Stere help!

[Bronwen]

Hello all,

Sadly, the summer has more or less disappeared where I live and I need to consider heating for the winter.

Can anyone tell me if it is better to buy steres of wood round about

now (due to them being a little dryer and poss cheaper!!??) or if its

best to wait until winter (in case its cheaper then-its my first time

so have no idea of 'stere etiquette'!)

Many thanks

[Dog]

Personally I'd sort it early while it's not raining or too cold.

 

[AnOther]

Surely like any fuel the time to buy is when demand, and hence price, is lowest i.e. late Spring or Summer. Plenty of time for any drying needed too [;-)]

[mint]

Buy as early as possible and, if time permits (ie you can wait 18 months or so) you'd only need to buy bois sec and not prêt à bruler.

That way,  you'd get cheaper prices.  Mind you, you'd need space to store the wood and you'd need to look after it.  In other words, you need to get sun and wind on it but keep it dry.  If you look at French woodpiles, the piles are often protected on top but the sides are exposed to sun and wind.

Wish I'd known all this 2 winters ago but, hey, you can't put an old head on young shoulders, can you?[:P]

[Gardian]

[quote user="Bronwen"]Hello all,

Can anyone tell me if it is better to buy steres of wood round about now (due to them being a little dryer and poss cheaper!!??) [/quote]

I'd be amazed if wood was cheaper now than in a month or two.  Order it now, or risk not being able to get it.

Re 'dryness', it all depends. You may well be offered dry or green, but when & where it was cut will make all the difference. Down here, wood cut in the Spring will be plenty dry enough by now, so it doesn't matter much what they call it.

We've got about 12 stere of oak that was cut from our own trees 18 mths ago, all stacked under cover and ready to go.  Should last us 2-3 yrs, but we'll need to replenish with a bit next Spring to get the new stuff aged.

[NickP]

Buy as soon as possible and you need to store it to let it dry. I think that the only wood that you can burn "green" is Ash. You can buy a small cheap humidity gauge, it seems that around 15% is a good guide,  if it is too dry it burns too quickly and you do not get the benefit of the heat. I found wood fires and the care of was a large learning curve, but a very satisfying one. The following poem and the attributes of the wood are from an unknown author, and seems to make a lot of sense

Beech wood fires are bright and clear,
If the logs are kept a year.
Chestnut's only good, they say,
If for long it's laid away.
Birch and pine logs burn too fast,
Blaze up bright and do not last.
Elm wood burns like a church yard mold,
Ev'n the very flames are cold.
Poplar gives a bitter smoke,
Fills your eyes and makes you choke.
Apple wood will scent your room,
With incense like perfume.
Oak and maple, if dry and old,
Keep away the winter cold.
But ash wood wet and ash wood dry,
A king shall warm his slippers by.
 Anonymous

The Burning Properties of Wood
Below is a list of the most common woods for burning, there are more.  It is worth remembering that ALL wood will burn better if split.

There is an old saying, "before starting a fire - collect the right wood."  It is worth learning which wood is best for your fires as it will make life a lot easier. A natural result of tree recognition is to learn the burning properties of their woods

Alder:  Poor in heat and does not last,

Apple:  Splendid/ It burns slowly and steadily when dry, with little flame, but good heat. The scent is pleasing.

Ash:  Best burning wood; has both flame and heat, and will bum when green, though naturally not as well as when dry.

Beech:  A rival to ash, though not a close one, and only fair when green. If it has a fault, it is apt to shoot embers a long way.

Birch:  The heat is good but it burns quickly. The smell is pleasant.

Cedar:  Good when dry. Full of crackle and snap. It gives little flame but much heat, and the scent is beautiful.

Cherry:  Burns slowly, with good heat. Another wood with the advantage of scent Chestnut. Mediocre. Apt to shoot embers. Small flame and heating power. Douglas Fir. Poor. Little flame and heat.

Chestnut:  Mediocre. Apt to shoot embers. Small flame and heating power.

Douglas Fir:  Poor. Little flame or heat.

Elder:   Mediocre. Very smoky. Quick burner, with not much heat.

Elm:  Commonly offered for sale. To burn well it needs to be kept for two years. Even then it will smoke. Vary variable fuel.

Hazel:  Good.

Holly:  Good, will burn when green, but best when kept a season.

Hornbeam:  Almost as good as beech.

Laburnum:  Totally poisonous tree, acrid smoke, taints food and best never used.

Larch:  Crackly, scented, and fairly good for heat.

Laurel:  Has brilliant flame.

Lime:  Poor. Burns with dull flame.

Maple:  Good.

Oak:  The novelist's 'blazing fire of oaken logs' is fanciful, Oak is sparse in flame and the smoke is acrid, but dry old oak is excellent for heat, burning slowly and steadily until whole log collapses into cigar-like ash.

