Finland has been heated with wood throughout history. About 110 million cubic meters of wood grows in Finland's nature annually. Wood burns in fireplaces, stoves, heating boilers, and countless other combustion devices.
Wood heating is most often part of the heating of an electrically heated small house, and by burning wood, you can save on your electricity bill during the coldest days of winter. When electricity prices rise, it also affects the availability and price of firewood. It is therefore important to get all the heat out of the fireplace without unnecessarily wasting firewood.
How can you also save wood in the combustion device itself, and how can you influence the cost and speed of wood burning with your own actions? This article tells you how to save in wood heating.
How to save money by burning wood
Heating costs are rising sharply in 2022 as energy prices rise rapidly. This will also affect the price and availability of firewood. The value of firewood is increasing, and as much heat as possible must be recovered from each cubic meter of wood burned. On average, heating with firewood has been 40 percent cheaper than electric heating.
Firewood price and procurement
The price of purchased wood varies by region, but a cubic meter of firewood costs about €50. In addition to purchased wood, firewood can be obtained from your own forest at the cost of your own labor, but this requires planning and good drying of the wood before burning it. Wood heating should only be done with dry and clean firewood.
Several factors affect the price of firewood: demand, the scale of the entrepreneur's operations, the drying method, and the wood species. The transport distance can affect the transport price, but transport may be included in the price. Mixed wood may be cheaper than a single wood species. A firewood supplier may have it available at a low price. At one time, it is best to order only the amount you can store so that the delivered dry firewood does not get damp in storage.
Procuring firewood only when it has already run out is the wrong time to notice the price of firewood, and a wood heater may face a surprising increase in the cost of firewood delivered to their home. A planned heater procures wood according to use, anticipating burning and keeping the storage appropriately replenished. This helps save on costs.
The right fuel for the combustion device
Wood suitable for burning is about 15-20% moisture content when dried. Wood drier than this burns too quickly, and wood wetter than this burns incompletely, incomplete combustion, produces soot, smokes, and produces too many emissions.
Firewood is available in different lengths, and the size of the firewood belonging to the combustion device can be found in the manufacturer's specifications. If the information is not available, you can measure the size of the combustion device yourself with a tape measure.
Good firewood is about 4-10 cm in diameter and about 22-32 cm in length for a fireplace and stove, and longer wood belongs in a bread oven or heating boiler. Too long wood should not be stuffed into a small combustion device, and sawing them shorter from the middle is difficult. You save on costs by procuring only the right size firewood.
How to make firewood yourself
Making firewood yourself from wood in your own forest is a pleasant hobby for many and a great way to exercise. Here are a few tips on how to make good firewood yourself:
- Cut the wood to be burned in winter or spring before the leaves bud. Split the logs after cutting. Frozen wood is easy to split.
- Stack the wood loosely in a place where it dries in the wind and sunshine. Cover the top of the stack weather-tight.
- Store the wood to be burned loosely in a dry storage area.
- Bring the firewood inside to warm up 1-2 days before burning.
The right burning technique saves firewood
There are three stages in burning wood: ignition, burning, and smoldering. Wood burns by gasification. Heat releases burning gases from the wood. Purely burning wood produces colorless smoke when burning, which is visible at the end of the chimney as nothing but air without color. At its purest, combustion produces only water vapor and carbon dioxide, the same as from wood rot.
In some combustion devices, top ignition is possible, in others not at all because the air cannot be directed to the right place. The LumoX EkoAir developed by fire officer Pasi Sillanpää is an excellent aid for clean and energy-efficient wood burning.
The right burning technique makes burning safe
The wood is loaded horizontally and the tinder is placed on top of the wood. A fire starter or small wood and bark is used as tinder. Check the combustion device's operating instructions for the correct ignition method if possible.
The first load, i.e., the ignition load, requires more wood, the wood is placed loosely, larger wood at the bottom and chips on top. Space is left on top of the wood for at least a third of the combustion device's volume.
The second load goes with a smaller amount of wood, add more wood when the first load has burned almost to embers. The wood is placed with the bark side down, the fire should not be unnecessarily stoked during burning, but the dampers should be kept closed so that the combustion device does not cool down.
The plate is closed only when the last ember has gone out to prevent a smoke hazard.
A clean and well-maintained combustion device burns less
Good burning is promoted by sufficient air supply through the grate, the ashes should be cleaned after every burn. The flue should be swept once a year if the combustion device is in continuous use and every three years if use is occasional. An unused combustion device must be swept before use.
Good burning also requires the right draft and ventilation. If your combustion device does not draw well enough, the problem or smoke coming inside is a problem with the compensation air.
LumoX EkoAir saves on the cost of burning wood
There are also handy aids for saving on the price of firewood, such as LumoX EkoAir. The energy efficiency of all LumoX® EkoAir products is based on clean combustion, where the combustion gases burn in the combustion device. The products were developed by fire officer Pasi Sillanpää and are completely domestic.
LumoX EkoAir was developed primarily to solve the problems of older traditional combustion devices, such as high wood consumption, damper soot buildup, smoke nuisances, draft and ignition problems, and of course to reduce the harmful fine particle emissions from wood burning.
LumoX EkoAir is an add-on device (air guide) placed in the fireplace combustion chamber, whose patented combustion technology directs the preheated combustion air to the right place, i.e., on top of the wood for the combustion gases. Preheated air does not cool the flue gases, and when it is correctly directed, the combustion gases can be made to burn in the combustion device.
Thanks to this, combustion is clean and a large part of the fine particle emissions is proven to burn away. When wood burns cleanly, the burning phase is clearly calmer, and thanks to this, less wood is also consumed.
Firewood savings can be up to 40% at best!
The smaller LumoX EkoAir S model is suitable for wood stoves.
Smoke nuisances under control in the city
Significant benefit LumoX EkoAir is also for urban and residential areas, as the smoke and smoke odor formed from the chimney disappear almost completely.
Cleaner combustion extends the life of the fireplace and chimney. In addition, it reduces the formation of soot. At the same time, the amount of ash and other combustion residue decreases thanks to clean combustion.
Everyone benefits – the environment, neighbors, fireplace, and wallet.
What benefits does saving wood bring in wood burning
When you know how to save wood while heating with it, you reduce the number of unexpected firewood purchases. At the worst times, many others also try to procure wood for their fireplace at the same time, and suppliers may have to sell what they do not want. A planned wood burner procures the right kind of wood in the right amount in advance and stores it carefully.
When burned with the right burning method in a clean and well-maintained combustion device, wood lasts longer.
When wood does not need to be split in freezing cold, you also save your own nerves and can enjoy the warmth even during the coldest times of the year.
LumoX's tips for wood saving
- Procure firewood in time.
- Buy the right size wood.
- Store firewood in a dry and clean storage area.
- Burn wood the right way in a clean combustion device.
- Take care of the combustion device's condition and sweeping.