In loving memory of Kenis D. Keathley 6/4/81 - 3/27/22 Loving father, husband, brother, friend and firewood hoarder Rest in peace, Dexterday

FHC Dictionary

Firewood Hoarders Club - Dictionary of Terms


Airtight Stove:See Pre-EPA Stove

Boiler:Combustion device designed to heat water and/or generate steam for central heating.

Bucking:Cutting logs to firewood length with a chainsaw. Usually followed by splitting.

Burn Tube: Manifold to let secondary air into the high temperature reburn area of a noncatalytic stove.

Bypass: Control found on all catalytic, and a few non-catalytic (VC, Harman) stoves that directs smoke away from secondary burn system and directly up open flue for reloading and starting new fires. Sometimes alternately called a damper in stove manuals (VC).

CAD: Chainsaw Acquisition Disorder. Also known as saw collecting or saw hording.

CAT Stove: Modern stove that achieves secondary combustion using a catalyst (platinum coated honeycomb of ceramic or stainless steel) to initiate re-burn of smoke at 500F.

Chainsaw: Mechanical device that cuts wood, at the very top of power tool food chain.

Chimney: The vertical structure of the chimney to bring combustion smoke outside the home. Can contain multiple flues exhausting multiple appliances (fireplaces, stoves, boiler, furnaces, etc). Can be masonry construction, or a wood frames chase containing one or more metal flues, etc.

Chimney Fire: Fire ignited within the chimney flue proper when creosote builds up and is ignited by a strong heat source. Typically accompanied by a freight train like roar and flames shooting out the top of the chimney.

Class A Pipe: Double walled stovepipe generally with insulation between the walls that can be used as a standalone chimney system.

Clearances: See Clearance to Combustibles

Clearance to Combustibles: The required distances between the stove and any combustible materials (wood, drywall, flooring, etc) in the home when stove is installed.

Cord: 4ftx4ftx8ft, or 128 cubic feet of closely stacked firewood.

Creosote: Black tar like buildup in chimney flue consisting of unburned wood chemicals deposited when smoke particles condense on cool chimney surfaces. Typically caused by burning green wood or not burning hot enough. [I]Not caused by pine.[/I] Rated on a scale of 3 stages of severity.

CSS: Cut Split and Stacked firewood.

Cutting Wedge: See Felling Wedge

Damper: Device installed in flue pipe to regulate flow of exhaust gases. Typically a disk inside the pipe turned by a handle to partially block of the smoke flow. Used in very tall chimneys to prevent overdraft. Also describes the damper used to close off the chimney flue in a traditional masonry open fireplace.

Draft:A measure of how strong the chimney system draws smoke up and out. Driven by chimney height, temperature differential (outside temp and fire temp), air tightness of the home, etc.

Face Cord: A stack of wood the length and high of a cord but only one row deep. Commonly 4ftx8ftx 16 inches or approx 1/3 of a cord, but varies according to log length.

Felling:The act of cutting down a tree with a chainsaw, crosscut saw, axe, etc.

Felling Wedge: Wedge typically made of plastic used with a chainsaw to hold a difficult cut open and prevent pinching the bar. Also used during felling.

Fire Brick: High temperature brick commonly used to line firebox of welded steel stoves to insulate and maintain higher combustion temperatures for more efficient burn.

Fireplace Insert: Wood stove unit designed to sit inside of an existing masonry fireplace.

Fire-pit Wood: Craigslist term for pine. Often a good source of cheap or even free firewood to burn in your stove, acquired from people who still believe the old wives tail that pine causes chimney fires.

Fiskars SS:The mythical Fiskars Super Splitter. A wood splitting axe designed by the Fiskars company in Finland, vastly superior to any maul and no longer available. Replaced by the X27 series.

Flue:An individual path for combustion gas within a chimney. Can be metal pipe in a chase, clay liner within brick or stone chimney, etc.

Freestanding Stove: Wood stove that stands exposed in the room and is connected to chimney via stove pipe.

Furnace: Combustion device that heats air for central heating.

