If you haven't heard about Norwegians and their love of wood, now is a good time to learn. The New York Times via the Oslo Journal came up with an interesting article about firewood and the Norwegian way with wood. Take a look here:
In Norway TV Program on Firewood Elicits Passions
From the JØTUL website:
JØTUL IS PLEASED TO ANNOUNCE A PROGRAM TO ENHANCE THE "UP TO $300 FEDERAL TAX CREDIT" ON ENERGY-EFFICIENT BIOMASS-BURNING APPLIANCES (SEE ORIGINAL TAX CREDIT CERTIFICATE HERE). BETWEEN NOW AND MARCH 31st, 2013 JØTUL IS OFFERING AN ADDITIONAL $200 OFF THE PURCHASE OF A NEW JØTUL WOOD STOVE OR WOOD INSERT. POTENTIALLY SAVING YOU UP TO $500! FOR COMPLETE DETAILS PLEASE VISIT ONE OF OUR PARTICIPATING JØTUL DEALERS.
For more info about the Federal and State tax credits, keep reading below.
Our green-minded State of Oregon provides a tax credit for purchasing high efficiency wood & pellet stoves. The Residential Energy Tax Credit allows a tax credit in the first year of installation. The credit has a maximum of $300 or 25% of the stove and outside air venting cost, whichever is less. Wood stoves must emit maximum 4.5 grams per hour or 2.5 for pellet stoves.
Get more details at DSIRE and get your tax forms and additional information at Oregon.gov.
Download the Tax Credit form here.
Oregon also provides an additional minor incentive with a $10 tax credit per cord of dry wood or ton of pellets purchased each year.
Info provided by The Alliance for Green Heat
Do not forget about your ADDITIONAL Federal tax credit recently extended by the Obama administration! It provides a ten percent (10%) tax credit of up to $300 on a qualifying biomass heating appliance purchased between January 1, 2012 and December 31, 2013. That means your 75%+ efficient biomass heating appliance qualifies on 2012 taxes.
To find out more, ask your tax professional or check out the IRS website for more information as they update tax forms and information.
Check out the announcement on HPBA.org. Additional information is being created by the IRS. Stay tuned!
We have a new section on our website. Check to see what offers are currently on the table on our Deals page! Click here to find it.
Just like the heading says, it's layaway! We have 4 easy steps to our layaway system. Follow each step as you go through the process of selection, payment schedule, down payment, and installation.
Check out the details on the Layaway page.
Live in the Portland/Vancouver metro area? You can win a FREE stuff!
Click here to read more and to find out more details.
One common misconception about firewood has to do with the term "seasoned". Seasoned wood typically means firewood has been sitting in a dry place for a minimum of six months usually during the Summer months. One detail some folks do not know is that firewood must be split and stacked in order for it to become seasoned and dry. Logs sitting on the ground for a year or two does not work. A downed tree will retain most of its moisture for several years.
What is dry wood? The moisture content of a split firelog should ideally be under 15%. Any split wood that has a moisture content of 20% or higher will smolder and hiss when it is burned as well as create lots of smoke. Dry firewood will be lighter and when knocked together sound almost hollow. If you want to get down to real science you can buy a moisture meter. Just be sure that the meter is designed to read wood.
Watch this Morso video for more details:
Have you ever tried to start a wood fire in your fireplace or stove and only had it snuff itself out? Starting a fire can be a tough battle if you are not sure of what you are doing. Everyone eventually discovers a good technique to create a hot, beautiful fire. Below is a technique we like sourced from the collective expertise of woodheat.org. Be sure to check out their Tips & Techniques page.
1. The function of the kindling fire is to quickly heat up the chimney and the brick and steel of the firebox to create the environment for a stable, brightly burning fire, without having to open the loading door several times to adjust it.
2. The edges of firewood pieces heat up and ignite first. The more edges close together in your kindling fire, the faster it will ignite. Unsplit rounds should not be used when starting a fire because they don't have edges.
3. Softer woods like pine, cedar, spruce and poplar make better kindling than harder woods because they are easier to split up fine and they light more readily.
4. Logs from which kindling is split can be cut as short as six inches to make splitting and fire building easier. Straight grain conifers like cedar and pine work well as kindling.
5. Before building a fire, remove excess ash from the firebox; never let ash build up to more than two inches but be sure to leave half an inch to one inch to help keep air circulating under your new fire.
6. Open the air control(s) fully and open the bypass damper if the appliance has one.
7. When building a kindling fire, avoid a structure that collapses, smothering a struggling fire. Following are two popular approaches to avoiding the collapsed kindling fire.
8. Two parallel logs: Place two split logs parallel to each other in the firebox with a space between. Fill the space with newspaper and fine kindling and place several larger kindling pieces crosswise on top. Light the paper.
9. Top down fire : Place a layer of standard firewood pieces first, a few pieces of heavy kindling next, and finally, fine kindling. Roll up single sheets of newspaper corner to corner, tie a loose knot in each and place four or five on top of or in front of the kindling. Light the paper. This type of kindling fire can provide two or more hours of effective heating without having to open the door to add wood or adjust the fire.
10. Leave combustion air inlets wide open at least until the firebox is full of flame and the wood is charred black and the edges are glowing red.
