In the past I have not touched on this subject much because I know a lot of folks feel strongly about having wood in the house all the time. Some store lots of wood in the house, some just an overnight amount etc. Some store in bins, boxes or plastic containers while others store on the hearth. We even see wood racks, such as would normally be seen on a porch or deck or even in the attached garage.
Now comes the argument on the bug issue. Some claim there is no harm and no bugs. Some even spray for bugs while others stack the wood outside the house and get an armload as needed. Although I do allow my wife to bring in enough wood for the next load.....but only at night, I hate stacking wood inside the house. Why? I'm glad you asked.
For years we have dried our wood out where it will get wind or sun or both or wherever we happened to stack it that year. During the fall I then moved maybe 1/2 cord or more of wood on the back porch which also happened to be part of the carport. On the east side I always hung a tarp during the winter because when we get snow, most times the wind is of an easterly direction which would blow the snow right on the wood and porch. This kept the wood dry even if it rained. It worked great as it was just a very few steps to get the wood.
Now for the problem and why I do not like wood in the house. Simply put; bugs. No matter how long the wood has dried there can always be bugs in the wood.
Last year, we finally put up a barn and one end has been reserved for wood. We burned about a cord of 7 year old wood and then had to break into our newer stacks. This meant we were burning wood that had been stacked in April of 2009. Yes, it burned good.....but not as good as the 7 year old stuff. But the real point is the bugs. Yes, I found bugs when I moved the wood into the garage and got rid of all I could. Yet we would occasionally find a bug or two; even a hornet.
So this spring when we needed a fire only to take the chill off, I would go to the barn to get 3 or 4 splits. What would I find? More bugs.
I know the prevailing theory is that once the wood is dry you will not have bugs or ants. I highly disagree and therefore, we will not be stacking wood in the house and will always suggest that others follow that same rule. My guess it that this is one more reason a lot of folks try burning wood or even hear about before trying to burn wood. After all, how many want bugs in their house?
Now comes the argument on the bug issue. Some claim there is no harm and no bugs. Some even spray for bugs while others stack the wood outside the house and get an armload as needed. Although I do allow my wife to bring in enough wood for the next load.....but only at night, I hate stacking wood inside the house. Why? I'm glad you asked.
For years we have dried our wood out where it will get wind or sun or both or wherever we happened to stack it that year. During the fall I then moved maybe 1/2 cord or more of wood on the back porch which also happened to be part of the carport. On the east side I always hung a tarp during the winter because when we get snow, most times the wind is of an easterly direction which would blow the snow right on the wood and porch. This kept the wood dry even if it rained. It worked great as it was just a very few steps to get the wood.
Now for the problem and why I do not like wood in the house. Simply put; bugs. No matter how long the wood has dried there can always be bugs in the wood.
Last year, we finally put up a barn and one end has been reserved for wood. We burned about a cord of 7 year old wood and then had to break into our newer stacks. This meant we were burning wood that had been stacked in April of 2009. Yes, it burned good.....but not as good as the 7 year old stuff. But the real point is the bugs. Yes, I found bugs when I moved the wood into the garage and got rid of all I could. Yet we would occasionally find a bug or two; even a hornet.
So this spring when we needed a fire only to take the chill off, I would go to the barn to get 3 or 4 splits. What would I find? More bugs.
I know the prevailing theory is that once the wood is dry you will not have bugs or ants. I highly disagree and therefore, we will not be stacking wood in the house and will always suggest that others follow that same rule. My guess it that this is one more reason a lot of folks try burning wood or even hear about before trying to burn wood. After all, how many want bugs in their house?