Is a standing dead or storm-downed tree already seasoned and ready to burn?
No — out on Leicester's rural properties, where many homes run propane and some have limited electrical capacity, wood is genuine off-grid heat — which is exactly why a standing-dead or storm-downed tree can't be burned green. Dead isn't the same as dry. Cut it, split it, and stack it off the ground for months first.
When wood is your real backup, it has to be dry
Leicester's large rural lots often sit beyond the gas mains, on propane, and some remote properties have limited electrical capacity — so a wood fire isn't ambiance out here, it's heat you can count on when the grid's down. That's precisely why green wood won't do. A tree that died standing holds thirty to forty percent moisture behind its bark, and the dense heartwood you want to burn dries slowest of all. A storm-downed trunk lying on the ground can even pull water back up from the soil. None of it is seasoned until it's cut to length, split so the wet faces open, and stacked to breathe for months. Dry wood is the difference between reliable warmth and a cold night when you need heat most.
Cold-air drainage means an early, demanding season
On clear winter nights, cold air drains down Leicester's rural valleys and runs five to eight degrees under Asheville, so you'll be lighting fires early and burning through a lot of wood. Wet wood can't keep up — it hisses, barely heats, and cakes creosote into the flue, which is the start of a chimney fire in a house that's depending on that stove. Stack off the ground on pallets, cover the top only, burn oldest first, and prove each piece with a fresh split face: light, gray-brown, end-cracked, around 20 percent or under. If you heat with a wood stove or insert, have the chimney inspected before the cold — we pull the Buncombe County permit on installs and we're fifteen minutes west. Call (828) 545-0525.
Fireplace help in Leicester
We install and service fireplaces throughout Leicester and the rest of Buncombe County — just 15 minutes west from our Asheville-area showroom.
Related questions
- Does seasoned firewood go bad or rot if it's stored for several years?
- Should firewood be split before it's stacked to season, or can whole rounds dry out?
- Is it cheaper to buy green firewood in spring and season it myself?
- Is it safe to burn rhododendron or mountain laurel cleared from my property?
- Will a wood-burning insert cut down on how much firewood I go through compared to my open fireplace?