Firewood Value

Written by: Michael Jacobson, Associate Professor of Forest Resources, Penn state School of Forest Resources

Wintertime is here, which means acquiring firewood and stoking the fire. The firewood market is fairly robust these days. Just open the newspaper and you'll see lots of firewood ads. My local paper today has six vendors selling firewood. This is an industry that provides part time work and extra cash for families. Many landowners enjoy cutting firewood for their own use. It requires very little expense other than a chainsaw, safety equipment, wedges, splitting maul, and truck or trailer. The firewood market also provides landowners with a market for low grade wood if they don't want to use it themselves.

For the rest of the story click here.

In addition, the University of Maryland Cooperative Extension has released a new publication entitled "Heating With Wood in Maryland."  This is an excellent 12 page publication which includes valuable information that will help you make the decision to heat with wood or improve your current wood burning situation. Topics include:

•How wood burns
•Improving woodfuel efficiency and emissions
•Comparing wood to other fuel
•Seasoning wood
•Burn wood safely
•How to buy firewood
•Selecting trees for firewood
The fact sheet also contains several illustrations that help explain how wood burns as well as many complete tables of information including comparisons and guides.