Sources of Energy: Home Heating or Cooking Food with Wood can be Good
By Debra L. Karplus, MS, OTR/L
Whether you live in a warm or cold climate, you probably don’t think much about staying warm and comfortable indoors during the winter months. When the temperature inside becomes too chilly, the furnace in your house quietly does its magic, by clicking on. A device called a thermostat is set by your parents, to regulate how cold they want the inside of your house to be. Many families set their thermostat at approximately sixty-eight degrees. Ask mom or dad to show you the thermostat and furnace at your house.
Americans stayed warm indoors by burning wood indoors, before furnaces were invented.
Before homes had furnaces, people often heated by burning wood. Fireplaces became popular during the 1600s. Cast iron stoves proved to be a better, more efficient way for home heating. Benjamin Franklin who lived from 1706 to 1790 discovered and created many important things, including the wood burning stove. Americans started using the Franklin stove during the 1740s. The wood burning stoves of the 1820s allowed people to cook delicious food on top of them or even inside them.
Today, some families use fireplaces or woodstoves to stay warm.
People in many parts of the country still burn wood indoors, in addition to using their furnace. It helps save money, especially when you find free firewood in your own neighborhood. You may be surprised at how plentiful wood is! Sometimes tree cutters, called arborists, are trimming trees along your street. After a storm, especially if it has been windy, there may be fallen wood on the ground that can be used for burning.
You can have the warmest heat by choosing the right firewood.
Firewood needs to be dried, or seasoned. This means that there should be no moisture inside a log. Sometimes it takes a few years for wood to season. Unseasoned wood does not burn easily, produces little heat, and makes the inside of your chimney sticky. That’s why many people do not like burning wood from pine trees.
Firewood from certain kinds of trees creates more heat than others. Woods that are considered to be hard woods, such as hickory, oak, or maple, burn the hottest. Soft woods such as birch or willow produce much less heat. Learn what kinds of trees grow in your area.
Sitting by the fireplace or woodstove is a relaxing family activity. Whether you are playing board games, reading, or doing your homework, the cozy warmth of an indoor fire feels good and is a wonderful source of energy. Stay warm this winter!
There are activities you can do in your own neighborhood to help people stay warm inside.
1. Find out which families have a woodstove or fireplace and help locate wood piles near home. Be sure the wood is really free and is being given away.
2. Pick up twigs after a storm, and use string to tie bundles. Twigs make great kindling, small sticks necessary to start an indoor fire. Maybe neighbors will even buy your bundled wood!
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