Feeling Hot, Hot , Hot

Or not, depending on the fuel you're using to heat your home. We recently moved into an apartment that has a wood burning fireplace. This is the first real fireplace we've had. Our first home had a gas fireplace which we used maybe once or twice. It was one of those see through things and it was enclosed on three sides by glass, it looked like an aquarium. The problem was the glass got ridiculously hot and it was burning non renewable fossil fuel. I suppose had we stayed in that house I might have eventually put in a wood stove. We didn't stay, I understand the new owners really liked the fireplace, to each his own I suppose.

Anyway back to burning wood. I recently split a cord of wood with a friend of mine, money and space prevented me from purchasing a full cord. It was all aspen which technically is classified as a hardwood, however it burns much like pine. Fast and moderately smoky. Had I known this before hand I probably would have purchased a half cord of oak or maple and supplemented it with a half or quarter cord of the aspen. Live and learn.

The other thing that I noticed is that a great deal of the heat being generated was going up the chimney. Alas while a fireplace is very romantic, they are notoriously inefficient. If I thought I could get away with it I'd get a wood stove, not sure the apartment folks would dig that.

So having said all that, the wood pile is getting low and we'll be needing to resupply soon, lesson learned, call the cat selling hardwood cords.