Firewood: Cutting, seasoning and storing · Alt Ordo Systems Guide

Firewood is the fuel half of wood heat. The work is simple and old: get wood, cut it to length, split it, stack it in the sun and wind under a roof, and wait. What makes it good or bad is water. Freshly cut wood can carry its own weight in water, or more. Burn it like that and the heat goes into boiling water off, not into your house. This guide covers buying, cutting, seasoning and storing. How to burn it is in our Wood stoves guide.

This guide helps you buy a true cord or cut your own safely, split and stack it so it is dry by fall, prove it with a meter, and keep two winters of wood where it helps the house instead of threatening it.

What's inside. 12 pages in 7 chapters (At a glance, Where it works, How it works, Size it, Cut, split and stack, Rules and permits, How it connects), then the sources and a notes page. 5 numbered figures drawn for this guide. You also get 7 numbered steps, a year-round calendar, and a troubleshooting table.

Sourced and fact-checked. Facts and figures are cited to the 26 sources listed at the back, and the whole guide was fact-checked before release. General guidance, not engineering advice: your county and a qualified pro have the last word on your site.

Pairs with other Alt Ordo Systems Guides: Wood stoves; Finding off-grid land. For your county's permits and rules, see our county and state guides.

Instant PDF download. After checkout you get a download link by email. Letter-size pages, made to read on screen or print at home.