You’re making a mistake if you use properly seasoned firewood in your fireplace.
Summer is not officially over, but since the kids are back in school and the coffee shops have rolled out pumpkin everything, it might as well be. This is the perfect time to start thinking about all those toasty fires on cool and cold evenings that you have to look forward to in your fireplaces. If you haven’t had your yearly chimney maintenance, inspection, and sweeping done yet, there is still time to take care of it – the sooner, the better! That was, if the inspection does uncover any damage, there is time to repair it before the cold weather hits. Another thing that you should be planning right now is what you will do for firewood. You’re making a mistake if you don’t plan to burn properly seasoned firewood. Read on to learn more.
What Is Seasoned Wood?
Seasoned wood is any wood that has been properly dried before burning. Properly seasoning firewood takes at least six months if you’re air-drying it. A lot of commercially available firewood is kiln-dried, which is much faster (in some cases, kiln-dried wood can be ready in as little as 75 minutes). In addition to drying faster, kiln drying also typically removes more moisture (up to 20% more), producing less smoke and burning more efficiently. Kiln-dried wood is also typically more expensive than seasoned wood.
What Are The Benefits Of Seasoned Wood?
Anyone who has made a campfire from found woo while camping knows that fresh wood also burns, but the problem is the moisture level in the wood. That moisture makes it harder for the fresh wood to burn (harder to light, and you use more fresh wood for the same amount of fire since it doesn’t burn as efficiently), resulting in all the popping and smoke you notice. In fireplaces, the embers and sparks that shoot off when the moist wood pops can be a hazard with the potential to cause other fires outside the fireplace. The smoke is also a problem for chimneys since more smoke means more creosote, and it builds up over time in the chimney, becoming a fire risk itself (since creosote is flammable). Seasoning or kiln-drying the wood corrects all of these issues.
Schedule Your Chimney Repair with Champion Chimneys, Inc.
When you need a trusted company for your chimney inspection and chimney cleaning, you can trust our team. Champion Chimneys, Inc. is a fully licensed, bonded, and insured chimney service company that has served customers in Baltimore County, Howard County, and Anne Arundel County, Maryland, since 2001. Our team is trained and certified by Certified Chimney Professionals, Inc. (CCP, Inc.). We specialize in all aspects of your chimney system. Whether you need chimney and flue cleaning service or a full chimney rebuild or inspection, contact us at 443-Chimney today and let us fix all your chimney problems. Also, follow us on Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, and Pinterest.