Prepare for next winter; get your firewood ready now

Now is the time to collect and properly store firewood so it is dry enough to burn efficiently during the colder months. Burning clean, dry, seasoned firewood to heat your home saves money, ignites easily, and lessens the impact on local air quality.

When people have trouble with wood-burning systems, the problem is most often that the wood is not dry enough. Wet firewood is hard to ignite, slow to burn, and hisses and sizzles in the firebox. It also creates excessive smoke, which can lead to health and air quality issues.

Whether you get your firewood on your property, on public lands, or from an independent firewood seller or retailer, it needs to be seasoned and tested. Seasoned wood has been split and air dried for at least six months (longer for hardwoods). It tends to be dark in color, cracked on the ends, and lightweight, and its bark is easily broken or peeled.

The Idaho Department of Environmental Quality offers these tips to make your fire burn hotter and keep local air cleaner:

- Wait at least 6 months and up to 12 months for dry firewood depending on type of wood. Hardwoods like oak and maple dry more slowly than soft woods like pine and spruce. To test, bang two pieces together; dry wood sounds hollow, wet wood sounds dull.

- Cut wood to the right length. The wood should fit easily in your woodstove or fireplace. Make sure it is about three inches shorter than the firebox width or length.

- Split wood before stacking. Split the wood to the right width, no more than six inches in diameter. Splitting the wood before stacking increases exposure to air, which improves the drying process.

- Stack wood in alternate directions. This improves circulation and further reduces moisture.

- Store firewood off the ground. Build a woodshed to keep firewood six inches or more off the ground to protect the wood pile from moisture.

Cover the top of the wood pile, but leave the sides exposed. A structure with a roof is ideal, but you can also use a tarp. Remove the tarp to speed up drying in the warm summer months.

If you plan to gather firewood on state or federal land, a firewood permit is required from the Idaho Department of Lands or U.S. Forest Service. Be sure to inquire about road conditions and recommended access routes as road closures may be in place to protect roads and water quality. Also, be aware of active timber sales and never remove wood from slash piles.

Information: woodheat.org