Serious Question - Why am I splitting firewood

[roybaldone]

Besides making it fit, what is the purpose of splitting firewood? To help it dry? To help it burn? I'm tired of splitting it but not knowing why. Thanks Rb

[Han]

[e-mail] wrote in news:pbt7t6tjq0ivbs2j26jaqoba8nvb6bdg0u@

4ax.com:

Burning of wood takes mostly place near the surface, where the heat generates combustible gases. Therefore a larger surface area will burn better & faster. Obviously splitting the wood generates more surface.

[dpb]

...

yes (besides, it warms you twice't)

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[LSMFT]

It reduces drying time, aids in handling and stacking and burns easier. I split everything over 3 inches in diameter. I cut and split 6 cord last fall, with a chain saw and hydraulic splitter. I know some people who like to ax it all, too much work. I had some logs 22 inches in diameter. I get enough exercise carrying and stacking it and carrying it again into the house to burn.

[DerbyDad03]

re: "I'm tired of splitting it but not knowing why."

You really don't know why you're tired of splitting it?

That should be pretty easy to figure out!

[willshak]

[e-mail] wrote the following:

Like others have said, it reduces drying time because there is more surface area to eliminate moisture, especially if the bark is left on. Besides, if you are complaining about the effort, it's probably the only heavy exercise that you get.

[Jim Elbrecht]

I never used to split except to make it fit into the door of my stove. [about 12"]

Unsplit wood takes longer to season, but, IMO, stays drier if uncovered. A 12" diameter log makes a good 'all nighter' in the stoves I used to have. New airtights might choke on them.

When I got tired of moving wood around I bought a ventless propane stove. One of the smarter moves I've made in life. Current propane prices make it a bit higher than firewood-- but the control and convenience make up for it-- and the stove has been paid for

20times over when propane was cheaper for a few years.

Jim

[Steve Barker]

Four quarters will give you more heat more efficiently than the whole log.

[N8N]

it, what is the purpose of splitting firewood?

someone had to say it, I guess...

nate

[DerbyDad03]

fit, what is the purpose of splitting firewood?

I have always found that statement to be ridiculous.

It's a rare case when someone splits wood just to keep warm. Given the option of splitting wood as a means to keep warm vs. spending time in a heated space to keep warm, I'm pretty sure most people would skip the work.

In other words I don't see the "warming you twice" situation as any type of advantage.

[Larry Fishel]

You are correct. And then they get fat and PAY to go to a gym...

(I do too, but I have neither trees nor the need for firewood (Miami)).

[James]

DerbyDad, where, Oh Where, is your sense of humor ?? You TRULY don't get the humor ???

James

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I have always found that statement to be ridiculous.

It's a rare case when someone splits wood just to keep warm. Given the option of splitting wood as a means to keep warm vs. spending time in a heated space to keep warm, I'm pretty sure most people would skip the work.

In other words I don't see the "warming you twice" situation as any type of advantage.

[Harry K]

A reason not mentioned: After splitting you have a bigger pile than before :). A rick of wood in the rounds will grow about 10% after splitting.

Harry K

[A. Baum]

Dries quicker, easier to stack, burns better.

Can't help you there. Gotta friend who is 54 that heats his whole small house in the country with split firewood. He has a log splitter though and can fly through a cord of wood in a an hour. He'll buy 2 3rds his winter's supply cut to length then split it. That's 3 cords. The rest he cuts down trees and drags them back with his tractor and does the whole deal himself. He probably spends less than 300 bucks a year to heat his house. He's got propane for hot water and to backup his wood burner.

Maybe you should invest in a hydraulic splitter?

[aemeijers]

Shrug. Around here, unless you have a source of free wood, heating with natural gas is cheaper. Coming up on six years in this house, and I have yet to use the faux fireplace. (Kinda scared to open the glass doors, at this point, lest something is looking back at me...)

No SWMBO here, so no OTHER reason to build a fire,,,, :^(

[Ed Pawlowski]

Faster drying, easier handling, and sometimes you need smaller pieces to get a fire going.

Loading a woodstove takes a bit of practice too. First of all, you need two or more logs. One piece of wood does not burn very well, but two logs feed off of each other for a better, hotter, fire. Just watch two logs side by side and see the flames licking back and forth.

It is nearly impossible to light a large log. Building a fire, you need very small wood, then a bit larger, still larger, then the big logs. When the fire is down, you put smaller split pieces in to get it going and to start the larger pieces that will give a longer burn time.

I always had a variety of sizes on hand to load up the stove. The problem recently is cost. If you can get free wood, great. Buying cordwood cut and split is getting too expensive and not worth the effort compared to turning a thermostat. Good to have some on hand in case of power outages though.

[hrhofmann]

I'm a month shy of 75 years old and I enjoy the exercise of splitting firewood. I have to do some splitting because the rounds are 2ft in diameter and just too heavy and big to fit in the fireplace without splitting them. I have free wood and so I can really save some $$ by heating our house with free wood. Our heatolator fireplace can keep the house at 70 unless it is very windy out and/or below 20F. I just turn on the furnace fan to run continuously. I do realize I am paying something extra to run the blower continuously, but it would be on quite a lot if I was using the furnace to heat the house, so the delta is pretty small compared to using natural gas.

[mm]

Can't you split rocks into sand?

[Matt]

Yeah---what a stiff.

But was it worse than top posting?

[Matt]

So a person can use a smaller stove if they split the firewood. Also they have to split the wood if they use a smaller stove.