It’s finally getting chilly enough here to say that November has arrived. And, so has the split Maine firewood for wood stoves. (Maine bans importation of firewood from other states or countries [i.e., Canada] unless it is specially heat-treated to kill invasive and disease-spreading insects.)
Above, you see two cords of firewood delivered to one of our neighbors in late October, which were neatly (and back-breakingly) stored by early November:
Supplemental and primary wood heating is being promoted here by some groups to reduce fossil fuel use. The use of logs and wood pellets is expanding in New England, where Vermont and Maine are ranked 1 and 2, respectively, in the country for use of wood (logs and pellets) for primary residential heating, according to the latest (2019) Census data.
It’s unclear whether warming weather due to climate change will affect wood stove use. Some groups advocate federal and state tax rebates for wood heating due to modern wood stoves’ ability to heat relatively cleanly and efficiently, thereby reducing fossil fuel use. (Images taken in Brooklin, Maine, on October 21 [wood pile] and November 3 [no pile], 2021.)