Well the snow came, almost went and then came back again. Hopefully the old adage about it waiting for some more to come along and take it away is true. The trouble is it feels colder out there now than it did when it was minus 8C a couple of weeks ago. At least I got some hedge laying done in the dry cold, now I can enjoy the fruits of last years cutting. We have two wood burners here, one which I bought from a friend many years ago and I've only just discovered is a Yeoman Exe. The other is an Esse Ironheart. The Yeoman only heats the room (though it did have a back boiler once). The Esse does the lot! Big hot plates, big oven, big firebox and it heats the water too.
Why do I mention this straight after hedge laying?
Well the small wood, from 1 to 4 inches diameter, that gets cut out from an old hedge is ideal fuel for the range. If you are cooking on a wood burner you don't want big cold logs else your fire and oven temperature goes up and down. Smaller, lighter wood added at regular intervals allows far more control when cooking on a wood burner. The picture above is actually willow which was cut after only three years and dried for 12 months.Thanks for the comment jon, it must be unusual for there to be snow in the scilly Isles. I like the pics too (http://scillyorganics.
However, not to be outdone here is some Welsh snow, not quite so rare, but just as beautiful when you've a nice warm house to return to.
The old wood burners, can't beat 'em. We've got a wood-fired Rayburn (with back boiler), costs nothing to run (at least nothing in pounds, shillings and pence!). How about a Life Cycle Analysis on carbon with regards woodburners?
ReplyDeleteCheers,
Jon