2024 Author: Gavin MacAdam | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-16 13:38
If there is a stove in the country, it means that firewood will also be needed for it. At the same time, it is important to ensure that the firewood is of high quality, because not only the proper operation of the firebox, but also good combustion of the wood, enveloping the house with pleasant warmth, to a large extent depend on it. And so that there is always enough firewood, and they do not lose their basic properties, it is important to learn how to store them correctly. How can this be done? Let's figure it out
What kind of wood do you prefer firewood from?
Oak, acacia and birch are considered to be the best types of wood for the preparation of firewood. In any case, deciduous trees will always be preferable to conifers - conifers are very rich in various resins, and if the firewood from coniferous trees is poorly dried, they will smoke and release these very resins into the air, which in turn will begin to settle on the walls of the chimneys.
What should be the firebox?
In order to keep the logs in their best shape, the firewood box located on the street (and most summer residents store firewood in the fireboxes) must meet three main conditions: the logs must be properly stacked in it, reliably protected from precipitation and well ventilated.
In order for the destructive moisture for wood to evaporate as quickly as possible after rainy days, it is best to equip the firebox from the south side of the house - this is where the largest amount of sunlight penetrates. However, in the absence of an opportunity to place a firebox in the south, it is quite possible to make it in the southeast or in the southwest. Moreover, it can be either a free-standing structure or adjoin one side to a fence or a house. Most often, the fireboxes nevertheless adjoin directly to the house - this approach allows you to save space on the site.
How and from what to build a firebox?
In fact, a firebox is a canopy and a shelf on which logs are placed. In most cases, it is built from a bar and planks or a steel corner. Also, when building a firebox, it is important not to forget that the shelf on which the logs will be placed should not be solid - a good shelf should allow the logs to be ventilated from below. When arranging a shelf, many summer residents manage with a couple of longitudinal perches, as well as narrow boards and beams, between which a distance is maintained that allows them to reliably hold the logs and withstand their sometimes considerable weight. And it makes sense to deepen the support posts into the ground by about 0.7 m or even a little more.
As for the canopy, it usually looks like a simple gable roof, which can be built both from slate and from any other material that previously covered the buildings in the country. You can also attach a shed canopy to the firebox, but in this case it must be equipped with a slope: either backward (for free-standing firebeds) or forward (for firebeds adjacent to the house). And the edges of the canopy should protrude beyond the structure in such a way as to completely exclude splashing from the flowing water onto the logs. Observance of such simple rules (a properly built strong canopy and unhindered air circulation between the logs) allows you to provide firewood with proper storage conditions even in the most inclement weather!
How to stack firewood?
The thinner the logs, the sooner they will dry out, respectively, it is best to chop them in the form of small elements, and not store them in a firebox in the form of an impressive size of logs. Thin twigs (brushwood) should not be thrown away - they will later be useful for lighting.
There are several ways to lay rows of logs in the firebox. You can fold all the wood in one direction, trying to observe the gaps between them, or you can arrange each subsequent row perpendicular to the previous one (also observing small gaps within the rows). Another option is to stack firewood in a circle in one direction (this method of stacking is called a "stack"). The most important thing is that regardless of what kind of stacking method was chosen, in no case should firewood and brushwood be stacked too tightly: if the air circulation between them is disrupted, they will slowly rot.
Why is it not recommended to store firewood in a shed?
Some summer residents consider keeping them in a barn the best way to store firewood, but this is far from the best solution - if there is a lack of light, fungus and mold will begin to form on the wood. Optimally dry wood will only remain when stored outdoors! Of course, it is possible to allocate a small room in the house for these purposes, but in this case, you will have to take care of the organization of round-the-clock proper ventilation, which is not always possible.
And before sending firewood to the stove, it is recommended to keep them indoors for at least a day - most often they are laid next to the stove, but a little further from the firebox (this is required by fire safety rules). You can even build special niches for storing such "portions" of firewood or purchase a decorative outdoor firebox.
What secrets of storing firewood do you know?
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