Most people enjoy sitting around a fire at this time of year. While many have gas fireplaces, quite a few of my friends and neighbours enjoy the warmth and beauty of a real wood fireplace.
Like any other activity, heating with wood can be done well – or it can be done badly. The good news is that hundreds of thousands of responsible home owners know how to burn wood well, helping them to enjoy the beauty and relaxation that a real fire promotes.
Good practices include:
- Harvesting wood sustainably
- Burning it cleanly and efficiently
- Using it to reduce greenhouse gas emissions.
I came upon a Canadian group called Wood Heat Organization Inc. (http://www.woodheat.org/), “a nonprofit, nongovernmental agency dedicated to the responsible use of wood as a home heating fuel.”
Here are some of their favourite reasons for heating with wood:
- It’s a renewable energy resource
- Because trees recycle carbon dioxide, wood burning just warms you, not the globe.
- No more freezing in the dark when the power goes out
- Heat from a fire warms you like the rays of the sun
- A fire is romantic
- It’s cheaper to burn wood so you save some money
- You’ll invest in your community if you buy firewood locally and support your neighbours
Unfortunately, Kawartha Lakes Fire Service deals with an increasing number of wood burning related fires during the winter months. Promoting safe fire burning is critical to protect your family and your home.
They want to spread the word on wood burning safety and offer the following advice:
Wood burning stoves
- Use heating equipment that has the label of a recognized testing laboratory.
- All heaters need space. Keep things that can burn such as paper, bedding or furniture at least 1 meter (3 feet) away from heating equipment.
- Install stove, chimney connectors and chimneys following the manufacturer’s instructions or have a professional do the installation.
- Start fires with newspaper, kindling or fire starters. Never use a flammable liquid such as lighter fluid, kerosene or gasoline.
- In wood stoves, burn only dry seasoned wood. In pellet stoves, burn only dry seasoned wood pellets.
- Keep the doors of your wood stove closed unless loading or stoking the live fire.
- Embers in the ashes can remain hot for several days, do not vacuum them or place them in combustible containers. Place ashes in a tightly covered metal container and keep the ash container at least 3 meters (10 feet) away from the home and any other nearby buildings. Douse and saturate the ashes with water.
- Supervise children whenever a wood or oil stove or other space heater is being used. Use a sturdy metal screen to prevent contact burns, which are more common than flame burns.
- Have a 1 meter (3 feet) “kid-free zone” around open fires and space heaters.
Fireplaces
- Have a sturdy metal screen on a fireplace.
- Only dry, seasoned wood should be used in fireplaces. Not only is it cleaner for the environment, it also creates less buildup in the chimney.
- If you use artificial logs use them according to manufacturer’s recommendations. Never burn more than one log at a time.
- Chimneys and vents need to be cleaned at least once a year or as necessary.
I got a chuckle out of this Zen Proverb…
“Before enlightenment; chop wood, carry water. After enlightenment; chop wood, carry water.”
Stay safe with your wood burning stove or fireplace!
Bethany Ontario 
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