Photo by Lauren Thomas
With the fall season upon us and fuel-oil prices remaining uncomfortably high, many homeowners are getting ready to stoke up their wood-burning stoves, fireplaces or outdoor wood-burning stoves. What type of wood should they use or purchase?
The regional New York State Department of Environmental Conservation office in New Paltz offers advice. “Long, hard, dense woods are the best,” said Wendy Rosenbach of the DEC. “It’s not good to burn pine because of all of the sap it contains, which can become a hazard for chimneys or flues (from creosote build-up and potential chimney fires).
You want your wood dry and not green. But, according to the DEC, you need to stay away from wood that comes from farther than a 50 mile radius of your residence. “The DEC implemented a restriction on moving would within a 50 mile radius several years ago in an effort to stop the spread of invasive species,” explained Rosenbach. She was referring in particular to the invasive species that have put New York State’s ash trees and forests in grave danger, the emerald ash borer (EAB) and the Asian long-horned beetle “There are also bacteria and funguses in dead wood that you want to avoid,” she added. “We want to try and stop the spread of these invasive pests that have wreaked havoc on our ash forests.”
If you buy firewood make sure you know how much wood you are actually getting so you don’t get ripped off. Stack the wood yourself or have the firewood supplier stack the wood before you pay for it. It’s pretty hard to tell how much wood is in a pile. A pickup truck will hold around 1/2 cord of firewood. So, if you buy a cord (which is 128 cubic feet) and it comes in a pickup, chances are you should find a new supplier.