Tips
FIRES & FIREWOOD – THE DO’S AND DON’TS
TO HELP YOU WARM YOUR HOME
SINCE THE DAWN OF MANKIND... ...
we have congregated around fires. The dancing of the flame in an
infinite pattern, the sweet smell of a burning fire, and the gentle
radiant heat has always induced reflective contemplation and conversation.
With today’s tremendous advances in technology, fireboxes incorporated
in modern fireplaces are extremely efficient turning both wood and
gas into comforting warmth for every home. Woodfires and Gasfires
present a very clean and efficient warmth in the home, providing
ease of use, more control over the heat and ambience, and require
low maintenance. These heating appliances are perhaps one of the
most important and wise additions you could make to your home –
not only will it add value to your home, it also instantly adds
a certain comfort factor. Add to that the saving you ’ll realise
on your electricity bills and you ’ll see why natural fires
are an investment of the surest kind.
There are many reasons why one would choose to heat with wood – it ’s economical, environmentally friendly, it is a renewable resource, and it takes us back to a time when life was simpler and fuller. Forget the old days of puffing and heaving at the embers. Modern ducting methods will ensure your fireplace is doing its job in minutes – no hassles, no billows. With gas, just start with a simple flick of a switch and instantly you ’ll have the charm and romance of an open fire. You may even forget winter ever existed.
When choosing a position to install your fireplace, think central. Work out which corner of your living room backs onto other rooms in your home. This allows heat to flow through into other rooms more efficiently. Of course, you really don’t have to worry about any of this because we at the Heat Shops are experts and can work it all out for you. We can suggest options you may not have originally considered –that’s our job.
HOW MUCH HEATING?
A simple rule of thumb is to measure the volume of the room (length
times width times height, in metres) and divide by 20 to get the
kW rating of the heater needed. A room 6 metres long by 4 metres
wide by 3 metres high will therefore need 3.6 kW of heating. If
the room is uninsulated or draughty it will need more.
OPEN FIRES
Open fires are a very inefficient form of heating, at around 15%
efficiency. Radiant heat strikes nearby people and objects, but
most of the convected heat goes up the chimney. If a fireplace is
not to be used to house a built-in gas or wood burner, it should
be blocked up (even with rubbish bags full of shredded paper) to
stop draughts. Pot belly stoves can be considered to be radiant
heaters as their surfaces radiate heat. They are around 45% efficient.
SOLID FUEL BURNERS
Solid fuel heaters (wood and coal) average 71% efficiency. The pleasure
of a flickering fire is primeval. It can be cheaper to burn firewood
in an efficient woodburner than to pay for electric or gas heating.
A good woodburner heats the room in two ways: by convection (warm
air) and radiation, which heats objects directly. When choosing
a heater, factors to consider are the size of the area you want
to heat, the thermal performance of your house (a draughty, uninsulated
house needs a bigger heater) and layout. Woodburners of around 20kW
are suitable for large open-plan homes of 150-200m 2 . The quality
and condition of the wood are important. The wood should be well
seasoned, and stored under cover. A woodburner can be inserted into
a fireplace to replace an open fire. This lets less heat into the
room than a freestanding mode, as heat is lost to the chimney. Woodburners
can be equipped with a wetback which heats household hot water.
This can complement a solar water heating system, to make up for
the shortfall in the sun’s heat during winter months. Woodburner
installation needs a building consent from the council.
FIREWOOD –THE DO’S AND DON’TS
No matter how efficient your wood- burning system is, an adequate
supply of good firewood is essential. It can come from a number
of different sources – it may be salvaged from an inner city
demolition, it might be taken from a felled tree, or it may be purchased
from a firewood merchant.
HARDWOODS – SOFTWOODS
Wood, irrespective of its species, has about the same heating potential
on a weight for weight basis, so 1kg of pine is capable of releasing
as much heat as 1kg of manuka. However, hardwood, being denser,
will put out more heat from a given volume, and will burn more slowly.
So even though lighter woods can make good firewood, denser woods
are usually preferred – because there is more heating value
in firewood such as manuka eucalyptus or wattle than in an equal-sized
pile of pine, poplar or willow. That is one of the reasons why manuka
has been such a prized firewood. Unfortunately, it is no longer
abundant, so does not make our list of readily available choices.
It is hard to over-emphasise the importance of using seasoned and
dry firewood. No wood, unless it is dry, is good firewood.
WOOD DRYING AND STORAGE
The rules for drying and storing wood are:
- Buy or cut wood well in advance of use – a year ahead if possible.
- Dry it in the summer months. This means buying it or cutting it the preceding winter or spring.
- Once it is dry, get it covered. A separate shed or lean-to is ideal. Sometimes it may be stacked against an outside wall, sheltered partly by the eaves of the building. Plastic covers are also quite useful, though they must be firmly weighted as they are very susceptible to wind damage.
- Long wood can be stacked like a tepee to dry. Rain tends to run off and will not be readily absorbed by the wood.
- Keep it off the ground to prevent rot, wood in contact with the ground will begin to rot. The fungi which cause the rot will use up the wood ’s energy so there is less left when it is burned.
- The shorter the piece of wood, and the more of its surface area is exposed to the air, the faster it will dry.
(With thanks to the New Zealand Home Heating Association)
Call toll-free
0800 HEATSHOP
0800 432 874
for your nearest Heat Shop
(Within New Zealand Only)
