Affordable Firewood Supply in Elgin
When considering what to do with any tree that is taken down by a professional tree service, most often the cut tree parts are used for a home firewood supply. This is a good way to allow for the natural cycle of the tree to be used. Property owners that have had a tree removed will usually have a significant firewood supply to use.
When homeowners start to do major renovations and put additions put on their home, a professional tree service can readily remove a tree. This can be especially important for trees located in an area where the owner would like to have something built or expanded.
To get an idea of how much firewood supply can be gleaned from a tree, the following guidelines can prove helpful: • Full grown aged tree with 22” trunk base will harvest 1 cord of wood • Full grown tree with 16” trunk base will harvest ½ cord of wood • Full grown young tree with 12” trunk base will harvest 1/3 cord of wood It should be noted that trees that have just been cut by a tree service, are not the best type of firewood to use. When a tree is fresh cut, it is considered “green” wood. "Green" wood is not the wood you want to use in a fireplace or wood stove because it has had the proper amount of time to dry out and will no burn properly. |
|
Traditionally, only seasoned firewood is appropriate for burning. Wood that is fresh cut or unseasoned will be filled with moisture which will make it difficult to keep it burning.
Elgin Tree Service
Additionally, burning wood that has not been seasoned and has not dried out properly can cause more soot to accumulate in chimneys. This can be hazardous because excessive amounts of soot and creosote build-up can cause chimney fires. That is why it is best to ensure that fresh cut wood or “green” wood is given time to dry out.
In fact, creosote build-up is the number one cause of chimney fires. Creosote is tar that accumulates on wood stove chimneys and traditional brick chimneys. It is created when fires burn at a low heat level that smolders instead of a higher heat full burn fire that seasoned wood offers.
Because unseasoned wood has more moisture contained within it, it will usually be more difficult to get it to burn at high heat with full flames. Fresh cut wood can consist of 60% moisture-laden wood. By contrast, seasoned wood has a moisture factor of 20% or less.
To properly season wood, wood should be split into fireplace size pieces and be left to air dry out in the open air uncovered for six months or longer. The more time the wood has to be exposed to the dry air and sunshine, the dryer the wood will be and the better the firewood supply it will offer.
In fact, creosote build-up is the number one cause of chimney fires. Creosote is tar that accumulates on wood stove chimneys and traditional brick chimneys. It is created when fires burn at a low heat level that smolders instead of a higher heat full burn fire that seasoned wood offers.
Because unseasoned wood has more moisture contained within it, it will usually be more difficult to get it to burn at high heat with full flames. Fresh cut wood can consist of 60% moisture-laden wood. By contrast, seasoned wood has a moisture factor of 20% or less.
To properly season wood, wood should be split into fireplace size pieces and be left to air dry out in the open air uncovered for six months or longer. The more time the wood has to be exposed to the dry air and sunshine, the dryer the wood will be and the better the firewood supply it will offer.