Finding free firewood can save thousands of dollars every year!

 

Filling the woodroom – it’s one of our Top 5 “W” chores every spring. And we have been hard at it for the last several weeks. And we love heading out to the bush where we’ll find free firewood! 

 

 

Once winter temperatures hit -20C, we turn on two basement baseboard heaters, just so water lines don’t freeze. The house stays toasty warm with our woodstove going all day and night.

We use quite a bit of firewood every winter. This is why we need to make sure we have a completely full wood room every year. There would be nothing worse than running out of dry firewood and having to buy it! In the middle of winter, we would be paying a huge premium on that firewood.

This year, we had to take down quite a few trees on the site of the new garlic curing sheds. Now, we have plenty of Aspen trees to buck up and turn into firewood. That solves our wood problems for the later part of this coming winter.

But, that wood won’t be totally dry until February or so. We have some leftover wood from last winter, but not enough to last us until this new wood is dry.

 

 

Finding Free Firewood

We need to find free firewood that is already dry and we have a lot of that in our bushes. Because of the pine beetle that devastated stands of timber in our area several years ago, there are still plenty of dead (but standing) pine trees out there.

Of course, there are also many felled trees that we can use for free wood. Fallen trees are the easiest because the tree is already dead and perhaps has been for a year.

Since the trees are already dead, the wood is dry. Quite nice being able to drop a tree, buck it up and throw it right in the woodstove for some nice heat!

We had a very bad windstorm last week, where the power went out again (thank goodness, we are prepared for outages!). After the storm passed, we went looking for newly fallen pine trees. Bonus that they had either fallen right on the bush road and right next to it.

 

 

A pretty lake along the way. The Cariboo has more lakes than the days in the year, seriously! It’s fishing is known world wide.

 

 

We were able to find a few trees that were still laying across these unused roads. We just take the limbs off using the chain saw, and then Graham bucks up the tree. I load the rounds into the back of the truck. And since this wood is dry already, it is quite light for me to load!

For the trees that needed to be hauled out onto the road, Graham attaches a shackle around the tree trunk and attaches the other end of the chain to the truck. Then we drive the truck along the road and pull the log out of the bush.

 

 

This makes it so easy to haul out and buck up. We found lots!

 

 

 

At the end of the day, we came home with our truck loaded with dry wood, ready for splitting and stacking. We use an electric wood splitter; we bought it a year after we moved here and it is still on my list as one of the best investments we ever made!

Remember, if you are in the market for a woodstove, be sure to buy one that has a flat top! There’s an important reason for that! Not only will your stove heat your home, you will be able to cook on it.

 

Permits for Finding Free Firewood

Check with your province or state for laws about finding free firewood in the bush. In some places, you need a permit to gather firewood – it is often free to get a permit, you just need to have one before cutting down trees.

If you live in town and can’t get out to the bush, there are other options for free firewood. Check with your local construction companies and go around to construction sites. 

Many times they will allow you to take away their scrap lumber for free. It works out well for both, the company does not have to pay for hauling the lumber scraps and you get to have free fire wood.

Also you can check with your local tree company which takes down dangerous trees. They may allow you to take the wood for your own use. Your local Facebook marketplace is another resource you can use.

 

More related to finding free firewood:

Everything you need to know about how to clean out a wood stove

How to cook on a wood stove (that’s not a cook stove)

We use a wood stove fan to help push the heat – read our review here

 

 

Learn how to clean out a wood stove – and make this a weekly part of your routine!

Fall and winter afternoons can be beautiful in the Cariboo. The mornings are often cold though. And it’s time this morning to get that weekly chore done – clean out the wood stove. Read on to find some awesome cleaning tricks to quickly clean up the mess.

 

Why You Need to Clean out Wood Stoves

Our wood stove is going here probably 5 months out of the year. Maybe not every day but at least once a day.

Overnight temperatures here get cold in the Fall.

Since we use our woodstove steadily throughout late fall and all winter, we need to make sure we clean out the ashes on a regular basis.

I clean the box of the stove at least once a week, sometimes more.

We burn spruce, pine, a bit of fir, and aspen here in our stove. Burning aspen means cleaning out the stove box more often but we don’t mind.

This wood is free to us for gathering and burning, so it’s all good.

A little extra work making sure the stove is burning properly is all that’s needed.

When it’s time to clean out the stove, I start the night before. Instead of banking the stove before going to bed we just leave it alone.

