Here’s that Wood You Ordered
May 8th, 2013 · 10 Comments · Posted in farming, Sustainability
A lovely job of stacking firewood in the truck
Sarah along with her teen-aged daughter and two cords of firewood arrived from Vermont right on schedule yesterday afternoon, slowly hauling all that wood up our long gravel driveway in a big, blue Dodge Ram dump truck.
Sarah is quite something. She operates the business with her boyfriend and there’s no messing around. But think of all the labor involved: first cutting the timber in the wood lot, then hauling it to a giant machine that cuts it to lengths and splits the logs into pieces. Then the wood has to be stacked on the truck–which measure two cords, according to Sarah–then driven 33 miles to our house outside Cambridge in Upstate New York.
Naturally, there is a story behind this wood. I’ll try to keep it brief.
Originally, my wife wanted to purchase an ultra-high-efficiency wood stove for our house. The greater the efficiency, the less wood we’d have to use and the less we would be spewing smoke and particulate matter into the atmosphere. We found such a stove (93 percent efficient) being manufactured in White Plains, NY. Unfortunately, that stove cannot not use logs any longer than 10 inches. And as Sarah explained, neither she nor any other firewood producer in our area would re-calibrate their machinery to cut logs that small. The smallest they cut their logs in these parts in 16 inches.
The stove dealer assured us we would find someone to cut our logs 10 inches if we paid them enough. But we looked long and hard and finally concluded that this is a clear case where wood stove technology has overshot the reality on the ground.
Are you listening, Environmental Protection Agency?
After settling on a stove that is somewhat less efficient (88 percent, we’re told), we called Sarah back and ordered the 16-inch wood. One headache averted. And doesn’t the wood look lovely in the back of the truck?
Guess who gets to deal with this pile of logs
Of course, it doesn’t remain in a lovely stack in the truck for long. Sarah pulled the lever and up went the dumpster. Pretty soon we had a huge pile of maple, oak and birch logs in our side yard.
Looks like somebody’s going to be busy re-stacking that wood on those pallets I mentioned yesterday.
Stay tuned….
Before enlightenment, chop wood, carry water.
After enlightenment, chop wood, carry water.
Susan, great to hear from you.
It’s that last thing you mentioned–carrying water–that has me worried. Although, I’m pretty much pooped out after spending the morning stacking firewood.
Hey Ed, you haven’t seen wood stacked neatly until you’ve walked around some of the little villages in Germany where they have wood sheds off the backs of their barns. It almost appeared they were having a “neatness” contest. Every piece of wood was exactly the same length and they were stacked in a way that was almost artistic. It was a sight to behold! Good luck with that pile : )
Thanks, Diane. Now that you mention it, I remember some pretty impressive stacking jobs in Switzerland, too. Think about how much of the world heats and cooks with wood. I guess I’m not the first person to learn how to stack. The pile never seems to end. It’s exhausting!
ah yes! heating by wood heats you many times over: when you fell the tree, when you cut it into log, when you split it, when you stack it — and finally when you burn it!
The wood piles I was most impressed with were in Quebec. The size and length of them were a powerful reminder of how cold and long winters are up there. But it looks like you already know that…
What we hear, Sylvie, is that winters in our part of the Northeast are not as cold as they used to be. But they’re still cold–and long–enough to make sure you’ve got enough wood to last. Plus, the wood needs several months at least to “season,” meaning dry out. That’s why we’re getting it now.
Yes, I did work up a sweat stacking that firewood. And guess what? Another load was just delivered, so I can start all over again. Except now I know a little more about it.
we heat by wood at our place too Ed. It took me a few years to really learn to use different trees for different purposes. Keith generally cut the trees in winter, split in spring and stack in summer.
Sylvie, it’s been pointed out to us that some trees yield more BTUs than others. The wood we’re getting–red oak, birch, maple–ranks fairly high. This is a good time of year to be laying up firewood as it has several months to dry. In fact, we apparently are paying a bit more to get firewood this time of year.
The fires produce much more smoke, and wood smoke is an unhealthy pollutant which can clog your chimney.
Well, Fire Bricks, I appreciate your concerns. Wood heat certainly is not ideal, but there’s no natural gas service in our area of the country. Many people use wood because the only other alternative is fuel oil, which is incredibly expensive and hardly sustainable in the long run. As to pollution from wood, that does depend a great deal on the efficiency of your stove. We plan to purchase a highly efficient stove. In addition, you can reduce your need for heating fuel by insulating your house well and taking advantage of solar effects. Our house, only five years old, is extremely well insulated and sited to take advantage of solar energy during the winter.
Until we can install a geo-thermal heating/cooling system, powered with solar panels, we are confident that we are doing our best not to contribute to global warming. Until the U.S. and other countries embrace the technology for “passive” homes–houses that are sealed well enough to require very little heating in winter–home heating is a source of CO2 any way you look at it.