Burning Slab Wood – A Good Idea?

Here’s the deal – slab wood is cheap.

And i mean, a lot more inexpensive than, for example, a cord of regular firewood like oak, pine.

That is the only reason why it seems to attract that many homeowners. They think that they can beat the system by using it as their sole fuel source, saving potentially thousands of dollars per season.

But let me tell you, the reality is far from what you may think at first…

Yes and no…

The thing about slab wood is that it’s not actual, proper quality firewood. All it is is just scrap pieces of what’s left off during the processing in the sawmill.

I know that there are definitely a bunch of people who use this type of wood as their primary source of fuel for heating their homes, but in my opinion this isn’t of the best ideas.

Hot and fast fires

The main gripe about burning slabs is that they create a ton of heat in a short period of time.

I find it very easy to get the wood stove going way too hot if i only use the slab pieces, and it makes sense why. Most of them are relatively thin (when compared to actual firewood).

So even if you end up putting just enough where you feel like it’ll last for hours on end, think again. All of that load will burn up in no time, and you will need to feed her up again.

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In the end this means more time messing with the wood, more time monitoring the whole process. A waste of time…

May come with more bark than wood

This is a big one. How many BTUs can you get from a load entirely depends on how much actual wood there is in the slabs.

If the pieces contain more bark than wood, you will get worse results – the fires won’t even be able to produce enough heat to sustain the right temperature to heat your place.

What will you get for your money has all to do with your local sawmill. Some folks luck out here, others do not; this is an important fact to be aware about.

Not easy to process

There’s a reason why this type of ‘firewood’ is cheap – the fact that it takes more time than you’d think to cut it up explains it, i think.

There is no simple method to go about this – you have to figure out how to keep the whole bundle in place, and saw it into necessary lengths.

Sometimes you may get as lucky as getting 16 inch pieces right from the sawmill, but that doesn’t happen always. Once bought, you will probably get length pieces delivered, and it’s going to be your job to figure out how to tackle it all.

To top it off, you might need to let everything dry first. Just that the things aren’t that thick, doesn’t mean you can throw them into the stove right away.

Those pieces may require just as much time to season like regular firewood; always be sure to measure the moisture content first.

But it’s not useless!

I think you already got the gist of what i think about slab firewood; that being said, there are still ways you can use it for your burning needs.

What i love about slab wood is that it is great for starting fires. All that bark to wood ratio gets a pile blazing in an instant – add a piece of nicely seasoned oak or two on top of it, and you got yourself some heat!

You can also get great results by mixing – that is, put a bit of slab pieces, then load up the firebox with solid firewood. This will help to keep everything burning at a nice and even pace, slowing down the need to use up that much of your firewood stack.

Summary

What i am trying to explain here is that dealing with slab wood is not as easy and simple as you may think. Sure, if the money’s tight, this is better than nothing, but if you have more money to spare, actual firewood will prove to be ultimate choice.