- Is it worth drying the wood yourself?
- Dry firewood in the open air
- Ideal storage facilities on private property
The water content of freshly felled wood is 40 to 50 percent. In this state it is not suitable as fuel. It would hardly be possible to light it, it would develop a lot of smoke and sooty any window on the chimney. Firewood must therefore be properly dried and stored before it can be burned. Find out how here.
Firewood must dry before it can be burned
Is it worth drying the wood yourself?
You can buy firewood already dried. However, this fuel is significantly more expensive than freshly cut wood, which you split, stack and store yourself. This manageable effort can save quite a few euros.
Dry firewood in the open air
If you store the firewood properly outdoors, the moisture contained in the fuel will evaporate by itself. However, this can take years.
It is therefore advisable to split the firewood in advance. This creates a larger surface and the moisture is released into the environment more quickly.
The optimal storage place
In order for the logs to dry as quickly as possible, you must stack them in such a way that drying is accelerated:
- The firewood should be exposed to the sun.
- With good ventilation, the evaporated water is quickly removed.
- The stack should be aligned in such a way that it is protected from rain, which in our latitudes usually comes from the west.
- A roof or tarpaulin keeps precipitation from above.
Ideal storage facilities on private property
How you stack the wood depends on the amount of firewood to be dried and the space available. Have proven themselves:
- firewood rack,
- wood storage in front of a wall,
- Wooden ricks with a wooden shingle roof.
The substrate must be dry and ideally consists of paving stones. Grass or soil holds moisture too long, allowing it to rise up into the woodpile. Also make sure that the air can also circulate under the stack. The distance between the firewood and the floor should not be less than 15 centimetres.
tips
You should move the dried fuel to the basement or garage in the fall. Any residual moisture escapes faster here and the wood is protected from dew, which often occurs in the cold season.