In the morning, the fire will be out and I can go ahead and clean it out.

 

 

 

 

When it’s time to clean out the stove, I start the night before. Instead of banking the stove before going to bed we just leave it alone.

In the morning, the fire will be out and I can go ahead and clean it out.

 

Use a Metal Bucket to Clean Out Wood Stove Ash

We always use a METAL bucket for the ashes. Safety first! I find a dustpan works really works really easy to scoop out all the ashes. I just use it as a shovel to remove as much of the ash as I can. You can wear protective gloves, especially if there are any hot embers left from the last burning.

It’s very handy to use a bucket that is wide enough to fit the metal dustpan right down to the bottom. If your ash bucket isn’t wide enough, you will end up with a lot of ash, dust and soot going up in the air.

 

 

These little “log holders” just lift right out when it is time to clean the stove box. Once I get the firebox emptied of ashes, I set them back in their holders.

Now that the box is cleaned, I have one more thing to do before I am finished cleaning out the interior of the wood stove.

 

 

Empty Out the Wood Stove Ash Pan

Under the stove box is a door. Open that up and you will see an ash pan.

You likely have something similar on your stove. Make sure to get this cleaned out too, every single time you clean the stove box.

When your stove is going, some ashes fall thru the vents in the floor of the wood stove box. They land in this pan and over time, the pan fills.

 

 

Here’s that ash pan filled right to the top with more ash. This would be from one weeks worth of stove burning. We were likely burning Aspen because that pan is overflowing.

After I pull the pan out, I use a long piece of kindling to scrape out whatever ash is  left in the compartment.

 

 

Once the wood stove is cleaned out, I take the bucket and the ash pan IMMEDIATELY outside. These both need to be dealt with right away as there is always a chance of live embers.

Many house fires (and I don’t mean the ones that keep you warm, I mean the ones that BURN DOWN your house) have been started by someone neglecting to deal with the wood stove ashes right away.

The temptation is to just set them right outside the back door and get back inside where it’s warm. Especially if it’s -20C out and you aren’t fully bundled up.

But if there are still ashes smoldering in there, they can continue to smolder for hours, possibly catch fire and burn your house down. So be sure to take care of them right away – and get the full bucket outside, away from any buildings.

Wiping Down your Wood Burner

Now that the inside of the stove is clean, I can clean down the exterior of the stove. Using a damp cloth (any old rag will do) , I wipe down the top of the stove, as well as the lower part of the stove pipe. I just do as much as I can reach, although you could use a ladder to wipe down the whole length of pipe.

I also sometimes use a vacuum cleaner and the dust brush to vacuum up lose bits of dirt, debris and dust.

To clean the wood stove glass doors, I use a glass cleaner and paper towel. If the creosote residue is thick, we have used a razor blade to scrape it off the glass. Care must be taken, though, to not scratch the glass.

Chimney Cleaning

Chimney cleaning needs to be done several times a year. Creosote buildup in the stovepipe can lead to a chimney fire, which is very dangerous and can burn your house down. Be sure to burn only dry firewood, as wet wood will also create more creosote.

Burning a mixture of hardwood and softwood is better than only burning softwood, but there are times when you may only be able to find one or the other. So regularly clean your pipe!

Regularly burning hot fires with the damper open can help to clean your chimney pipe. However, you still need to clean the entire chimney pipe! Hire a chimney sweep, if you are not comfortable doing this job yourself.

Uses for Wood Stove Ash

Ashes from your wood stove can be used several ways. You can add them to your compost or manure piles.

In cold weather and through Winter, I use the ashes to make shoveled pathways less slippery. Just sprinkle the ash along the walk way for more grip.

In Spring and Fall, spread the ashes on garden bushes that benefit from them! Asparagus and berries love ashes.

 

 

 

The job is all done, and I can relight the stove. Time for coffee! If you burn with wood, be sure to regularly clean out the wood stove. Not only will your stove burn better, but it is much safer for you and your family.

We bought a stove top fan and has really helped to blow the heat out into other rooms. Want to check out my review?

Although our stove is not a cook stove, we can cook on it! And it’s an important thing to keep in mind if you are going to buy a wood stove – make sure it has a flat top. Here’s what we are cooking on our wood stove.

Now you know how to clean out a wood stove; make sure to do this on a regular basis.

 

 

 

 

originally published 2019; latest update December 2022