10112 wood for burning

Ask your neighbours where they get their wood from.

They are probably as good a guide as anything.

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You might well get a mixture of wood, rather than just one type. We get quercia (oak) and a couple of others, including one that's called "faggio" or "faggia" (sp?) which might be ash.

[quote=English teacher;94085]You might well get a mixture of wood, rather than just one type. We get quercia (oak) and a couple of others, including one that's called "faggio" or "faggia" (sp?) which might be ash.[/quote]
[I]Faggio[/I] is beech.

I haven't gone out looking for it, but I've not noticed any ash trees around our place in Abruzzo. The forests here are primarily beech and oak, but there's lots of false acacia around too. All three are good firewoods, but the mixed loads we've got in the past from two different merchants have been oak and beech.

Having said that, I do recall someone here mentioning a few months back that the wood they bought from a local merchant had come from Slovenia or someplace like that, so who knows what you'll get.

Alan H is right in his advice to ask around for advice on who to get wood from. Alternatively, you could just look out in your neighbourhood for business yards which have a dumper lorry or two outside and large piles of cut wood at this time of year.

Best to get it soon, if only to make sure it's well-dried by winter (we had a slight problem with damp wood bought last winter as a result of running out due to under-estimating usage). Bear in mind that the stuff will just be dumped somewhere by the wood merchant and you'll need to then stack it up somewhere under some sort of cover. That can be hot and dirty work.

Allan

[I]Edit[/I]: Oh, and bear in mind that wood for burning here is bought by weight, not by volume as is the case in many other parts of the world. The measure used is the [I]quintale[/I] which is 100kg. Estimating how much you'll actually need is clearly the big question, but if you're used to burning wood in the UK, you'll presumably have a better idea that we did before our first winter using wood as central heating fuel!

Might be helpful for me to say that we bought 65 [I]quintale[/I] a couple months back and the mound is roughly five metres across and one metre high at the peak. The wood is a mixture of diameters (branches as well as split and intact sections of tree-trunk) and all cut to lengths no more than half a metre. Obviously, when stacked it will take up a lot less room than that.

[quote=Anniet2;94076]Here in England, the best wood for burning in our open fire is ash as it burns well, gives off hardly any smoke and does not 'spit'. Presumably the same goes for stoves in Marche. If so, where can we get some preferably in the MC area?
Annie.[/quote]
The big benefit of wood burning stoves is that they'll burn anything,whilst with an open fire you have to be careful with a stove you can use just about any wood (except fig or coniferous wood)in any case no one will sell you single kinds of wood they all come mixed, almost every town will have a yard selling wood to burn.

[quote=Sebastiano;94096]The big benefit of wood burning stoves is that they'll burn anything,whilst with an open fire you have to be careful with a stove you can use just about any wood (except fig or coniferous wood)in any case no one will sell
you single kinds of wood they all come mixed, almost every town will have a yard selling wood to burn.[/quote]

We have an expensive cast iron, Belgian, wood burning stove (bought in Italy), fitted to a purpose built ,stainless steel lined, chimney. Unless you burn completely dry logs the chimney will block with gung and the chimney sweep will have to unblock it regularly, using a heavy metal ball on a chain...he will also reprimand you! We thought that you could burn anything (old bits of beam, pine, chestnut as well as oak etc). Having had a room full of smoke on several occasions, plus visits from the Spazzacamino (sweep), we now burn compressed sawdust blocks which come on a pallet and work out cleaner and cheaper, about the same calorific value too. We have woodland and use this wood for the open fire where we do burn everything and use a fire guard if we are not in the room.

The pressed woodshaving bricks offer numerous advantages. They contain pure sawdust and woodchips only. They are solid bricks of 150x80x70mm and disintergrate slowly when burnt leaving a little ash for the garden. Each pack contains about 25kg. A pallet contains 1000kg. which costs 250 euros. (6.50 per single pack). Unless you know and trust your firewood wood supplier, I am certain that you will get a a mixture of all sorts of wood of varying calorific value and rubbish too. (That's the case where we are in Umbria).

August is wood buying time as wood is bought by weight and it is dry then.
In principle all types of wood could be used as firewood but there are considerable differences as far as their calorific value is concerned. For example..the calorific value of 1 cubic metre of...
Holm Oak or Ash wood = 2100 KWh
Poplar =1400
Fir 1600
Freshly cut timber contains up to 50% water. Two year old well weathered wood contains 15 -25%. So you see it can get very complicated and how do you know what you are buying? A simple person like me buys compressed blocks...clean easy and burns well. The chimney sweep comes but once a year and praises me!

We live the winters in Norway where almost everybody fires with wood. And wood is always a discussion theme when prices are mentioned. Here we buy wood by volume, not by weight. And hence the prices differ accordingly.

But the main thing is that ALL wood gives the same KW/h by weight.

If the wood is 100% dry (nearly impossible, but can be done in lab for testing) it gives 5,32 kw/h per kg.

When the wood has 20% moist (realistic trade quality) it gives 4,26 kw/h.

How fast it burns rely on how small or big the pieces of wood is. If one wants to heat much in a short time, use small pieces, to keep the fire going for a long time, use big.

[quote=Anniet2;94076]Here in England, the best wood for burning in our open fire is ash as it burns well, gives off hardly any smoke and does not 'spit'. Presumably the same goes for stoves in Marche. If so, where can we get some preferably in the MC area?
Annie.[/quote]
We are based in Sarnano and buy from an old guy Beppe who supplies much of the area (if you are near- he lives in Schito), in Amandola there is Silenzi (look in the phone book) and we used to use someone in Treia. If you look up Legno per ardere/bruciare in the yellow pages you'll find a bunch and you can normally choose which wood they supply you or else they'll provide a mixed bag of oak, cherry, ash and beech. You should pay €12-13 al quintale (100kg)

I would avoid pellets and processed wood products as the price has doubled around here over 2 years and if you have a big place you need to seriously consider a decent camino - a wood burner linked to rads and hot water. We have a vulcano that cost €2000 and heats 250m2- it pays for itself in about a year as it only costs €550 in wood for 6 months.

Sorry livarandsofie don't agree with this comment
But the main thing is that ALL wood gives the same KW/h by weight.
Do agree avoid pellets but I love those pressed blocks and the price where we live in Umbria compares favourably with logs. Perhaps what I really love is the ease of use...the days of stacking wood and then bringing in basket after basket of heavy logs to our wood stove which is in an upstairs, winter sittingroom are over due to age and a failing body!