wood for fireplace - quantity/quality

[Adriana]

We are about to order some wood for the fireplace, but haven't got a clue as to how much I should ask for. We won't be using much, since we will here perhaps only one or two months in the winter.

Would half a cube or a cube do?
And should I ask for a particular type of wood?
(not that I could check).

Regards,
Adriana.

[Valerie]

LAST EDITED ON 26-Sep-01 AT 11:06 AM (GMT)

Dear Adriana,

We bought 6 cubic metres last year and we still have 3 left. We have two fireplaces both of which consume wood at a rate of knots and we lit the fires for one week in October, one after Christmas, 1 week in February, 2 weeks at Easter (most days - it was very cold) and a few more fires at Whitsun and in the summer.

I don't know what sort of wood it is - probably oak or chestnut - it came in handy fire size pieces and cost us about 25 a cubic metre from the local farmer - who not only delivered it on his tractor but laid it up extremely neatly in our woodshed for us!!!

Hope this helps.

Valerie

[RogerTaylor]

Hi Adriana

I bought "un stre" (cubic metre) of very dry hardwood logs from a neighbour two weeks ago for 200FFr. Fits perfectly in my "insert". A friend at French class thinks I did very well as he paid 300FFr for un stre of non descript wood which he had to cut to make fit his insert. Another friend also seems to have paid over the odds for wood that is too long. I asked my neighbour if the wood was oak and he said it was a mixture with some apple as well. Whatever I burned the fire was very cosy and put out plenty of heat. Elsewhere in this forum they have discussed firewood and the concensus is that a corde of wood is three stres but that might vary because in Hachette a corde is 5 cubic metres.

Roger

[Pete and Carol]

Adriana

Can only advise that here in the UK we've used wood for Rayburn and a woodburner for years and I would insist on hardwood and NOT pine. Pine will coat your chimney with tar and is a fire hazard, although we are extra careful due to thatched roof.

Our elderly neighbour, in a modern, tiled house used pine because it was cheap and when her chimney caught fire, there were large cobs of burning tar rolling down her roof. Luckily there was little wind so nothing was blown onto us. Don't forget to have the chimney swept once a year, even with little use, as birds can block with nests etc.

rgds
Carol

[Geocarr]

There is a very informative site in French http://www.ademe.fr/particuliers/Fiches/3682/

Contents:
Le chauffage domestique au bois :
le choix de 6 millions de foyers en France
Limportance du stockage
Les appareils indpendants :
insert, foyer ferm, pole, lequel choisir ?
Les chaudires :
spcificits et performances
Comment tre sr de faire le bon choix ?
Bien installer et entretenir votre quipement
Informations pratiques

Hope this may help

[Punch]

Dear Adriana,

Firewood is usually sold here in France by the stre which is one cubic metre. There are three steres to a chord. The going rate in my part of Mayenne at the moment is about 700 -750FF a chorde.
I have the luxury of being able to shop around a bit at this time of the year as it is very much a buyers market and there are plenty of farmers trying to sell it. It is important to ask if the wood will be sci, cass et livre (sawn to size, split and delivered). Another important point is to ask for wood that is "bien sec et pret a bruler" (seasoned and ready to burn), as wood needs at least 18 months to be seasoned.
Finally as mentioned by carol in this thread, don't burn resinous wood such as pine or similar as these will cause havoc with your woodburner and flue pipes. Ask for oak (chne, chestnut, or beech (htre), if you can.

I used about 5 chords of wood last winter. I suggest you order one chorde from your supplier, as it will do no harm to have some left over which will be nicely seasoned for next year!

Paul