Help to estimate firewood quantity..

[Mark lanark]

Hi, I recently bought a property and have been trying to get as much firewood away over the last 2 weeks to let it season out for next year, I have 3 stoves in just now but will eventually have another couple so trying to ensure i have brought away. I’ve split everything I had acquired over the last couple of weeks and the photo shows it split in an old lean too that was here. It’s roughly 2x2 m 

[Paul in the woods]

Firstly, from the photo there doesn't look like much airflow to season what you have. I stack mine in the open at this time to get the sun and wind through it.

 

It's hard to say how much you need as I don't know your requirements. I just have a single wood burner but it's our main heating in a poorly insulated house. We easily get through 5 cubic meters and could do with having 10 cubic meters a year.

[cessna]

26 minutes ago, Mark lanark said:

Hi, I recently bought a property and have been trying to get as much firewood away over the last 2 weeks to let it season out for next year, I have 3 stoves in just now but will eventually have another couple so trying to ensure i have brought away. I’ve split everything I had acquired over the last couple of weeks and the photo shows it split in an old lean too that was here. It’s roughly 2x2 m 

You MUST get some airflow around that wood to at least stop it going mouldy !!!!!!     

[Mark lanark]

Thanks for the advice, new to this so still working out the best way of doing things. I have a good few surplus pallets, Do you think I’d be better building cubes out of pallets and storing the logs in them with a cover over top? Thanks, mark 

[Dan Maynard]

I would season your wood outside in pallets and then bring a winter's burning in to the lean to in September/October before the weather turns so that it stays dry over winter for burning. Put some pallets over the floor first so as to keep damp out of the bottom.

I have mostly IBC cages, these work really well as airflow is good but the only snag is getting the logs out after. If you are building from pallets I would suggest put three sides around a base but leave the front off with maybe a couple of low planks across, that way will be easy to lean in after and grab the logs.

[muttley9050]

That would work. If I was you I would be looking at loose stacks outside to seaso, essentially lying where you split it, then bring it in to the shed when ready to burn. If you have no way of Mechanically moving it though, your pallet idea would be cheap and stop the need for moving.

Or if you can take the side and end off the lean to and replace with a pallet wall down side. Then it would have plenty of air flow in the shed

If I had 5 burners I wanted to keep stoked all the time in winter I would want 4 times that amount of wood. If you just burn for romance then you may have enough.

 

 

 

 

 

 

[Mark lanark]

Once again. Thanks for the advice, when you say to leave on top of pallets where it’s been split before bringing in before burning, do you mean just to leave out airing without any cover? The ibc cages were my original thought but have plenty of pallets to hand for just now. Also I don’t (yet) have any mechanical means of moving, once I do it should be a lot easier. I take it that a square pallet cube wouldn’t be far off a m3? 

[Andrew L]

Yes, cover to protect from worst of rain and raise off the deck but leave airflow so the logs can dry out.

 

It sounds as if you are planning to heat your place only with logs?  If so, I can highly recommend this book (£4.99 digital or about 3x that if getting the old fashioned version,,,) NB FYI apparently Scandinavian women judged prospective suitors on the size and artistic merit of their woodpiles!!! (gives the traditional "mine's bigger than yours" nonsense a whole new viewpoint!).

 

 

 

You could also invest in a moisture metre (£13.00 or so) but not strictly necessary.  But as Lars will tell you, you really need to have too much dry wood rather than not enough, for obvious reasons, particularly if you get hit by a hard winter.

I reckon 6 months to season freshly felled timber, but only once cut and split and if in ideal drying conditions (oak probably longer).

 

In terms of how much?  I provide firewood for my landlords woodburner.  He didn't start burning anything until December and he has got through ~5m3 so far.  However, his is a large burner with a water heater and he keeps it going 24/7 (damps it down overnight) ie if you are planning to heat your house only with stoves x4, you are probably looking at ~20+m3 for the season but as Lars says, best to have 25m3, just in case.  Bear in mind, if the wood is not properly seasoned, you won't get much heat from it because the fire has to evaporate the water in it before it will burn, so you will end up getting through more, which in turn means you'll need to get all that cut, split and under cover by March, in order to be ready for Sept/October.

 

Hope this helps

Andrew

[muttley9050]

We try to give all our logs 18 months to season. 12 as minimum. In my opinion 6 months of not enough for most species.

[AHPP]

apparently Scandinavian women judged prospective suitors on the size and artistic merit of their woodpiles!!!

I show my log pile to prospective women. Give them an axe and tell them to get on with it.
Recently single again.