Go outside tonight, an hour after you've loaded the stove, and look at the top of your chimney.
If there's grey smoke hanging over the yard, that isn't exhaust. That's fuel. You bought it, split it, stacked it and carried it in, and it's going up the flue without ever having warmed the house — and part of it is sticking to the inside of the chimney on the way past.
Nearly everything people call a wood heat problem comes back to three things: wood that isn't as dry as they believe, a fire that's being choked down to make it last, and a chimney doing the opposite of what they think it's doing.
Not one of the three is fixed by buying a different stove. They get understood once, properly, and then they stay fixed for as long as you burn wood.
Any of this your winter?
- You load up at ten, damp it down for the night, and by two there's a bed of black coals and a cold room.
- The glass goes brown by the second day.
- The stove room is 78 degrees and the back bedroom is 58.
- The wood you were sold as seasoned hisses at the cut ends.
- You're into your last cord and it's the first week of February.
- Nobody has ever told you plainly what creosote looks like at each stage, or which stage actually matters.
Every one of those has the same short list of causes, and all of them are things you can see with your own eyes and fix with what you already own.
Dry wood, hot fire. That's most of this book in three words. The rest of it is showing you exactly how to get there with the wood you have, the stove you own, and the winter that's coming.
Twenty-six firewood plates, so you can name it in the yard
Somebody offers you a truckload of "mixed hardwood." A tree comes down at the end of the road. You're standing over a split face trying to work out what you've got. The plates are drawn for that moment.
- Bark, end grain and split face drawn side by side for every wood you're likely to be offered, cut or given, the way it actually looks in the yard.
- What it's worth as heat a heat tier for every species, and what a full cord of it gives you on the coldest night of the year.
- How long it needs oak and ash and maple are not on the same clock. The chart says how many summers each one wants before it belongs in the stove.
- How it behaves in the box what sparks, what smokes, what splits easy, what's worth taking for free and what isn't worth the gas to go get it.
What's in the 122 pages
- Dry wood, made simple. A two-minute test you can do with a maul and your own eyes, how long each species really needs, and what to do through a cold week when all you've got left is wet.
- A fire that runs all night without choking it. The top-down light, the reload routine, the all-night burn, and the one-minute smoke check that tells you whether it's working.
- Heat the house, not one room. The free fan trick, which doors to shut and which to open, ceiling fan direction, and fixes for the cold end of the house.
- A chimney you don't have to wonder about. The creosote stages in full color, when sweeping actually matters, the pre-season check, and exactly what to do if a chimney fire ever starts.
- Checklists made to print. The pre-season check, the daily routine, the wood-heat year, and the cord arithmetic. Print them and keep them by the stove.
Four real pages
The Wood Heat Handbook
$29 · PDF · 122 pages · Instant PDF download
Everything in the book
- Introduction: Before You Light Anything
- 1. How a Wood Fire Makes Heat
- 2. Firewood by Species
- 3. Dry Wood
- 4. Cutting, Splitting and Stacking
- 5. Buying Firewood
- 6. Knowing Your Stove
- 7. Running the Fire
- 8. Heating the Whole House
- 9. The Chimney
- 10. The Pre-Season Check
- 11. Safety
- 12. The Wood-Heat Year
- Appendix A: Species Heat Chart
- Appendix B: Cord Arithmetic
- Appendix C: Checklists to Print (pre-season check, safety check, reload routine, wood-heat year, moisture log)
The details
- Format
- Illustrated PDF ebook, full color
- Length
- 122 pages, 16 chapters
- Page size
- 7 × 10 in – reads well on a tablet, computer or phone
- Printing
- Print any page for your own use. Checklists included.
- Copy protection
- None. Download it and keep it.
- Delivery
- Instant. Download straight after you pay.
Who it's for
- You heat with a stove, an insert or a fireplace and want more out of it
- You buy, cut or split your own firewood
- You've burned wood for years and suspect a few of your habits are costing you
- You've moved into a house with a stove in it and nobody's shown you how to run it
- You want a buyer's guide to stoves — this is about running the one you've got
- You need clearances and installation specs — those belong to your stove's manual and your local code, and the book tells you so
I'm Dean Bracket. Skowhegan, Maine. There's a furnace in this house and it runs about four days a year; the rest of the winter is the stove.
I wrote this the way I'd tell it to you standing in your cellar: plain, in order, with a drawing wherever a drawing says it better. No jargon left unexplained, nothing you need a shop for, and nothing dressed up to scare you. Bev will tell you I'd rather talk about the woodpile than almost anything, and that's about right.
Go on out and look at your smoke.
Read it for 60 days. If it's not for you, I'll refund it.
Email support@oldhands.co within 60 days of buying and you get your money back in full. No questions, no forms, and you keep the file.
Questions
Will it work with my stove?
The book is about how a wood fire behaves. The box it happens in matters less than people think. Everything applies to a stove, an insert or an open fireplace, and where it doesn't, it says so.
I've burned wood thirty years. Is there anything in here for me?
Most of the people I talk to have, and most are losing heat in one of three or four places. Dry wood, running the fire and heating the whole house are the chapters where they usually find it.
Do I need tools or a moisture meter?
No. There's a meter test in there for people who own one, and a two-minute test for people who don't.
How do I get it after I pay?
Checkout is handled by Whop, a payments company. The moment you pay, the PDF is in your Whop account to download, and the link is emailed to you as well. You can download it again any time.
Is this a printed book?
No. It's an ebook: a PDF you download straight after paying. You can print any page, or the whole thing, for your own use.
Will it open on my phone?
Yes. It's an ordinary PDF, so it opens on any phone, tablet or computer. A tablet or computer shows the pages best.
What if I don't like it?
Email support@oldhands.co within 60 days and you get a full refund. You don't need to give a reason.
About what a third of a cord costs.
The book is $29. A cord of hardwood delivered is a good deal more than that, and all of this is about getting more heat out of every cord you buy, every winter from here on.
- Instant PDF download
- 60-day money-back guarantee
- No copy protection – yours to keep
One-time payment. Sales tax or VAT is added at checkout where it applies.
Dry wood, hot fire. Go on out and look at your smoke.