Firewood!
 

So we have our rental sorted... and its ace... pictures will follow once we move in at the end of August.

Its a well insulated house, owner to explaining how the roof and underfloor has been treated etc. and has provided us with a box of kindling and around 20 logs for the wood burner.

So it got me thinking... how much am I looking at for firewood? We have a wood shed so have loads of room to buy in bulk... apparently ti-tree is the best. How do you buy? By the cubic metre? Tonne :eek::eek:

Cheers!

Re: Firewood!
 

By the cord normally... which can come all as one type or you can get a split load. Depending on how you burn it and for how long will depend on how long it'll last. We find we use about 1 1/2 cords during the winter.

We also the last couple of years have just got pine.

This Sept/Oct time we'll be buying slightly greener timber and storing it away for next year. Should save us some wedge...

In Welly you can get 1 cord of pine delivered for under $300

Re: Firewood!
 

We have the closed wood-burner type, glass window in a door kinda thing.

I've heard softer woods are best to start it off... and then hardwoods for longer lasting and more heat.

I've done a search for places on the interweb around us in Titirangi... appears as if they sell it by the cubic metre.

What do you reckon... 50:50 soft:hard?

Also they reckon you'll get through 4 cubic metres in a winter... how does this correspond to cords? Sorry for my ignorance!!

Re: Firewood!
 

Apparently 1 cord = 3.6 cubic metres...

We've just been getting pine as it's cheaper hence why we probably burn 1 1/2 cords each winter... 50/50 is good, but try and get it from someone whose storing the wood in doors... so it's dry...

Re: Firewood!
 

Thanks for info :thumbup:

How many more months of Winter is left up here in Titirangi do you reckon? Need to buy some firewood for when we move in... but don't want to overdo it!

Re: Firewood!
 

we used to have an open fire - always made me laugh when they were banging on about someone stood on a pavement polluting the air with their cigarette!

Re: Firewood!
 

We're normally burning wood until about the beginning of Oct, but by then we're burning less and less... if you order a split load now you'd have some left for the start of next winter...

Re: Firewood!
 

Congrats on getting a rental sorted! :thumbsup: Looking forward to seeing pix.

I'm absolutely clueless about wood fires, love them but wish they sorted themselves on their own somehow :rofl: the thought of cobwebby, spidery kindling and a lot of physical effort is too overwhelming and I doubt Mr. Kija has a clue either :rofl:

Some friends tried starting a camp fire in Sinai once and they struggled for over 15 minutes and when it finally got started we almost choked from the smoke coming out of the thing. Some Bedouin guys came over and started a camp fire for us in less than a minute and it was perfect :rofl:

Re: Firewood!
 

We get a mix of soft and hard wood, pine and bluegum usually. We usually buy about 9 cubic metres to get us through winter, but often end up having to top it up. I'm told this is quite a lot of wood to get through, but I like to be warm in the house and I work from home so on cold days I have it burning all day. We pay around $220 for 3 cubic metres of pine and that's delivered and kiln dried.

Key thing to look out for is that you get wood that was cut a while ago and has had a chance to dry out. Recently cut or 'green' wood is terrible, it generates no heat and just smokes up your log burner, a waste of time. Watch out for wood sellers who say 'oh it's just rain wet' and that'll it be fine to burn, ask them when it was cut and how long it's been drying. Of course if you can get it for a good price and store it for next winter then no problem, but if you're wanting something to burn straight away don't bother.

I don't think I'd ever even given a moment's thought to wood and fires before I came to NZ. Funny the things you pick up!

Re: Firewood!
 

Thanks for the advice, mucho appreciated.

And yes, the same here... never given it any thought before!

Re: Firewood!
 

I bought it by the cord in Hawkes Bay but it's sold more often by the m3 here in the Waikato. 50:50 is a good idea- make sure you have somewhere dry and airy to store it. Top tip for using log burners is not to put a log or two on at a time- stack it right up and get the burner and the room up to temperature with a roaring fire before putting the hardwood on. Before you go to bed (unless yours is an old fire pre-dating the eco regs, which make urban fires very hard to properly 'keep in'- if it's old it'll close right down and smolder all night)) let it die down a bit and then very quickly stack it to bursting with hardwood and close it up tight (vent in). Should be some warmth still there in the morning- it's a knack and with patience you'll work it out. When the fire is lit leave the doors in the house open that you want to feel the benefit and keep bathroom etc doors shut.

ETA: get a couple of m3 in to get you through the winter- congrats on the rental :)

Re: Firewood!
 

Yup ! All of the above.

50:50 fir and gum. Make sure the wood has been seasoned, as in sap dry & not green, wet wood.

Split some of the pine for kindling.

Load up the log burner to the gunnels with kindling, pine and gum and set it alight. Once you see it's well caught , shut down the damper & shut the door for a long slow hot burn.

Has the log burner got a wetback? If so, it will help heat your water.

Re: Firewood!
 

Is a wetback a heat exchanger piped into the hot water system like a backboiler ?

Re: Firewood!
 

Yes

Unfortunately (OP) you are likely to find with fire heating in NZ homes that one room will be like a sauna whilst the others remain like an ice-box

Re: Firewood!
 

No problem I was brought up with a coal fire pre cental heating and can still remember talk of all of the London smog deaths. :eek: