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San Antonio Wood-Burning Systems
Quality Woodburning Fireplace for a San Antonio Home!
Exceptional Customer Care for Installation, Repair, and Maintenance
A wood fireplace, featuring its captivating aroma, flitting flames, and the soothing, creates a warm and inviting atmosphere. To bring this kind of atmosphere to your house, a wood fireplace can be the perfect project to undertake. If you’re in the San Antonio region, the knowledgeable chimney technicians at Wolfman Chimney & Fireplace can help you achieve wonderful outcomes with a much more seamless process. Reach out today to learn more!
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Why Install a Wood Fireplace in Your Home?
While gas fireplaces are renowned for their efficacy and easy operations, woodburning fireplaces offer unique benefits that make them a compelling choice:
- Traditional Ambiance: Nothing beats the sound, smell, and timeless appeal of a real wood fire to enjoy in your living space.
- Renewable Resource: Wood is a renewable resource that regenerates much faster than the eons needed for gas. If you have firewood access, you make your own fuel.
- Enjoyment in the Process: There’s a certain joy in gathering wood, building a fire, and maintaining it, making it a rewarding experience for many homeowners.
- Cooking Possibilities: From roasting marshmallows and hot dogs to cooking during power outages, a wood fireplace provides functionality beyond heating.
- Enhanced Home Value: Adding a wood fireplace can appreciably boost the resale value of your home, especially if it’s well maintained.
- Reliable Heat Output: Woodburning fireplaces allow for effective zone heating, helping to reduce energy costs by lowering the thermostat.
So, what’s the catch?
At Wolfman Chimney & Fireplace, our job is helping you choose the best fireplace for your lifestyle and situation. Here are some negative considerations to keep in mind when opting for a wood fireplace:
- More Effort Required: Unlike gas fireplaces that turn on with the flip of a switch, wood systems building, refueling, and extinguishing the fire to ensure safety.
- Increased Cleaning: Wood fireplaces produce ash, soot, and debris, which require regular cleaning to keep your system running efficiently and safely.
- Lower Efficiency: While wood fireplaces provide a warm and inviting heat, they are generally not as efficient as gas systems but offer a gentler heating curve.
If you prefer a hassle-free heating option with minimal maintenance, a gas fireplace might be a better fit for your needs.
Are woodburning fireplaces safe?
Wood fireplaces are generally safe when used and maintained properly. To ensure your system operates safely, it must be professionally installed or built, followed by regular inspections, cleaning, and timely repairs.
To further enhance safety, always follow proper usage guidelines, such as burning only seasoned firewood. Avoid materials like treated wood, unseasoned wood, trash, plastic, and lighter fluid.
How Do I Start a Wood Fire in My Fireplace?
Building a fire in a wood fireplace looks challenging at first, with terms like tinder, kindling, and draft being thrown around. Fortunately, it’s an easy skill to master. Different fire-building strategies, including teepee, log cabin, or top-down methods can be tried to determine which works best:
- Clear Your Fireplace: Get all debris and the majority of the ash out of your fireplace, leaving a little ash behind to insulate against the cool masonry, allowing your fire to grow faster.
- Gather Fire-Starting Items: Have your wood, kindling, lighters or matches, fire starters, and other essentials nearby. Make sure fire starters are rated for indoor fireplace use.
- Arrange Materials Properly: In the top-down method, large logs go on the bottom with kindling at the top; alternative methods place kindling at the base.
- Light your Kindling: Always ignite the kindling first, using small, dry materials such as paper, twigs, and small branches that are up to wrist-size in diameter.
- Monitor and Maintenance: Within a few minutes, and possibly needing some gentle blowing, you should have a warm fire. Keep it fueled and monitor it for safety.
Don’t ever leave your fire unattended. Before going to bed or leaving your home, always extinguish the flames completely.
Why can’t I burn anything in my fireplace?
While it might be tempting to use your fireplace as a way to dispose of household trash, it is crucial to burn only seasoned firewood. Burning inappropriate materials such as unseasoned wood, trash, or treated wood can create dangerous fumes, smoke, and creosote buildup in your chimney, increasing the need for frequent cleanings and the risk of chimney fires.
I Get It, But What is Seasoned Firewood?
Shortly after trees are cut, the wood, often called green or unseasoned firewood, contains a significant amount of moisture, typically around 40-50%. For optimal burning, firewood should have a moisture content between 15-25%. Burning unseasoned firewood results in excessive smoke, longer heating times, and increased creosote buildup due to the cooler burn temperature as the moisture burns off, which can lead to chimney fires and other potential damage.
How do I know when I can burn my firewood?
If you’re purchasing wood from an unknown source, these aspects can ensure it’s seasoned:
- Pale, beige coloration
- Splitting or cracking at the ends
- Light weight compared to green wood
- Makes a hollow sound when hit
- Lack of a sap or green scent
For added assurance, consider investing in a moisture meter. These devices, available at hardware stores or online for $20-40, provide an accurate reading of the wood’s moisture content.
Why Can’t I Season My Own Firewood?
If you’re cutting your own firewood or sourcing it from a friend, seasoning firewood is a simple and straightforward process. Follow these steps for successful seasoning:
- Cut to Length: Trim the logs to shorter lengths that will fit easily into your firebox. It’s better to go a little short than risk collapsing logs due to excess length.
- Split Appropriately: Splitting the wood into smaller pieces enhances the drying process. With time, you’ll get a feel for the right size for optimal burning.
- Stack Properly: Keep the wood off the ground and stack it with open sides to allow air circulation. Try to find a spot with some daily sunlight for best results.
- Cover the Top: Protect the woodpile from rain by covering only the top with a tarp or other covering, such as a shed with a solid roof and no or only partial walls.
Generally, firewood takes about six months to season properly, but thicker, denser woods can take 1-2 years, especially if exposed to moisture during the seasoning process. To avoid pest issues, store only a small amount of seasoned wood near your home once your wood is seasoned.
Be aware that firewood can become too dry if left too long. Overly dry firewood burns very quickly and at extremely high temperatures, making it difficult to control the fire.
Is There a Particular Kind of Wood to Burn in My Fireplace?
Past seasoned wood, what kind of wood you burn in your fireplace is a hot topic of conversation. Should you stick to a specific type, hardwood, or softwood? Instead of burning better, various species of wood burn differently, and you’ll want to take that into consideration when selecting firewood. Some burn steadily, some burn cool, some produce a lot of ash, and some burn very hot!
Species including pine, spruce, juniper, and cedar, are considered softwood, weigh less, are fast to burn, and are easy to light. This is because of resin in softwood. However, they can also emit less heat. Because they cycle up and down in temperature, softwoods tend to build up creosote in your chimney more quickly, requiring more frequent chimney cleaning.
Oak, ash, elm, hickory, and similar deciduous species make up hardwood, which are heavier and longer-burning. After you light them, hardwood provides warm, constant fire, though they’re a little harder to start. Heat output may be adjusted by mixing in different species of wood. For very dense woods such as Osage orange (hedge), mix other wood in to keep the fire comfortable.
After you’ve experimented with different wood species, you’ll discover favorites that you can choose when you’re shopping for or harvesting firewood.
How Often Do I Need to Clean My Woodburning Fireplace?
A wood fireplace naturally develops creosote and soot, which can accumulate over time and pose potential fire hazards. Regular maintenance helps prevent dangerous creosote buildup and keeps your system in great condition for long-term use.
Contact Wolfman for Friendly, Exceptional Fireplace Service
Homeowners near San Antonio trust Wolfman Chimney & Fireplace for top-quality chimney services. Our experienced professionals stay current with the latest industry advancements, maintain certifications, and update their education to provide the top-level care for your system.
If you need a new woodburning fireplace, inspections, fireplace repairs, sweeps, or related services, our skilled team is ready to assist you. At Wolfman, we only hire the best to ensure you receive amazing service and peace of mind. Chat with our friendly team at 210-903-9407or request your visit online today. We look forward to working with you soon!