Protect your firewood with a Firewood rack covers.

November 4, 2009 0 Comments

To protect your wood from the elements, you need a good Firewood rack covers, these are designed to cover both your rack and the top half of the wood stack. So that rain and snow will fall off the cover onto the ground and not fall on the wood.

If you buy a good quality firewood rack you should get a cover as part of the price. If not I strongly suggest you get one. They might not be as cheap as a tarpaulin, but they do provide better air flow through your stack.

For good wood stack management you want to ensure that moisture can’t get into your stack. I.e. rain, snow, damp floor. Whilst at the same time allowing air to flow through your wood stack to help remove moisture from within the wood. The use of a tarpaulin definitely resolves the first issue. However it doesn’t resolve the second and if storing a lot of wood can make the problem worse.

Poorly protected wood, will lead to mildew and mold, these will put spores into the air when the wood is burnt. Obviously the less mold and mildew spores you breath the better. It also deteriorates the wood making it softer and therefore it produces less heat and a poor quality fire.

Good firewood rack covers will allow your wood to cure correctly. This means with good air flow it helps suck the moisture from the center of the log and correctly dry. A full cover often results in moisture building up within the cover and preventing the logs from reaching a low enough moisture content. Best is between 18-20%, the wood may burn above this level but it doesn’t generate heat due to it converting the water to steam.

A good cover should be made from a heavy waterproof material, ideally it should allow water to fall straight off and hold no pockets of water. This is most important in early summer as the water can be home to mosquitoes. A tarpaulin tends to lay flat on the ground and hold water around the edges. This is bad for both farming mosquitos but also it maintains a water around the very thing your trying to dry. Your logs.

If like me you live in a snowy area, your firewood rack covers should allow easy access. Some of the best covers have Velcro on the sides allow a very easy open and close system to your wood. When its minus 40 and your collecting your logs do you really need the hassle of removing the tarp, collecting the wood then retying it back afterwards.

I have talked about the benefits of covering the top third of your stack to enhance the curing process. There are times when a full firewood rack covers is needed. Ideally you have split your logs early spring, and placed them out to cure during the hot summer months.

As you come into autumn your logs should have finished their curing and be at 20% moisture or less. If this is the case and the wood is in a good firewood rack that keeps the wood off the ground. A full cover is useful to maintain that moisture content. Ideally a combination of the two covers would be best.

So when buying firewood rack covers.