Fun with Firewood

Fun with Firewood

Firewood is a massive commodity here in Portugal as many homes, especially here is rural Portugal are not connected to the mains for electric or gas.

Firewood is often used to heat the houses (from a log burning stove &/or radiators connected to this) and heat water too.

Because for many it is the primary source of fuel for most of the winter months you can find you end up going through a lot.  And, in fact you should… as it’s basically one of the only ways to keep your house dry and mould free.

The thing with firewood is there are many different types, prices, and lengths of time it’s been seasoned (dried) for and this will have an impact on how quickly it burns, and how quickly you go through it.

Pine is great to get a fire going, but if you only burn pine, you’ll burn A LOT, as it burns so quickly.

Eucalyptus is great if you plan to go out for a bit or want the fire to burn for longer after you go to bed.  It’ll burn for a long time and intensely, but if you burn it all the time, you’ll be constantly cleaning your chimney due to all the oils.

Oak burns great, but it always seems a shame to burn it and I’d rather save it to make things with ha.

Mimosa is amazing firewood.  It grows quickly so every 7-10 years you’ll have a whole new supply, and it burns well, not to fast or two slow and not with too much oil either.

Wood needs to be seasoned (dried) for a last two years though, wet (unseasoned) wood won’t light easily, won’t stay alight easily and won’t burn / heat in the same way, plus you’ll be constantly cleaning your chimney.  So, forward thinking on the firewood front is essential.  Always cutting, stacking, and drying wood for in at least 2 years’ time.

If you must buy wood here, ask what type of wood it is, how long it’s been seasoned (as often it is not) and buy it at the end of summer, as the longer you wait through the winter the more expensive it gets and the poorer the quality and less seasoned it often is too.

Oh, and one last thing, save yourself a small fortune on toxic firelighters and collect several bags of fur cones in late summer (before the rains start) and use these to light your fires throughout the winter months.