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How to Age & Store Firewood
How to Age & Store Firewood. Green, freshly cut firewood is notoriously difficult to ignite and keep burning. If you do manage to get a fire going with wet wood, it produces a lot of smoke and little heat, making it especially undesirable for cooking or indoor use. This can be avoided by properly aging and storing your firewood beginning several...
Green, freshly cut firewood is notoriously difficult to ignite and keep burning. If you do manage to get a fire going with wet wood, it produces a lot of smoke and little heat, making it especially undesirable for cooking or indoor use. This can be avoided by properly aging and storing your firewood beginning several months before you need it.
Things You'll Need
Wooden fence posts
Post hole digger
Wooden pallets
Plastic tarp
Unseasoned (green) firewood
Determine the dimensions of your stack or stacks. The length and width depend completely on the size of your stove.
Firewood needs to be stacked off the ground to accelerate drying and prevent mold. You should choose a relatively flat spot as your storage area. Lay down recycled wooden pallets or cover the area with a flat bed of gravel.
It is best to store the firewood in a two- or three-walled shed with a roof. If this is not an option, you need to place fence posts at either end of your stacks to keep them from collapsing. Dig 2- to 3-foot-deep post holes, plant your posts and pack the dirt around them to secure them.
Stack your wood so the ends face north to south. This helps the firewood age faster. Stack each layer in the grooves of the layer beneath it. Some people prefer to stack the wood crossed so that even layers face north to south and odd layers face east to west. While this increases air exposure, it creates an unstable stack unless the stacks are braced against walls.
If you live in a particularly wet region, you can cover your firewood with a tarp, lumber or scrap metal. To accelerate seasoning, leave the wood uncovered. A third option, which takes advantage of both the other options, is to place the wood in a shed with a roof that does not touch the top of the stack. That gives the wood air exposure and cover.
Tips & Warnings
Storing wood in a sunny area accelerates aging.
It can take between four months and two years for wood to be completely seasoned.
