Importance of Seasoned wood.
Wood + Fire = Heat. Burn any wood and it will do the job, right? Not exactly.
We have said it before, and we will say it again… You cannot buy seasoned wood!
It is a little known fact
There is a BIG difference between “dry” wood and “seasoned” wood. Dry wood infers that the water content is low. Seasoned wood is void of sap… and sap is what causes the thick, smelly soot that clogs up your chimney, dark smoke that blackens surfaces, and carbon build up on the fireplace window that obscures the view of your fire and casts a pall on the beautiful ambience you are trying to achieve!
Another very noticeable consequence
Burning unseasoned wood causes a distinctly lower heat output of a fireplace. Sap steals an enormous amount of the energy that the wood needs to deliver the amount of heat you need to warm your home. Most often, when clients complain that their fireplace is underperforming, we discover that they are burning the wrong type of wood (there will be another blog post on this topic) or that their wood is not seasoned.
Wood Suppliers
In Europe wood suppliers season the wood they sell before it is sold to the end user. Unfortunately, this is rare in South Africa as our “hout smouse” do not generally have the space to store up enough for all of the clients they serve and keep it for a year or two. It therefore falls on us to ensure that our personal stockpile is in the best condition for when we need it.
So, how does one get rid of this pungent, sticky heat-thief? While the solution is a very simple one, it does take time and a little bit of space. That said, at the end of the day, on those icy Winter evenings when you’re curled up on your couch with a cup of coffee, a book and a toasy-warm fire in the corner, you will thank me for this info!
The saying goes, “Wood is best seasoned in the seasons.” In South African conditions, one year of seasoning will suffice, so the best thing to do is get into the habit of buying your wood a year in advance at the beginning of each Winter season. Winter’s drenching rain, Summers hot sun and all of the wind in between will do the work for you, and you will have an immeasurably better experience by following these 3 simple steps:
- Order a bakkie-load of wood from your local supplier.
- Pack it – or have it packed – in a neat pile in your back yard out in the open where the weather can reach it. You could even make a feature out of it to enhance the aesthetic of your yard, if you like that sort of thing.
- Leave it to do what it does best… Season.
How can you tell if wood is seasoned or not? Wood-sellers will tell you that their wood is “dry.” Again, this is not the same as “seasoned.”
This is how to identify SEASONED WOOD:
- Pick up a log. The weight of the wood is noticeably lighter than you would expect. Sap-laden green wood is heavy.
- You cannot smell the sap anymore. The scent disappears as the sap is washed out of the wood.
- The colour of wood fades as it seasons. It becomes greyer, like drift wood on the beach.
- Knock two pieces of wood together, or drop a piece on a hard floor. You will hear the resonant “clunk” of seasoned wood. Green wood makes a dull “thud” sound.
- The bark will fall off of seasoned wood.
- Place a piece of wood onto red hot coals. If it begins to burn on the top and sides within about one minute, then it is well seasoned.
- Radial cracks form on the cut edges of the logs. When the sap dries out, there is no “glue” holding the wood fibers together.
- Seasoned wood does NOT splutter, pop or sizzle… Green wood does.
It is best to test your wood using a number of these methods and not just one, but the more boxes you can check on this list, the better!
Once you have mastered this simple process, your experience with your fireplace will be exponentially more pleasurable, and you this newfound knowledge of seasoned wood will impress everyone you invite to chat around the fireplace!
