How to Conserve Wood in Wood Stoves

Burning wood the correct way will help it last longer.

Incorrectly burning wood in your wood stove can waste money because it can cause you to burn more wood than you actually need to. Correctly maintaining a fire can help make wood last longer. Additionally, the right wood stove accessories can help you extend your supply of wood. Follow the right wood-burning techniques, and keep your money from going up the stovepipe.

Instructions

1. Purchase a radiant glass door that allows you to burn fewer sticks of wood but still enjoy equal amounts of heat. Radiant glass distributes heat better than standard iron or steel doors.

2. Install a high cubic-feet-per minute (cfm) air blower that distributes heat better than standard convection wood stoves. When the wood burns, the heat gets distributed evenly throughout a room, so you can preserve your wood by burning one or two sticks at a time instead of filling the stove full of wood.

3. Burn a whole log for overnight fires. Split logs cure (dry) faster than whole logs, so they burn more quickly, while whole logs retain more moisture and the thicker core resists heating more easily. Consequently, whole logs burn more gradually.

4. Stir the embers regularly, and build a bed of coals. Once this bed of coals builds up into a pile around 4 or 5 inches high, it will consistently heat the room throughout the early hours of the night once the final log burns. If you don't maintain the bed of coals, or if you dump them prematurely, you will have to burn more logs throughout the night to maintain sufficient heat.

5. Keep the air vent 50-percent closed, and adjust it accordingly to allow more or less oxygen into the stove. If you keep the air vent all the way open, the fire will burn too fast, unnecessarily consuming the wood.

Tips & Warnings

• Do not use burning aids to start your fire. Aids such as chemical logs or treated wood sticks burn hotter and consume your wood much faster than simply using kindling to get your fire going.

References

• Wood Heat: How to Build and Maintain a Wood Fire
• Fireplaces Now: Make Your Wood Burning Stove or Fireplace More Efficient