I guess there as many ways to start a fire as there are people to strike a match or rub two sticks together. There are probably just as many commercial products for this purpose, that would drive those with full time wood heat to the poor house. So far 
we’ve covered fire starting, chainsaws, and how much wood you may need.
Under fire starting, I gave away our best tip so far and that was using the match light charcoal briquettes to compliment or replace the kindling used to make a good fire in your wood stove. Now I have an additional tip that compliments this and makes this task much easier.
In the previous installment we went through tips on determining how much wood? This time we’ll talk about how all chainsaws are not the same.
When it comes to cutting firewood, the old way is not the best. Its hard on your back and arms using any kind of 
hand saw. Chainsaws are a wonderful tool for those who choose or must heat their home with wood. All chainsaws are not equal as we’ve found through experience over the years. It seems that we wasted, or overworked ourselves the first 5 or so years with my ignorance in this topic.
In our early experience, it took a long time to cut
In the previous installment we went through tips on getting that wood stove fire started. This time we’ll talk about how much wood you need to put up for the winter.
Time seems to have wings. Thats why spring is a great time to consider how much wood to prepare for heating your off grid home this winter. Its getting nice enough round here that a sweater in the morning replaces the fire. Without a winter’s experience, the question of how much wood you will need is complicated. I’ll try to provide some useful guidelines here.
Let’s cover the variables
In the first part of the series, we talked about using two wood stoves for heat. Now we continue the series with basic fire starting and include our best bonus tip too!
Starting your wood stove for heat on a cold day is very important. Getting it done quickly and efficiently in another story. Too often I’ve seen Jackie start fires on cold mornings that just didn’t “take” and needed a couple re-starts until the final call comes in from the house to the office shed, ” Marshall, start the fire please”.
Getting a good fire started is a combination of three things; the right wood, the right kindling or helper material, and finally the arrangement or technique of the initial setup.
Fuel and Kindling
Will your wood stove heat the area you need? Maybe you need two wood stoves, one at each end of the house? And the really big question follows with, “how much wood will I need for a season?” In this series I’ll attempt to provide answers and suggestions for these questions and more after living with wood heat 11+ years.
Wood Heat necessity off grid
Wood burning is the most common source source for off grid living. Electric heat should not be
As I mentioned in; Why firewood? I have this nifty little heater… , using your off grid power system to heat your home with electric heat is impractical and inefficient. Wood heat is the most practical and reliable heating source for your off grid home. Getting enough wood in under cover for each winter season does consume a good deal of effort, but is rewarding. There’s nothing like a cold snowy night, with and extra log on the fire for “comfort” heat and a good book, knowing there’s plenty of dry wood tucked away outside.
Kindling
Depending on your type and size of firewood, starting a fire in the fireplace or wood stove can be a challenge. After all these years I take it for granted, but it really is an art.
