By Lisa Romano

Winter is fast approaching and with it come new anxieties about the cost of heating fuel. Some oil companies are estimating bills averaging several hundred dollars a month, a great financial burden for many of us, particularly in these tight times. At first glance retro or old fashioned to some, wood is an affordable and readily available heating alternative that is finding renewed popularity this season. Fireplaces, woodstoves, and pellet stoves can be great ways to heat your home, fossil fuel free. Oil, propane, and electricity can cost a family as much as two to three times more to heat their home for the winter than if they burned wood or pellets, and their production and use is much more damaging to the environment than sustainably produced and harvested cordwood.

Fortunately for western Massachusetts, over 75% of our land is wooded, so wood fuel is a readily available resource. A carefully managed woodlot should be able to produce one-third to one-half a cord per acre per year; just a few acres can warm a family sustainably for the whole winter. Cordwood collected from thinning operations or storm damage, or that is insect infested or diseased, will not remove timber value from a woodlot. Instead, using this ordinarily undesirable wood only increases the value of woodlands.     There are many things to consider when choosing cordwood. Oaks and maples have historically been favored species for firewood because they are dense and produce long-lasting coals. Some species, however, such as sugar maple, may have high energy output (BTUs) yet are also among the most valuable of our trees, making cordwood an often poor use for them.  Value also importantly depends on straightness, diameter, and defects. Before you put a tree or log into your firewood pile, consider whether or not it might have more financial value generating dollars for you, rather than BTUs. Other species, shagbark hickory for example, may be of little timber value and high energy output, yet are not plentiful enough in Massachusetts to effectively single out as a cordwood species. 

Because there isn’t a great difference between BTUs per pound of most trees, the best way to choose your cordwood is based on availability and ease of access and splitting. If you are purchasing wood, keep in mind that denser hardwoods are more desirable and will burn slower.  However, by far the most important key to having good firewood is having dry firewood; no one likes to struggle to keep a wet and smoky fire burning on a cold February night. Dry, seasoned  wood burns more thoroughly with complete combustion, resulting in less creosote byproduct building up on the inside of your chimney. Properly seasoning your wood, or inspecting wood before you purchase it to be sure it has been seasoned, will help ensure you stay toasty this winter, and avoid potential chimney fires, where the creosote residue ignites.

For more information regarding heating with wood, visit www.woodheat.org for an extensive selection of useful articles, from seasoning and stacking firewood to choosing a woodstove. Helpful information regarding pellet stoves, a more recent innovation in wood heating, can be found at www.pelletheat.org.

Conservation of western Massachusetts’ forests serves many different purposes, from providing clean drinking water to protecting wildlife habitats. A renewable and affordable fuel source is another service the forests provide, that can not only move us closer to self sufficiency, but may also become another income generating activity for landowners. And for ambiance alone, nothing beats a warm, crackling fire.