In South Africa firewood is readily available thanks to the fact that it is naturally abundant and because of the initiative of many roadside informal vendors. But when you stop to buy a load of wood on the side of the road (or even purchase it from a reputable outlet) what should you look for to ensure you get the best firewood? What makes good firewood? The truth is the best wood to burn is always well seasoned wood. This is even more so if you prefer to burn hardwoods. Well seasoned wood creates less creosote build-up and makes for a better cleaning cycle. In fireplaces that require very little cleaning, such as a Designer fireplace, well seasoned wood means that the fireplace will only ever have to be cleaned at the end of every heating season in South Africa.This is because both a BioFire fireplace and good seasoned wood burn hot and clean!
Did you know? It is the moisture in wood which causes creosote to build up at an accelerated rate! Well seasoned wood is therefore always best to burn.
Can you buy well seasoned wood in South Africa? The fact is, most wood sold in South Africa is fairly “fresh” and can do with a fair amount of seasoning time. This means that if possible one should buy your firewood before the winter season to ensure that your wood is ready to burn come the first cold snap. If you want to check to see if your wood is seasoned before you burn it you will need to check for the following:
- Seasoned wood must always look dark, or gray when compared to green wood
- If you split a piece of seasoned wood it should always be WHITE on the inside
- Well seasoned split firewood should always be reasonably brittle and have cracks running through it
- There should also be a lot of little cracks on the inner rings
Try our wood seasoning tip! When storing wood for seasoning NEVER cover it with a tarpaulin or canvas. This prevents proper evaporation and hinders the wood seasoning process.
Next week we will provide you with a list of some provider that we have had good experiences with in the past!
