don't need to cover wood at all while it seasons... Any thoughts on that or anything else? How to build the thing, how to store/organise the wood, etc?

 

[Tigercubrider]

A mate stores his under a carport "against" his neighbour's wall.
I use quotations as he doesn't use the actual wall, just uses the shelter.

Cutting all the wood to the same length helps stacking

Bear in mind that you can't wander onto woodland and remove wood. That is theft.

 

[d000hg]

I might see if I can see who the owner is... Either council or church land I think. There's a school of thought that leaving fallen trees is good for the ecosystem too.

 

[d000hg]

Our wall is also under a carport as it happens, an open wooden frame with stuff growing up it... So limited cover from the elements.

 

[John D v2.0]

I might see if I can see who the owner is... Either council or church land I think. There's a school of thought that leaving fallen trees is good for the ecosystem too.

Yes I knew someone who worked for the national trust maintaining their woodland and he said it's a real pain as they chop wood and leave it to rot down for the insects etc and everyone who passes by nicks a bit for the wood burner! Sometimes people even turn up with heavy lifting equipment and drive off with the lot.

 

[Doggit]

Wood needs to be at less than 18% to burn well, so ideally it'll be undrcover as it dries out. If it's left stacked but uncovered, then it'll get a bit wet, but if you bring it inside for about a week before you use it - as long as it's hasn't been rained on for a for too long - then it should be dry enough to use.

 

[JohnD]

and not in contact with the ground, which will promote rot and insect infestation.

 

[EddieM]

Wood needs to be at less than 18% to burn well, so ideally it'll be undrcover as it dries out. If it's left stacked but uncovered, then it'll get a bit wet, but if you bring it inside for about a week before you use it - as long as it's hasn't been rained on for a for too long - then it should be dry enough to use.

i don't think that is right, I read somewhere that the ideal moisture content for firewood is 20%.

 

[Doggit]

Most stove manuals say moisture content of less than 18%. A higher content produces steam that's actually hotter than the burning wood. But as kindling burns quickly because it's bone dry, I do wonder at times if there's an ideal mositure content of around 12%. If you buy kiln dried wood, then that's rated at 18% or less, but as you can only check the outer layer, I sometimes wonder how wet the kiln dried stuff really is in the middle. There's a stair company near me that gives away their offcuts for kindling, and I'm sometimes lucky enough to pick up oak bits, and they still need drying out.

 

[StephenStephen]

The lower the moisture content the better - any energy used to boil off moisture is energy which could be heating your room. Also, wet wood is less likely to reach the temperature needed to burn all the fuel in the wood. With dry wood you get more heat, less smoke, less buildup of soot in the flue, and I think less ash.
If you're into reading stuff, have a look at 'The Log Book' http://www.green-shopping.co.uk/the-log-book.html - it's a great read on how to use a woodburner including stuff on sourcing, seasoning and storing fuel. I reduced the moisture content of the wood I was using by storing it better - the woodburners light more easily, and use less fuel for the same heat output.

In terms of seasoning the wood, air flow is more important than rain protection - unseasoned wood is around 50% water - cover it and it can't evaporate.
A gap between the house wall and the wood is important - otherwise you're likely to keep both damp.
ideally a clear sheet of corrugated plastic on the carport to keep the rain off, chicken wire on battens or similar to keep a gap between the wood and the wall, and an old pallet or similar on the ground to keep air flow going under the wood.

 

[d000hg]

I had read you can over season wood; not the water content but some other stuff evaporating away?

 

[JohnD]

but this is for firewood, not for joinery.

 

[StephenStephen]

I had read you can over season wood; not the water content but some other stuff evaporating away?

JohnD is right, You want your firewood as dry as you can get it, the sugar in sap doesn't evaporate, and you'd never put water in your woodburner to make it burn better.

 

[EddieM]

JohnD is right, You want your firewood as dry as you can get it, the sugar in sap doesn't evaporate, and you'd never put water in your woodburner to make it burn better.

In terms of heat output makes sense I guess. In terms of pollution it's 20%

https://www.newscientist.com/articl...don-air-pollution-is-just-tip-of-the-iceberg/

 

[StephenStephen]

In terms of heat output makes sense I guess. In terms of pollution it's 20%

https://www.newscientist.com/articl...don-air-pollution-is-just-tip-of-the-iceberg/

This is intriguing - be interesting to see the science behind this particular statement (at the end of the article)