My name is Georgia, and I love to write. As an avid gardener, I have spent hours writing about gardening, but in this space, I wanted to turn my attention to trees in particular. I recently added a number of fruit trees to my garden, and I have old oaks in front of my house which have suffered and survived through a range of mishaps. If you want to learn ideas for taking better care of your trees, you have stumbled onto the right blog. Welcome to this space, please explore and share this blog with your friends if they inspire you.
A campfire is an essential part of your camping experience. It is like the family room for you and the rest of your camping crew, enabling you to cook and spend some quality evening time. While there are other sources of heat energy that you can use when camping, firewood is one of the best. Firewood makes your camping experience more nature oriented, unlike a case where you tag along with modern heating appliances from home (like portable gas cookers). However, you must be careful when selecting firewood to avoid spreading diseases within the camping site or wasting precious wood. Here's some important information you need to know as a first-time camper:
Seasoned Versus Unseasoned Firewood
Seasoned firewood refers to firewood logs that have been exposed to the rain, wind and sun for more than a year. The aim of seasoning is to drive out the moisture naturally stored in the wood (to as low as twenty percent) so that it is ideal for burning. On the other hand, unseasoned firewood has been exposed to the same set of conditions as seasoned firewood, only that it has a higher moisture content. This often results from varying wood grain structures that cause some logs to lose moisture at a slower rate. When buying, you should select firewood with the lowest moisture content (seasoned). Seasoned firewood should make a ringing sound when knocked together and have some irregular cracks as evidence of thorough, uneven drying.
Kiln-Dried Versus Heat-Treated Firewood
Basically, kiln-dried firewood is wood fuel whose moisture has been driven out by high temperatures in a kiln. There is no set temperature or period governing kiln treatment for firewood. Kilns can be set at varying temperatures and the wood exposed to high temperatures for long or short periods. Regardless of these variations, the vendors will still label the firewood as kiln treated. This is not the case with heat treated firewood. First, the vendors must have a compliance certificate ascertaining that they will dry the wood according to legally recognised standards. Relevant regulatory bodies legally determine the temperature and the duration of the treatment. For instance, it can be set at one-hundred and forty degrees Celsius for one hour. Preferably, you should go for heat treated firewood to avoid numerous local authority restrictions that bar the movement of kiln-treated or untreated firewood into and out of camping sites. To add on that, you will also eliminate the risk of spreading emerald ash borers to other firewood resources within the camping site.
Share10 October 2016
