Burning wood for heat is a great way to reduce your monthly expenses and keep a home toasty warm all winter long, but finding firewood has become increasingly more difficult over the 40 years I have been burning wood for heat.
More people are burning wood every year and the available wood supplies are being reduced through heavier usage of this renewable energy source.
Some of the options I have found are:
- Big box stores
- Tree trimming companies
- Land clearing contractors
- Farmer – clearing land
- Lumber mills
- Pallet factories
Let’s take a look at some of the best sources of firewood. There are several factors to consider.
What are you using the wood for? Is the wood for a campfire, for cooking, or heating a home? How much wood do you need, an arm full or a semi load?
Starting with an arm-full and working up to a semi-load, here are my recommendations
Fire Pit/Campfire Wood
Small quantities of firewood for campfires at home or at a campground can be purchased at most grocery stores or convenience marts. The wood is usually dry and ready to burn. It is pre-packaged as an “armload” of wood and the price is by far the most you will pay for wood.
It will burn well and burn quickly in a fire pit, and it will provide a good “fire” or flame experience.
Storing this wood for long periods of time will result in wood that is too dry and will eventually not burn well. That is why you will buy it, burn it, and start over the next time you light a campfire!
Smoker Pellets for Cooking
If you cook with wood pellets, you will want to use the hardwood pellets specifically designed for cooking. They have flavor or smell infused in the pellets to enhance the smoke that permeates the meat.
The pellets for cooking are compressed from hickory, apple, cherry, and other fruit and nut trees. Every producer and user has his/her favorite brand and flavor; it is a personal choice. Each different type adds a different taste through the smoke that it produces.
It is well worth trying the different wood and smoke types to find your favorite combination of meat and wood smoke flavor!
Heating Pellets
Pellet burning stoves have leaped into the market in the past 15 years and are heating more homes every year. The pellets are made of compressed wood (sawdust) and wood
The pellets are packaged and sold in 40 lb. bags at wood stove retainers and home improvement big box stores. The pellets are designed for pellet stoves only and will not burn correctly in standard
First, wood pellet stoves are fairly low maintenance. Pellet stoves typically only need to be filled one time a day. The hopper is filled, and the stove keeps the temperature constant. Second, the pellets are easy to store and much cleaner than wood. Third, Pellets are easily available at the multiple stores; there’s no cutting, splitting and stacking cords of wood for the winter!
The drawback is the pellet stove requires 110-volt power to operate. That could be a problem during a power outage! Some stoves have a built-in UPS (uninterrupted power supply system) to protect against power outages. Check to see if your stove has this feature. It is not common at this point.
Cord Wood for Heat
Purchasing firewood to heat your home can come in many forms. There are advantages and disadvantages to each. Find the best option for you in your area. I have used all of these over the years burning wood in
Defining a “Cord”
A cord of wood by definition is 4′ x 4′ x 8′. That equals (doing the math) 128 cubic feet of wood. No split, stacked pile of wood will be exactly the same. Split wood is not square and stacks very unevenly; this leaves gaps and air space; less wood is in the pile or cord
Wood burners do not hold a 4′ long piece of wood. Generally, the wood is cut into 16″ long pieces; however, nobody cutting wood with a chainsaw is using a tape measure on every cut! The length is approximately 16″.
If you are buying wood, take a tape measure with you! You are paying; you should check the length, height, and width. Do the math. Make sure you are getting and paying for 128 cubic feet of wood (approximately) per cord of wood.
Suppliers of Cut and Split Wood
The best source of cut and split wood in most communities is tree trimming companies. They will have supplies of hardwood that has been seasoned and is available for inspection.
Most will have wood on racks (that can be measured) ready to be loaded in your truck or trailer.
If you don’t have a truck or trailer or just don’t want to load and unload the wood, ask if they will deliver the wood to your address. Depending on the distance, many companies will deliver a load of wood for free.
If you plan well and build up your supply of wood ahead of time, you can generally make a deal with the supplier.
Get you wood when the tree trimmers are not busy. They may be more willing to deal on firewood when they do not have 10 trees to clean up after a wind or ice storm event.
The more wood you order, the more likely the supplier will be willing to make a deal, such as three cords of wood for the price of 2 or 2 1/2. That would be a great deal! Just make sure the delivered cords are full cords!
The same goes if you are loading and hauling it yourself. Making a larger purchase may give you a break in the price. It depends on the supplier and the time of year. Supply and demand still determine the market price.
You should also be familiar with the types of wood that is available in your area. You do not want to pay top dollar for softwoods like pine or cottonwood. Softwood is plentiful, and tree trimmers have supplies of it, but it does not burn well
Burning hardwood is preferable because it burns at higher BTU’s (British Thermal Units) than softwood, burns longer, and has less ash to remove.
