Get On With It

Writing and drawings about work, family and the stuff in-between

Having a wood stove means having a relationship with wood

IMG 2965

When researching wood stoves (my favorite part of our house renovation project), I remember reading a note from someone that before you consider buying one, know that you are going to have a new relationship with wood. Buying, chopping, storing, hauling, burning, cleaning. You name it, you’re probably going to need to have a solution. I don’t mind. In fact, working with wood is one of the things I love about having a stove. It all fits firmly into my (fake) rugged outdoorsman dad identity.

Wood storage shed getting filled up. Animated GIF.
Wood storage is half the fun.

Yes, I have wood storage inside the house next to the stove. I have wood storage outside the house. I have carrier bags for wood. I have dust pans for the ashes (but rarely need to empty any ash!). I have metal pails for kindling. I have gloves for handling the hot stove. The list goes on and on.

My relationship with wood is past the honeymoon stage now.

One thing I didn’t realize before having a wood stove is the difference between softwood (less dense, dry quicker) and hardwood (more dense, burn longer/hotter), and what types there are of each. My wood supplier has bags of hardwood as well as bags of only oak-only hardwood, which is regarded as the all-around best hardwood for it’s long and clean burn.

Who knew? What else am I going to learn about wood?

Plenty of winter left and plenty more time for my relationship with wood to blossom and grow.

So much to look forward to. 😉

In

, , ,

2 responses

  1. Alex Avatar
    Alex

    The house I grew up in was a 1920’s farm house on an acre of land in North Carolina and had two wood stoves for heat, we’d easily go through a cord of wood a season. We were pretty poor so my stepdad would stop at houses and offer to cut down damaged/bad trees if the homeowner would let him keep the wood. Once we had enough he would rent a log splitter for a day and we’d all work outside all day splitting the logs and stacking the wood. We had the canvas log carrier for loading up outside to bring the wood in from where it was stacked by the shed in the back yard. It kept the house fairly warm and was delightful to lay next to and read on cold wet days, but was a ton of work, we were glad when we were finally able to install gas heaters. I love the timelapse of you loading up the wood!

    Reply
    1. Nick Avatar
      Nick

      Great story Alex. A wood stove would heat your house now pretty good I bet!

      Reply

Comments welcome!

%d bloggers like this: