Wood-burning season is here. Here's 5 last-minute steps to make sure you are ready.

Winter is knocking at the door and the wood-burning season has already arrived in many regions of America - particularly the northern half of the United States.

The long-range weather forecasts call for a severe winter in the Northeast. Major blizzard events are predicted for February and average temperatures from December to April are projected to be lower than normal.

Wood-burning appliances, hearths and wood-pellet stoves account for the primary heat sources for more than 300,000 American households in the Northeast. As a secondary heating source wood-burning systems are common in millions of homes across the nation.

Every home using firewood or wood-pellet fuel should ideally begin preparing by late autumn for the winter wood-burning season. But if you haven't yet tuned up your heating system or assessed your wood-fuel needs, there's still time to do last-minute preparations to be ready for that first blast of winter weather. Here are five steps you can take in about a week's time to make sure your hearth, stove, wood-pellet appliance or other wood-fuel system is ready to start burning:

• Check your fuel stockpile and assess your needs for the season - A home of no more than 1,000 square feet will use about three cords of wood for a winter. Use that as a basis for calculating your own needs, and make sure your firewood stockpile is adequate for the winter. For wood-pellet stoves, a full winter's fuel may be as many as 150 bags of pellets. That's close to three tons. Make sure you have access to your provider or supplier when it may be needed - especially if your storage capacity is limited.
• Use a wood moisture meter and plan your wood storage - A wood moisture meter will tell you how efficiently your wood fuel will burn. Wood burns most efficiently when the moisture content is no more than 20 percent. You also want to identify and prepare an adequate storage area for your wood stockpile, reserving the most protected conditions for at least 10 days or two weeks worth of wood.

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• Use a credentialed chimney sweep to make sure you are burning safely - An annual inspection and maintenance check by a credentialed chimney sweep is very important. The build-up of creosote and other debris can create a chimney fire hazard - a major threat to the entire home. If your fires are burning smoky, if you smell smoke in the house during and after building a fire or if you notice soot falling from the chimney - those are red flags for chimney maintenance right away.

• Make sure your wood-burning systems and appliances also get expert maintenance - Always use licensed professionals, which you can find using a directory of licensed and verified professionals for wood-burning appliance maintenance. The Northeast Hearth, Patio and Barbecue Association is an excellent resource for this and almost any other consumer need related to wood-burning and wood-fuel heating systems.

“Our member retailers and service providers are the most experienced industry professionals in the U.S., and every one of them will say a comprehensive pre-winter routine is critical to safely and efficiently burning wood fuel,” says Joel Etter, President of NEHPBA and Senior Wholesale Account Manager for Hearth & Home Technologies.

• Have your service professional conduct a complete annual maintenance check - Each of the following items should be part of the annual maintenance check on a wood-burning fuel system or appliance: Disassemble and closely inspect all stove pipe sections; Empty all soot and debris from interior of pipe sections; Inspect for creosote build-up and use wire brush tool to remove; Clean out firebox completely; Clean glass window on door and inspect closely for cracks; Clean out ash drawer.

Karen Luther, Executive Director of NEHPBA, says: "The process of heating with wood fuel can be challenging and even daunting without the best guidance and expertise."

Even so, Luther says, "More households are choosing wood-burning appliances every year.”

Follow American Household News for more information about home energy.

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