How close do you guys keep a days supply of wood. I keep about a weeks worth in the garage but was wondering if it was okay to keep a days worth on the hearth. I would keep it towards the back of the stove in a log holder about 12" from stove. I figure it will warm the wood and drive out residual moisture. just looking for opinions for next year.
The 'safe' answer is that you shouldn't have wood within the combustible material distance limits for your stove. That said I typically bring in about a days worth at a time and place it as close as 18" to the side. You are correct that you can get in some final moisture loss. It won't be much but any removed before you put the wood in the stove is heat that you will not lose vaporizing water when you burn the wood.
If you are in the room, keep it as close as you want. Ive kept a couple pieces on top. After a couple hours you could start to smell it. Ive got some under the stove right now, of courst it's not roaring either.
"just looking for opinions for next year." Not to be a butthead, but if you can get your hands on some Ash, get it c/s/s, you shouldn't have too much need for that. However, been there, done that, bought the shirt, etc. Oh, and hated every minute of it while thinking about getting enough wood put up to be ahead of the game. Now that I have dry wood, none of that is needed. It makes such a huge difference. I do bring wood in to a galvanized washtub next to the stove. I've even put splits on top of the stove, forgot about them for a bit, then when I smelled that smell.......decided it wasn't such a good idea. You will see a bit of moisture loss, but just surface stuff. Nothing to write home about.
Working on getting 2-3 years ahead. Only been in the house a little over a year and a half. Plus three boys under six that I try to spend a ton of time with when not at work.
Also kind of trying to make it easier on the wife, but want to keep it contained to the hearth area so the boys are not tempted to play with it. I keep a fence around the hearth so they at least have a visual and try to teach them the hazards of it.
+3. It's the best answer, it's a good fundamental rule for wood near the stove, or anything combustable for that matter. I use a firewood ring that will hold 2-2 1/2 days worth. The heat from the stove does help with any residual.
jetjr, it took me about 3 years to get the wood to a point where it was "pretty good". I was dealing with 99% Oak. If I had to do it over, I would have ordered 4 years worth already c/s/d. I didn't know then, what I know now. Then, maybe tried to get my hands on some Ash or dry wood or maybe even some "biobricks". Then , I would have run the heater to supplement for a year while the wood I got had a chance to dry some. That's what I would have done, ....had I known better. "Plus three boys under six that I try to spend a ton of time with when not at work." Yep, do that. Time is the one thing you can't make more of.
3 boys under six… sounds like a whole lotta fun! Do they like being outside? Camping? Firewood work? Ridin in the bucket? … as long as it's with Dad?
We don't and won't keep a day's worth of wood in the house. However, on the really cold below zero nights I will usually lay 3 or 4 splits behind the stove and will put those in sometime during the night just to keep the temperature up. I get up anyway, as lots of older men usually have to so it is no problem. But most nights we do not add any extra so no need to bring in extra. However, we can also consider that our wood rack is not too far from the stove anyway.
You can move the cursor after quote box. I keep a rack on the hearth outside of the 10" ctc. I don't keep totally full when I'm home, but I always keep a load in it. I don't cover my stacks or have a wood shed, so there is always a bit of surface moisture. It's not a big deal, but it takes off sooo much quicker if it has been for half a day. The other reason for the rack is that I'm gone overnight for work two nights a week, so I heap it up full before I leave. For the boss.
Although probably not considered to be the optimal in safety, I keep enough for 24 hours burn (roughly 18" from the stove). The way my cellar is set-up does not allow for a convenient way to store wood. So, I have to store outside in a covered wood-crib. As part of my daily routine, I bring in enough wood for a day. The heat from the stove removes the frost and/or snow. I tend to stack it with the soft wood/poplar furthest away from the stove and denser wood closer to the stove. 25+ years doing it this way, no problems yet ("Nock-on-wood") You can see a little to the right of the old dog in the photo.
