[Paul B]

Given it's now summer (although I'm not yet convinced) I went out and bought a log burner which will be delivered soon (ish).

I'm well aware that given their cost, maintenance and expected life it's never going to pay itself off unless like peewee I start burning carrier bags, mdf and general household rubbish instead of wood; I'm ok with that. The rooms are quite big (high ceilings) so we've ended up with a pretty meaty stove and a lazily sized ash pan.

The point of this topic was more about fuel. I have:
A) A Man Shed
B) an outbuilding
C) an interior alcove near said burner which will be fitted out with shelves and could have a small log store

B is narrow, attached to the side of the house (i.e. no wind flow) and has power sources and some kind of render to the walls. I think the previous owner used to store expensive bikes in here due to the security cage behind the door.

Are either of the above good options for storing / curing logs or do I need to build something on the side of the shed to allow for air flow etc. before moving cured logs into the outbuilding or am I asking for a world of problems with drying wood releasing lots of moisture into the side of my [stone] house?

[SA Chris]

This should be in the logpile.

[Paul B]

This should be in the logpile.

Probably for various reasons:

[sidewinder]

Also in this situation (stove to be delivered late July) and been reading up it seems air flow/general weather is good for the initial 'seasoning' and can even be done just outside, perhaps with a tarp over the top of the pile, after which you can move them to an inside area (man shed/outbuilding).  I am planning to use an old small shed probably removing the door and window for increased air flow.  If you do go down the seasoning yourself option some form of shelving/dividing system is useful to allow organisation of your stock as regards to its level of season-ness.

Depending on your choice of wood supply/how much you think you will get through you may find it as easy to buy already seasoned/dried wood as should reduce the worry of damaging your nice new liner by burning underseasoned wood and mean that you don't have to have huge amounts of space taken up with wood that is in the process of seasoning, which can apparently take 1-2 years, so you would struggle to have any ready for winter (September?).  Not sure of the price difference if buying in, but I don't think it is huge having looked at a couple of supplier websites.

On the same topic if anyone has any top tips on wood suppliers I would be keen to know, hoping to get most/all of mine from a tree surgeon friend but might need some extra/to buy some already dried stuff for this winter.

[tomtom]

For seasoning keep them in the open - narrow piles (one log wide) side on into the prevailing wind. You can put a cover along the top if you like - but I never bothered - the wind dried them quick (it was near the coast though!). When they've had preferrably a year but more like a few months of seasoning then you can move them somewhere where they'll stay dry (ie wood shed - covered pile by house etc..).

Its actually pretty easy to keep an airgap between the pile and a wall - just stick the odd log out so it touches the wall and it acts as a sideways leg to keep the whole pile off.

You can tell when they are seasoned btw as they get nice big cracks - and they stop smelling of wood so much...

Also - ALWAYS burn wood on a flat (solid) bed - and let the ashes lie there until they are about an inch thick - just keep lobbing the wood onto it each day.. it works much better that way (and you only have to clean it out ever month or two). Wood burns best in these circumstances - ditch the ash pan. However, most stoves now have a grill as they are multifuel (you need airflow through for coal/smokeless) but some have a thing where the grill can be closed off (sliding bits).. if yours doesnt have this - then I'd get a sheet of steel the same size as the grill and put it over it.

[Paul B]

Ours does 

[tomtom]

re burning 'other' substances.. the maddest think I lobbed in mine was a chicken carcass (after it had been roasted and eaten of course!). Stove was at a good hot burn, and it went crazy when it went in - got a low glowing red flue pipe :D but next morning when I went to re-light there was not a thing left, all reduced to very fine ashes... a bit scary..