Many people living in colder climates often rely on burning wood, coal, or pellets to keep their homes warm in the winter. Unfortunately, not everyone remembers to plan ahead, and many people find that they are scrambling to find appropriate fuel as the winter draws closer. Because of this, many firewood harvesters recommend ordering wood for your fireplace as much as a year in advance.
Gary MacKinnon, owner of MacKinnon’s firewood on Prince Edward Island, told the Daily Business Buzz that, after supplying regular customers, his business was only able to fill a few new orders and had to turn the rest away. He estimates that he turned down orders for 100 cords of seasoned firewood in the fall. Due to last winter’s brutal chill, many people ran out of wood in the winter, and so made sure to buy more in the summer, which depleted what extra stock he had.
If you rely on a woodburning stove to heat your home, MacKinnon recommends purchasing at minimum five cords of firewood for the season. Richard Gill, another firewood harvester, suggests ordering your seasoned firewood a year in advance, or very early in the season.
When you are looking for wood for your fireplace, you may be wondering what makes high quality firewood. The type of wood you buy is not nearly as important as how well-seasoned your wood is. Firewood should be seasoned for one full year at minimum. Seasoned firewood burns the cleanest, producing the least amount of creosote. Seasoned firewood also produces the most heat, keeping you and your home nice and toasty in an efficient manner.
Keeping your house warm with a wood burning stove is a great way to save on electric and heating bills, but only if you have enough wood. Ordering your firewood a year in advance will not only help ensure that your wood is properly seasoned, but it will keep you from finding out at the last minute that your supplier has sold out. By ordering your seasoned firewood ahead of time, you are guaranteeing yourself a nice warm winter. For more information see this.