Learning about different types of wood is not hard; it just takes experience. The grain of the wood, the bark and the smell all tell what type of tree it was. The first and most important test for hardwood is the weight of the piece of wood. Pick up a piece of white oak and the same size piece of white pine. The difference is obvious immediately. The oak weighs three times the pine.
Uncut Wood
I have found uncut wood in many different places in the past. I do this less as my muscles tend to resent the additional work as I age.
Land Clearing Specialist/Excavators
I have found land clearing companies can be a great source of wood, but it takes building a relationship with them. Some will let you know when they have a project. They will bulldoze the trees into long rows. After they have harvested the larger lumber, the remaining trees, generally 16″ diameter and under, are left. Pick larger wood if you like or smaller if it is easier to handle
This wood can be cut with a 20″-24″ chainsaw and pickup truck or trailer. One or two people can fill a truck or trailer in a few hours of cutting. My first 10 years of heating was fueled totally by this wood supply. Lately, there are fewer woods being turned into farmland in my area.
The excavating company will generally price the wood by the truck-load. A reasonable price for a truck-load is $50-$60. A good deal for all!
Farmer’s Tree Line
Farmers need tree lines cleared. There are many large farmers that farm hundreds to thousands of acres of land. The tree-lines along or between fields need cutting or thinning. Forming relationships with these farmers can pay off.
If you cut and remove the unwanted trees for free, that will save them time and work. Most farmers will be thrilled at the chance to save one or both! You can usually only get into the field in the late fall or winter. That is the best time to cut trees anyway.
If you cut your own wood, there are some tools you will need to efficiently and safely cut logs into firewood, starting with a good chainsaw. The saw needs to be large enough to cut the size logs you use but not too big to handle for hours at a time. I have found a 20″ – 24″ saw with the horsepower to cut a 16″ log in 20 seconds is an excellent size. I recommend Jonsered and have had years of trouble-free use.
When cutting in a woods or field always have one or two spare chains. A round file that is designed for the chain you use is handy when you plan a full day of cutting. Touching up the chain with the file saves swapping out a chain. It does take practice to file the proper angle on a cutting tooth.
Safety should always be observed when cutting with a chainsaw. Safety glasses and ear protection should be worn at all times when cutting. Cut in a downward direction with the saw pulling toward the log. When tired, take a break.
Lumber Mills
Some areas of the country have large mills, and other areas of the country have small family run mills. The large mills usually have a source to dispose of or sell the slab wood that is removed from large lumber. Many times the slabs are used to make pellets or other manufactured wood products.
Small lumber mills, on the other hand, make this slab wood available for purchase to the public. They will bundle the slab wood and sell it for firewood. It does have to be cut and will also include a large amount of bark. Tree bark is not the best part of the wood to burn and also leaves a lot of ash to be removed from the stove. It is generally an inexpensive wood source. It is also less work than logs as it does not require splitting; only cutting to size to fit your stove.
Small lumber mills may also be a good contact for cutting in woods. If they own or rent forest land, they may want trees cleared out for better growth. The owner will specify what trees to cut or more likely will only allow downed trees to be cut for firewood.
Clearing out the downed trees will encourage the woods to grow faster and more efficiently for the desired lumber. A cleaned out woods leaves room for new growth, planting, and more space for large hardwood trees to expand.
Pallet Factories
With the recent boom in industry and consumer spending, pallets are in high demand. Pallets are not always re-used, and new pallets are constructed daily by the 1000’s.
A pallet factory near me cuts all its own boards from 6″ x 6″ x 10″ lengths of wood. After the pallet boards are cut the end pieces are left over. These end pieces are waste for the pallet factory. Many of them will sell these pieces of leftover wood for firewood.
The leftover pieces range from 2″ x 2″ x 2″ to 6″ x 6″ x 24″. The smaller pieces make great fire starters or campfire base wood. Most of the wood is oak, which is excellent wood burner firewood and none of it has bark. This means less ash and fewer clean-outs of the wood stove.
The wood for pallets has been dried or cured to some degree. This wood is usually ready to burn from the pallet factory, but a simple test with a moisture meter will provide accurate readings.
This wood will also stack nicely as it is flat cut with no bark. If the wood does require time to dry, do not stack it tightly until it is dry. Tightly packed wood does not get enough air to dry. Leave it in a rough pile until the sun and wind do their job and dry it out.
Conclusion
There are many options when it comes to finding a supply of wood to burn. Pick from my list or add your option/s in the comments and maybe you will help someone (or me) find a new source of firewood to burn?
Additional Questions
How much wood does a wood stove burn in a season? A typical indoor wood burning stove will burn three to four cords of wood in a season. This will vary depending on the size of the stove and the type of stove. See my discussion on the topic.
What are the best types of wood to burn? Hardwood like white oak and ash (harder to come by since the Emerald Ash Borer has been through the US) are the best wood for a long burning fire. See my article on best wood to burn for more information on the subject.