logs, sometimes bouncing off the smooth surface. With repeated hits, a pronounced crack allowed the old, three-foot wide chunk to cleave into nearly identical halves. Constant hits created more pieces from the log—then more, and with ease. To clear room, they were tossed toward the pile. As the stacker, I scurried in between tosses to keep from being smacked on the leg. After more than two hours, my sons were grateful for our time together, and for the “workout.” I called it work. I brought out cold water and chocolate hoping there’d be more small talk than work. While wood-heating has become a popular and cheaper alternative to fossil fuels, it does not escape the scrutiny of science. We are changing the very atmosphere and environment we live in and hope to sustain with smoke plumes from chimneys and stovepipes, the manufacture of chain saw fuels and subsequent exhaust, along with a reduction of organic materials from trees normally decomposing on the forest floor. Since stoves are not a failsafe means of heating and add to pollution, some communities limit their use to a few hours a week. Fireplaces are re-designed by innovative industry leaders to be more efficient, and some fuels are compressed wood chips made into pellets that burn cleaner and with less smoke. Updated and newer catalytic converters on stoves re-use fumes that escape. Better fire bricks that line the firebox, efficient baffle systems, filters, and triple-lined pipes help decrease emissions. The improvements make stoves warm and burn better. We’ve come a long way since the days of the up-right Franklin or pot-belly stove in the country store. Knowing heat output and what woods burn best is important and becomes a homework assignment for any stove owner. In the process we become more aware, knowledgeable, and prudent. A recent Google search revealed the British Thermal Units (BTUs) each rick (half-cord) or cord of hardwood (four by four by eight, as in Frost’s poem), can produce. This chart comes in handy when deciding to bring in a load of seasoned hickory for a long winter evening, or a small load of soft pine to take off the chill. I don’t mind the chimney cleaning with wire brush each fall, or carrying, then spreading ashes on our hill when it freezes. I have come to enjoy the annual prep by cleaning the flue and glass. When we first built the house we had three stoves burning simultaneously Continued on 47
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