Wood Heat Thread ~ post pics

I have a 2 flue masonsry chimney I build i to my house but no fireplace

 

German, Swiss or maybe Austrian. There are claims that it dries wood faster but I haven't found this to be the case. One advantage is that you can store a lot of wood in a small footprint, useful if you don't have much flat land available. Maybe the practice developed in some part of the Alps where there aren't many level spots for long straight stacks.

 

I have seen people use old car tires to achieve a similar effect as the bungee corded chain did a couple pages back.

 

Nah, my house had a coal stove in the cellar when I bought it. I ripped that out, swept the flue and had it inspected, and hooked up a woodburner. Did everything but the flue inspection myself, but I didn't have to actually build anything, haha.

 

Speaking of building things;
I purchased my current house a year ago. I've been preoccupied with getting it fixed up and livable and now have time for secondary projects.
I'm going to be building a real actual dedicated woodshed in the spring, once the frost has come back out of the ground. I'm wondering how you all store your firewood, and what the pros and cons are that you've run into with your method of choice (even you, Oz, with your bastardized scaffolding woodshed). For instance, I haven't decided on a solid floor or just stringers; building walls or leaving the sides open, etc. etc.

So, let's see how you store your wood!

 

I have a three sided wood shed with a sloping metal shed roof. All three sides are enclosed with the front open. I have a tarp on the ground with furring strips on top of that. I stack the wood on the furring strips, keeps the wood dry and lets air circulate under the wood. The wind never blows toward the open side of the shed, think about the way the wind usually blows in your area before deciding which way to face your shed. Sorry, I have no pics that I can find right now.

 

Go concrete floor if it's at ground level

 

I went the simple and cheap route, I just laid out pallets on the ground, and for the sides I used concrete blocks with 2x4's slid into them, and over that I slid another pallet. Basically several sets of squares with pallets for sides and floor. I put a wooden roof over all this so the air can blow through but the rain and snow stay off for the most part.

I think the main thing you want to make sure of is that your shed is facing whichever way the wind most often blows and also max sunlight. The air movement is what does the most to dry the wood out, with sun a close second.

 

I'm using one of those instant garages right now, with the door facing the prevailing wind and held open. Wood stacked on pallets to keep it off the ground, with 2x4 vertical supports to help hold the stacks up. Still not ideal, though. I was in there the other day and there was 1/2 inch of hoarfrost on the walls and ceiling, since they don't breathe.

 

Currently I store wood to season in a tin lean-to (three closed sides w/ the open side facing east and another structure). I try to cut some small (1"-2") branches to lay down on the dirt/ crushed limestone floor with the wood on top. I then move wood over to the house as needed. With this setup the wood doesn't dry quick enough. I should also mention that I about 8 rows of wood stacked right next to each other. When I went to use wood this fall that had been cut, split and stacked early last winter it was burnable but not quite as dry (especially the slower drying species) as I would like it to be.

 

I never stack wood more than 3 ricks deep , otherwise the it doesn't dry

 

How long do you cut for your stove length? Mine takes a 24" stick, so I aim for 20-22. But if you're cutting to 16", maybe I should stick to two ricks deep in the future...

 

I usually cut 16-18"

 

So I have discovered. I am somewhat short on space but will make improvements in the future. Hopefully to a more open air structure.

 

IDK if you saw my scaffolding woodshed idea at the beginning of the thread but any similar simple structure will work , I like to look at my wood supply as a 2 year system , wet wood sits in the scaffold woodshed at the back of my property for a season , then the next summer I move it to the woodshed by the house for use

 

I'd like to have my woodshed large enough for that as well. I lack one connected to the house, but I have enough space in the back yard to build large enough for a two year supply. Then I can just alternate which side I pull from year to year. I've got next year's supply cut to length already, but it's just stacked and under tarps. I'd much rather have it split, off the ground, and under cover so that it can do some actual drying rather than just end-checking.

 

Yeah , even just splitting it helps , lots of people here just split the wood and stack it and maybe put a piece of plywood on top or even just put the bark side up on the top row for a season , then into the woodshed the next summer

 

Has anyone ever tied a wood furnace into a HVAC system?

 

Are you sure you don't drink?