Warm thoughts on a cold day

I'm thinking warm thoughts
on an extremely cold day.
It is still cold.

As I start a fire,
warmth overtakes the cold,
and it brings real change.

Thoughts alone do not
change a room's temperature.
A blazing fire does.

Local wood scavenging

Oak woodpile 

I'm part of the "scavenge local" movement.  Since I don't have a pick-up or trailer, I do my best to find wood within the radius of a block or so of our home.

Thankfully I was home yesterday morning when tree trimmers were working on the neighbor's oaks.  With the help of snowshoes I managed to cut and haul a pretty nice pile of wood.  I was amazed that there had to be at least a couple of feet of snow still on our sun sheltered backyard.

It was a "win-win". The tree service didn't have to haul the wood away, and once it is split and dried I get to use it for burning in my Jotul stove! It ALMOST makes me look forward to next winter.

Firewood and wood burning stoves

Splitting wood

Perhaps my love of firewood and wood burning stoves is genetic, stemming from my Norwegian ancestry.  I enjoyed reading an article in the New York Times, "Bark Up or Dow? Firewood splits Norwegians", about the popularity of burning wood in Norway.  Seems there is considerable controversy about whether or not the wood should be place bark up or down when it is stacked.

Our dog also loves the wood buring stove

We've got a Jøtul wood burning stove that we enjoy immensely throughout the fall, winter and spring months.  Radiant heat is wonderful.  I also like the experience of cutting, splitting and stacking firewood, most of which comes from trees around our block.

There is nothing much more relaxing than sitting by a warm blazing fire in the cool of winter reading a book or simply watching the fire burn.

By the way, I'm mainly a bark side up firewood stacker.

Tips for burning wood more cleanly

With the last couple of posts related to the benefits of wood burning and then the problems related to soot, the following posting seems in order.

Firewood

 There are several tips in the publication Wood Stoves and Air Pollution; Clean burning wood stoves minimize health risks produced by the New Hampshire Department of Environmental Studies to minimize the emission of soot from burning wood.

The biggest reason for a smoky fire is incomplete combustion.  This can be caused by an inefficient model stove, wood that isn't seasoned properly, burning of household waste, or a fire that isn't burning hot.  Following are some recommendations related to these common soot related issues.

1. Purchase an advanced combustion stove.  These stoves have catalytic combustors that ignite smoke gasses and particles at a lower temperature than older models, resulting in a more thorough burn. 
2. Store wood under cover to allow it to dry properly.  Then burn only wood that has air-dried for at least six to eight months, ideally hard woods, such as oak, maple, or ash.  
3. Don't ever burn household trash, such as plastics, magazines, etc.  Trash emits toxic fumes and may also result in hazardous ash.
4. Start fires in the stove with dry kindling and an open damper.  Gradually increase the size of the wood.  It is best not to open the wood stove door too often in order to reduce unwanted emissions indoors.
5. Don't allow the fire to smolder. A smoldering fire is the worst emitter of soot and pollution.  This can also lead to creosote deposits in the chimney, which in turn could result in a chimney fire.
6. Keep the stove well maintained by checking for leaks and cleaning the stack pipe and chimney.  

Stored wood and wasted resources

Wood gleaned from neighbor in raised beds

Yesterday I was salvaging fire wood from a neighbor's home. To do this required a a somewhat awkward phone call to my neighbor, who is a widow, asking if she might allow me to haul the old wood away.  Her husband had stored up a large, nicely stacked woodpile in back of their home, with anticipation of burning it sometime in the fireplace.

As one who regularly gathers and burns wood, I painfully watched this wood pile ever so slowly rotting over the past 5-10 years.  Even a hardwood, like my neighbor's oak, only stays hard so long before it turns "punky". This process is also know as splating. The fungi do their work to rot away the wood, which over time turns it useless for burning or woodworking.  Thankfully my neighbor's wood was not rotted to the point of being worthlessness for burning.

Jotul wood burning stove

This experience reminds me of a passage in the Bible where Jesus tells his disciples "You are the salt of the earth.  But if the salt loses it saltiness, how can it be made salty again?  It is no longer good for anything, except to be thrown out and trampled under people's feet." (Matthew 5:13).  We all have talents and resources that can benefit others, what a shame if we save them up for some later date that never comes.

PS  While some have concerns that wood burning releases CO2 into the atmosphere, it actually is CO2 neutral. Carbon stored in wood is emitted into the atmosphere as it decomposes.  So by burning wood, instead of carbon-producing fuels such as propane, or electricity from a coal-burning plant, it actually can reduce once's carbon footprint, depending on how much fuel is required to cut and chop the wood.

Gather wood, build fires

Wood pile

Home wood burning stove

I gather wood.

I build fires.

Oh what happiness.

Oh what joy.