Pear:  A good heat and a good scent.

Pine:  Burns with a splendid flame, but apt to spit. The resinous Weymouth pine has a lovely scent and a cheerful blue flame.

Plane:  Burns pleasantly, but is apt to throw sparks if very dry. Plum. Good heat and scent.

Plum:  Good heat and aromatic.

Poplar:  Truly awful.

Rhododendron:  The thick old stems, being very tough, burn well.

Robinia (Acacia):  Burns slowly, with good heat, but with acrid smoke.

Spruce:  Burns too quickly and with too many sparks.

Sycamore:  Burns with a good flame, with moderate heat. Useless green.

Thorn:  Quite one of the best woods. Burns slowly, with great heat and little smoke. Walnut. Good, so is the scent.

Walnut:  Good, and so is the scent. Aromatic wood.

Willow:  Poor. It must be dry to use, and then it burns slowly, with little flame. Apt to spark.

Yew:  Last but among the best. Burns slowly, with fierce heat, and the scent is pleasant.

 

[LEO]

Wood you believe it!

Hi Nck, wonderful post

ps. excuse the pun

[mint]

[quote user="LEO"]Wood you believe it!

Hi Nck, wonderful post

ps. excuse the pun
[/quote]

Do you mean wonderful wooden post?  Because posts can be made out of all types of materials such as metal, concrete, etc.

[LEO]

Hi , In uk most posts are wooden.

[LEO]

I meant wonderful /informative/comprehensive answer about wood-burning

[cooperlola]

I agree Leo, a really excellent, informative post.  I didn't know this about Apple wood though.[:D]

[quote user="NickP"]Apple:  Splendid/ It bums slowly [/quote]

Sorry, Nick, I really did find the post useful and that did make me giggle.

[NickP]

"Sorry, Nick, I really did find the post useful and that did make me giggle."

Thats OK lulu we've all got a typo in us, although it does alter the fragrance situation.It made me laugh, but I had to edit it.

[NickP]

When I was editing the "bums" out of my post,  I realised that  in the Loir et Cher, we have very few Holly trees, in fact they are as rare as hens teeth, is this the same in other parts of France?

[Clair]

Loads of holly trees here.

The berries are turning red on most of them already.

[BIG MAC]

Looking at the subject I was thinking on suggesting getting a Stannah Stere lift........I shall get my coat.......

[Frenchie]

What's the average price for a stere of let's say chene , where you are?

I need to buy wood, would like to know what's cheap, and what's not..

[NickP]

[quote user="Frenchie"]

What's the average price for a stere of let's say chene , where you are?

I need to buy wood, would like to know what's cheap, and what's not..

[/quote] I have just paid 42 Euro a stere cut and delivered. That is mainly Oak with some beech and birch for kindling. That comes from Lavardin 41.

[Frenchie]

Thanks a lot. I think the prices are about the same around here. ( 2 Sèvres.)

I need about 10 steres.

 

[dave21478]

Here, the price ranges from 45 to 60€ per stere, depending on wood type and age, with 50€ being the average.

I cut down several very large ash trees earlier in the year, so am set for wood for the forseeable future!

[DorothyJ]

We use around 4/5 cordes a year and have seen the price climb steadily. Our local woodyard charges 50€ per stère (1m long)  for bois dur (oak and beech) delivered locally.Order before 30th September for delivery by the end of October and receive a 5% discount.  We have  just bought 2 cordes of oak x 1 m at 150€ corde from a local chap. Our woodburners take 50cm logs so all of the above have to be cut but buying at 50cm puts the cost up by 5€ stère. So, for us, the extra work is worth it!

[Tony F Dordogne]

I don't have to buy wood -  gaz chauffage - and we have our own woods at the back of the house as backup.

Sorry to ask a basic question but a stere is a cubic metre of wood?  And what is the capacity of a corde, is it three stere?

[Clair]

1 stère  = 1 cubic metre

In our parts, the wood is sold in canne (= 4 stères).

See http://pagesperso-orange.fr/philippe.picard/poids_et_mesures_bois.htm and http://www.ladepeche.fr/article/2009/09/12/671094-Bois-de-chauffage.html

[powerdesal]

Our last two deliveries of 8 x stere @ 50cm (ish) were e40 / stere. The log man insisted we inspect his stock and choose the size mix we wanted, delivered 48 hrs after order, he even offerred to bring his chain saw to trim any that were too long, although that was when he knew I was not due home to do the job.

[dragonrouge]

I do hope that those who cut down their own trees replant for the future.

[dragonrouge]

Powerdesal you are lucky when we lived on Mont Robin a local guy came with his trailer and during the exercise took down both our EDF line and France Telecom.

When we asked him who was going to pay he just shrugged his shoulders.