HEARTH

When we are out walking our dog, Mr Hearth and I have a habit of pulling out our phones, photographing wood we find and sending the photos to each other.  It’s deeply nerdy and a little obsessive.  One of our rural neighbours makes it a point of honour to return from every walk with a stout stick or sticks for use as kindling. This is what happens when you have a woodburning stove or fire: you cannot stop looking for foraged wood. 

We are lucky enough to have access and permission to forage in particular places and we enjoy nothing better in winter than working up a sweat, chopping and carrying wood back to the car.  It’s a great workout and wonderful on a sunny winter afternoon.  I work out at the gym on upper body strength so that I can lift and carry wood as well as doing heavy lifting in the garden.  It really helps with large beech logs or oak. I have a rule:  one hour of chopping and gathering must equal at least three hours or more of burning, otherwise it’s not worth the effort.  After gathering there is splitting and stacking as well, so it has to be efficient. 

I’ll be writing in the blog about our adventures with wood and woodburning.  We have three stoves: one is very small and old and the other two are new, British-made Clearview stoves.  I can thoroughly recommend them.  They haven’t missed a beat.  One is in the hall and heats most of the house, except the sitting room where a smaller Clearview is installed.  The oldest and smallest of the three is downstairs and used only when I’m working in my study, as I am now.  It’s not as efficient but it takes the chill off the room and doesn’t use much wood.

If you are thinking of installing a woodburner, you must learn how to burn wood efficiently.  Otherwise, you won’t get much heat and you’ll be causing pollution.  The stove must be efficient and fit for purpose and pass regulations.  It must be clean burning.  You must use properly seasoned wood burned at the appropriate temperature.  The stove must be installed by a reputable, authorised trades person.  Installation can be expensive but it’s an investment that works well if you have access to properly seasoned wood.  We heat our house via the woodburners.  We do have central heating.  It runs for an hour of a morning.  That’s it. 

As you can imagine, storage is needed.  Mr Hearth and a friend built a large shed but it is not enough.  We also have an older shed and three slate boxes.  We spend the winter weekends when weather permits, either cutting, splitting or foraging for wood.  We love doing this but it’s not everyone’s idea of outdoor life.  I don’t do chainsaws but Mr Hearth is safe and sensible and efficient.  I barrow the wood to our estate car and pile it into the back.  When we bought our present car, the first thing I checked was the book capacity and whether or not it was easy to lay down the back seats.  The sales rep burbled on about the touch screen, satnav, comfy seats and so on and then realised that my main concern was capacity.  He quickly recalculated what he needed to say to convince me that the car would be useful for wood haulage.

There are loads of books available on woodburning but you cannot go past the advice given by reputable stove installation teams.  The internet will also be helpful but, as with everything, be selective.  The best book, if you want to be deeply nerdy about chopping and stacking and the whole thing, is Lars Mytting’s Norwegian Wood.  It’s also deeply pleasurable to see wood stacking as an art form.  We will never achieve those heights, I fear.

The warmth from a woodburning stove is like no other. 

One must-have:  a moisture detector or meter.  An essential piece of kit whether you buy in your wood or forage for it yourself.  If the firm that delivers your wood claims it is seasoned, with a moisture meter, you can tell straight away if they are honourable.  Under 20% moisture and it’s seasoned and burnable.  Over 23% or so, you’ll have to wait or change suppliers.  We had a period when we had loads of wood, nearly all of it unseasoned.  We had to buy in - shock, horror - some wood.  Ours came from a farm that was supplementing income by supplying wood and the wood was perfect. I’ve since given several moisture detectors as gifts.  They are also useful for testing for damp in walls.  The one we use – alas, not made in the UK – is reasonable priced and has lasted several years without missing a beat.  Put it on the Christmas or birthday list!

Ours is a Brennenstuhl Moisture Detector

You’ll need to check the regulations for your local area as these will stipulate the type of stove you are permitted to have. Burn well-seasoned wood at a good temperature and you’ll look after stove and flue.  You’ll also avoid polluting the air.  Once the stove is well under way there should be no visible smoke from the chimney.  If the chimney looks like the cardinals are in conclave, electing a pope, you’ll need to rectify either temperature or the wood, as this shouldn’t be happening with good fuel burned efficiently.