Should I stock up on firewood before winter, and how early should I order it?
In Waynesville, absolutely — and plan on more wood than a lower town would. At nearly 2,650 feet your heating season runs about three weeks longer than Asheville's and nights average 10 to 15 degrees colder, so a hearth here works harder and burns through more cords. Order green in spring so it's fully dry by the time you need it.
Higher and colder means more cords
Waynesville's elevation stretches the burning season on both ends, and the older, drafty open fireplaces common in Hazelwood pour heat up the chimney rather than into the room. Add those together and you simply go through more wood than a home down in the Asheville basin. Estimate on the high side and order early — showing up to a Haywood County fall looking for honestly seasoned wood, when everyone else is too, is a losing game.
Let green wood take the whole Haywood summer
Freshly split hardwood is heavy with water and needs months of sun and moving air to burn clean and hot. Buy it green in spring, when it's cheaper and easy to find, and stack it up off the ground with the split faces open to the sun. Cover the top against Waynesville's frequent rain but leave the sides breathing. By October the pile is dry and dependable instead of a hissing, smoking disappointment.
Up here, dry wood is your backup heat
When the power goes out on a cold Haywood night — and it does — a wood stove or insert with a stack of dry fuel is what keeps the house livable. Green or soggy wood burns cool, spends its heat driving off water, and lines the flue with creosote, and an EPA-certified unit runs especially poorly on it. Have your chimney checked before burning season. Call (828) 545-0525.
Fireplace help in Waynesville
We install and service fireplaces throughout Waynesville and the rest of Haywood County — just 35 minutes west from our Asheville-area showroom.