Building a Cordwood Castle

Any way you stack it, wood is good heat.

In my chronicle of our first winter heating with wood--but in a very different manner than during the previous 40 years--I will try to bring you along on that journey by the way of this "journal on Substack" that you, dear, rare reader, follow from time to time by way of email.

So here we are. I've written here before about our first--mostly but not perfectly-- successful run of the HeatMaster4000G, as well as the decisions we made and the dollar investment and planning and construction of the beast.

And now, we're thinking ahead to the accumulation of DRY wood we want on hand in sufficient (I’d prefer extravagant) abundance to let us burn steadily without being stingy with wood.

And so I have a big load of firewood coming just after TG. How and where should I arrange it to best create drying conditions so that next fall, it can become the year's dry wood for the winter? I searched on "woodpile stacking options" with the notion that something like the "wood igloos" that I'd seen might be the better option than stacking in vertical rows on locust runners. It would at least add interest to the process and to the landscape aesthetics.

Long story short:

Today I started my first "Wood House" of German design, and referred to (if you care to view a variety of them) as "holz hausen".

My first look lead me to a commercial site for a tarp to cover a "wood house" and it is $180 for a special tarp that will last maybe a couple of seasons: NOPE.

And with more study, it turns out that an uncovered wood igloo, if done properly (and there are, of course, plenty of YouTube videos) they will create an air movement pattern that favors drying wood some 2x faster than stacking in vertical rows. A six foot circle built to 5 feet plus the “roof” will store about two cords.

I put a piece of rebar in the center and marked with chalk the largest circle that would fit on the pallets. I’m stacking on pallets (because I have them) which will aerate from under the tower. And yesterday, the work began. I’m hoping to have it completed during December. Where are my long johns?

And when I'm done, we will have one cordwood castle near the HeatMonster. Next year, maybe a couple.

In late summer, when the Wood House is dry, it goes into the shed to warm the next winter to come.

We’ll see how this just-so story plays out.