FAQs
1 Q: Why burn firewood?
A:
- You won’t get a more intense heat source than firewood and when the wood burns out, the normal house will stay warm for hours as compared to fossil fuels and wood pellets.
- It is a renewable energy resource.
- Unlike the burning of fossil fuels like gas or oil, burning firewood releases no more harmful greenhouse gases than would be produced were the wood to simply rot on the forest floor.
- It produces a comforting atmosphere in the home.
- It’s cheaper heat. Price comparisons chart click here.
2 Q: What time of year should I order?
A: You can order green wood anytime, but the earlier in the year you order, the drier your wood will be for the upcoming year. We sell out of dry wood every year, sometimes as early as September. Once sold out, we will not have more available again until the next year, sometime between February and June. It is certainly best to get your wood in before the rains. However, ordering your wood shortly before the rains will not ensure that this will happen. Typically beginning around April 15th, the tax due day, we begin receiving orders from customers getting ready for the following fall and winter. Shortly after this time, we get about a week behind in filling orders. By the time mid-summer hits, we may be up to several weeks behind in filling orders. And by the time we hit fall, we are usually at least a month behind in filling orders. Our biggest-selling year, we were three months behind in September. So for the best wood availability and the quickest service, we recommend ordering in the Spring or early summer.
3 Q: How much firewood should I expect to burn?
A: A well insulated 1,700 sq. ft. home with an efficient stove can be exclusively heated on 2 cords per year very comfortably with the home never getting below 68 degrees. even on the coldest mornings. A cord of wood is 128 cubic feet stacked- approximately 600 pieces of 16″ wood.
4 Q: What size wood do you sell?
A: Our normal size that fits in most stoves and easy to handle is 15 – 16 in length, and pieces are split with no diameter over 7. However you may custom order between 11 – 22 in length and any diameter you wish, but very small wood is time-consuming and a bit costly.
5 Q: How does bark burn?
A: Bark actually has more heat value than the wood. However, it leaves a lot of ash. We try to pick out as much bark as possible when loading. If the wood is very dry or the trees were fallen in the Spring, the bark tends to fall off during delivery and dumping.
6 Q: How is the current supply of firewood?
A: Unfortunately, corporate lands and Jackson State forest have been using the “hack and squirt” method of poisoning vast tracts of Oak before they can be harvested. This is happening at an accelerated pace.
Oak is now harder to find and more expensive to bring in, as we won’t harvest or purchase poisoned logs. Although we are still able to procure some Oak and Madrone, we have begun to also sell Almond firewood from the central valley, which is still abundant. I believe that firewood will always be available in this county, but at times we have to “think out of the box”.
7 Q: Any starting tips?
A:
- Keep your wood out of the rain.
- Ample air supply or draft is needed. This may involve cleaning your stove-pipe.
- You may occasionally have pan drippings such as hamburger or bacon grease. A little of that goes a long way for starting damp wood.
- If you are having problems, preheating the stove by starting a little newspaper will make your wood start easier.
8 Q: How dry is the cheaper “Partially Seasoned” wood?
A: This can some times be the best deal going, but it depends on how dry our logs are, and that varies. This discounted price on our partially seasoned wood is due to the time and labor saved by processing the firewood directly from the log to the delivery truck, rather than precutting and storing it. Sometimes we have some very dry logs in the yard, making it the best deal. So please call and ask. See video for advice on how to start and burn partially seasoned wood