Splitting versus chains awing wood logs into quarters or eighths to burn in fireplace

[Mayayana]

This is my second of two different questions, where in both cases I'm trying to find the least expensive way to heat a room that happens to have a double-opening wood burning fireplace with an existing propane starter pipe and a center-opening steel mesh spark arrestor screen on both sides.

The propane starter pipe looks like a two foot long half inch steel pipe with holes that when I turn the 3/8th inch square female key to allow propane to flow, small one inch flames can be lit to light logs.

The flue is about six or eight inches in diameter and when opened I can see daylight above the chimney but the room gets kind of smoky when I burn wood and the walls are white stucco-like wallboard with the exception of a white tile around a foot or so along the perimeter of the fireplace.

If I'm going to burn wood I'm going to need to cut that wood and I happen to have access to sections of trees previously cut and stacked years ago.

But some are two and three feet wide, even as most are about a foot wide. I don't have a chain saw or a splitter other than the ax handle type which I tried and it's just too much work for my old body to handle.

The question I'd like to ask you who have experience is which is better to section up and quarter foot to two foot diameter logs?

Is it better to buy a hand lever operated pneumatic wood splitter? Or do they make a vise where I can just chain saw the wood into quarters?

Which is the better approach for splitting logs for wood burning?

[Snag]

They make electric/hydraulic splitters , they also make hydraulic splitters that are powered by you pumping a handle - both are cheaper than gas powered hydraulic splitters . Chain sawing is both inefficient and wasteful . As far as the fireplace , they can actually suck more heat out than they produce . Your smoking problem is because there is not sufficient "draw" , that is , the column of warm air in the flue is not creating enough suction to draw the smoke out . Finding the balance between smoke-free and suckin' the heat out is a fine line . You might consider an insert if this is to be a long-term heating solution . We heat with wood that I cut on our land and process myself . You may not live in a clearing out in the woods like we do though .

[Ed Pawlowski]

Cheapest way is to use the central heating. Fireplaces like that are designed to look pretty but add little heat. Unless you put in a wood burning stove, save all the labor and use the thermostat.

Should be no smoke in the room if the fire is right. You need a good draw and proper heating up to get air flow and it will suck up much of the heat too.

Buy or rent a proper splitter. I used a splitting maul on up to about two feet. Wood has to be at least 6 months dry and a few whacks with a maul will do it.

Chain saw for splitting can be a lot of work, this the splitters.

Given what you've told us, when you want it to look pretty burn a couple of those duraflame logs. If you want to get heat, get a wood burning insert.

I've burned over 50 cords of wood over many years and finally found it much easier to pay the oil bill.

The stove I had was similar to the Encore

[micky]

I don't burn that much wood and I've never split any wood that I can remember. The wood I have from trees near me that fall down is small enough to not need splittling or I buy small amounts at the 7-11 that are already split.

But my house came with a round wedge and a sledge hammer, that look like they would do a good job.

On the other hand, if I used a chain saw, I would help to solve the world-wide sawdust shortage.

[trader_4]

I replied to your other thread about using gas in a fireplace. I see here you say that it's propane, not natural gas. IDK if you said that in the other thread and I missed it, but my comments about it not being workable were with natural gas in mind. Burning propane in a traditional wood fireplace is going to have much worse economics because propane is more expensive. Wood can work if the wood is free. I'd be looking at installing a propane heater for that room as an option.

[Mayayana]

Ed Pawlowski [e-mail] wrote

I have a "maul" (it's a heavy triangle of steel, right?) and mallet and I also have a wood splitter (which looks like a heavy but duller ax, right?).

They're too much work.

From what people said, the splitter is better than the chain saw but I may also need the chain saw anyway to size the length of the logs which I hadn't thought about until now.

So this question turns into what log splitter is best with the basic considerations of cost and convenience.

Can someone suggest a decent log splitter that they find useable?

[Mayayana]

trader_4 [e-mail] wrote

The water heater, dryer, stove and fireplace are propane from an outside tank which gets deliveries whenever the 250 gallon tank is below 20%.

The wood is always going to be free but it will be in all sorts of sizes and shapes which is why it needs to be cut to length and split.

You mention "a propane heater for that room" in your reply above. Do they make them?

Can I hook up a propane heater to that fireplace instead of the existing log lighter?

If they make a propane heater that fits inside a fireplace, that would be the perfect solution to the problem!

[Scott Lurndal]

A "wedge" is a heavy triangle (or cone) of steel.

A "maul" is half sledgehammer, half wedge with a wooden handle.

It is best to split green firewood; dry is more difficult to split.

[Scott Lurndal]

What you probably want is a fireplace insert.

[Ed Pawlowski]

I found it easier a couple months dry. Easiest was frozen. Takes a long cold period but a 12" to 18" dia. oak would just pop apart with one smack of the maul.

[Scott Lurndal]

That's still green. Figure 1 year per inch of thickness to dry.

[micky]

So if you want to watch the fire for a while and you open the doors, does the efficiency drop down to the same as the original fireplace?

And what does an insert do for air supply? Does it take it from the room like the fireplace does?

[Scott Lurndal]

The door(s), being glass, don't need to be open to watch the fire.

There are two draft control levers; one acts like a choke for starting the fire, the other regulates the burn rate. Opening the door leads to overfire, which is non-optimal.

Surrounding the firebox is a channel with a fan that draws room air from below the insert across the back and top and through openings at the top of the insert. Very effective at heating large spaces with reduced fuel (firewood) requirements. In mine, once a good bed of coals has built up, a single medium sized log will last the night, providing sufficient heat to eliminate the need to turn on the central forced air system.

That entirely depends on the insert. Some can draw from outside air, some draw from the flue, some from the interior.

[trader_4]

Google vented propane space heater.

You could probably put something in there to generate more heat than the lighter thing, but again, most of the heat is going to go up the chimney, not into the room.

No it wouldn't, not when you see the bills for the propane and before long that cost will exceed the cost of putting in a real propane heater.

[trader_4]

That's a good point too. The air that gets drawn into the fireplace has to come from somewhere and typically there is no outside source, so it draws air from the house. Then cold outside air comes in via cracks, windows, etc to make it up. Burning a wood fireplace the one room will be warm, but the rest of the house can be colder than without the fire.

[rbowman]

I had an apartment in an old brownstone that had a gas log setup in addition to two traditional fireplaces. It helped keep the barn (12' ceilings) warm and the flames were fairly realistic. It had been converted from coal gas to natural gas somewhere along the way so it was a lot safe. Coal gas was a mixture of hydrogen and carbon monoxide.

[rbowman]

Some are ventless, some are vented. Ventless is cheaper to install but I believe they are illegal in the nanny states.

[rbowman]

Real rednecks use a Stickler.

[Snag]

Dumfuck , half the reason for splitting firewood is so it will dry faster . I split it as soon as it's cut and hauled to my wood yard . Ready to burn in a year though 2 years is slightly better . Trees cut in winter dry sooner ... can you guess why ?

[Ed Pawlowski]

So, an 18" diameter log will take 18 years to be dry. Guess I should stockpile more.