Gasifier: Typically a wood boiler or Furnace that super-heats the wood fuel to generate wood gas that is burned at very high temperature and high efficiency.

GIBIR: Get It Before It Rots.

Gooder: 3 levels better than good.

Grapple Load: Typically a load of log length wood delivered by a tree or forestry service grapple truck. Often 5-8 cords or more.

Green Wood: Wood freshly cut from the tree. Wood called seasoned by your typical Craigslist wood dealer. Can be 40% water or more and very frustrating to burn.

Hearth: Traditional name fore the area the stove/fireplace is placed on/in within the home. Traditionally made from brick,stone,tile, etc, but can also be framed and covered in fireproof materials.

Insert:See Fireplace Insert

Kindling:Small sticks used to build a November fire. Hoarders only build one fire a year.

Limbing: Cutting large branches from a tree.

Liner: Term typically used when stainless steel stovepipe is used to line an existing masonry chimney for use with a stove/insert.

Maul:Large heavy head axe (often 8lb or more) for splitting wood, or your toes. Bring your ibuprofen.

Milk Crate: Proper seat to use while properly splitting firewood on a vertical splitter.

More Betters: See Gooder

NONCAT Stove: Stove that wishes it had a catalyst Stove that achieves secondary combustion without a catalyst using various combinations of insulation and superheated secondary combustion air to raise the smoke temperature above the 1100F ignition point.

OAK: Outside air kit. Device to feed exterior air directly to the stoves air inlet. Typically a hole is cut in a home outside wall and a pipe is connected from the hole to the stove air inlet. Not a tree.

Open Fireplace: A wonderful old tradition that no antique American 18th century home should be without -- for ambiance, not for heating.

Over-fire: Very hot fire that results in the temperature of the stove exceeding manufacturer designed operating temperature range. Can be caused by operator error (leaving air control wire open), excessive draft, large loads of very dry wood, or some combination of the above.

PPE.: Personal protective equipment for safety while cutting with a chainsaw. Can include steel tip boots, kevlar chaps, helmet, protective gloves, jackets, etc.

Prefabricated Fireplace: Wood stove unit that looks like a fireplace but is a completely self contained unit installed in a wall with appropriate chimney system and not requiring to be installed inside a pre-existing masonry fireplace.

Pre-EPA Stove: Wood stove designed before EPA emissions standards, typically lacking a secondary combustion system to burn smoke from primary fire.

Primary Air Control: Sometimes called a draft control, main means of controlling the strength of the fire in a stove by regulating the amount of air intake into the firebox. Sometimes incorporates a thermostat (BK, VC).

Refractory: Fibrous ceramic material used in some catalytic wood stove designs to insulate the stove shell form the very high heat of the catalytic chamber (can reach 1700F or higher). Serves a similar purpose to fire brick.

Rick: See Face Cord

Sawbuck: Rack or jig to hold and position logs for easier bucking.

Sawhoarder: Usually a woodhoarder that cannot resist temptation to add "just one more saw". After all "What if my other eight saw's wont run on the same day?"

Scrounge: Latest place a hoarder got free wood. A free wood find.

Seasoned Wood: Firewood split stacked and air dried till the moisture content reduces to 20%. Typically requires 1-3 years depending on species.

Secondary Air: additional air inlet that passes extra combustion air directly to the secondary combustion system (catalyst chamber, secondary combustion air tubes, etc). Often unregulated, but rarely incorporates a thermostat (VC).

Splitting Wedge: Iron/steel wedge used with a sledgehammer to split stubborn wood.

SS:See Fiskars SS

Thermometer:A wax candle that you set on the hearth room table. When it becomes liquid, you know that your fire only needs a couple more splits.

Thermostat: device to automatically regulate air inlet found on some stove designs (Blaze King, Vermont Castings). Typically constructed using a bimetallic coil that opens and closes an air inlet based on temperature once set to an initial position by operator.

Unseasoned Wood:See Green Wood

Vertical Splitting: The proper way to use a hydraulic splitter, according to Dennis, aka Backwoods Savage.

Woodhoarder: People addicted to finding, cutting, splitting, stacking and burning wood.