Is it OK to burn storm-fall or dead trees from my own property?
Around Mars Hill, the rural Spring Creek and Gabriels Creek valleys run on propane or wood, so cutting your own storm-fall is a genuine way to heat for less. It's excellent firewood — the catch, as always, is seasoning it dry before it goes on the fire, and this is one of the colder corners we serve, so you'll burn a while.
Wood as the propane alternative
Off the natural-gas main out in Madison County, many homes choose between delivered propane and cordwood, and your own seasoned hardwood is the cheaper of the two. After so much timber came down in recent storms, plenty of folks out these valleys already have a multi-year supply of exactly the oak and hickory that make good firewood sitting on the ground. Green, though, it just smokes and creosotes — the savings only show up once it's properly dry, so treat seasoning as the real work.
Season through a colder season
Mars Hill runs colder than the lower valley towns, so the heating season is longer and you'll go through more wood. Stay a full season ahead: split it, stack it off the ground with the top covered and the sides open, and give green oak six to twelve months, leaning long at this elevation. A moisture meter under 20 percent tells you it's ready to carry real heat instead of just smoke.
Around campus, easy heat wins
The university-area rentals tend to lean toward simple, easy-use gas, but for a wood-heated rural home the rules are the same: burn only natural, untreated wood, keep pine for kindling, and keep up the annual sweep with heavy home-cut use. Call (828) 545-0525.
Fireplace help in Mars Hill
We install and service fireplaces throughout Mars Hill and the rest of Madison County — just 30 minutes north from our Asheville-area showroom.