Home Heating With Wood: DIY Wood Tote and Wood Rack

My whole house is heated by wood. I have a huge respect for this natural resource. We have a woodstove that heats the house, a small woodstove in a detached studio, and an even smaller woodstove outdoors that heats up a wood-fired hot tub on our deck. To say that wood supplies the heart of my home would be an understatement.

Even in cold climates, heating with wood has its pros and cons. I’ve delved into the subject before here at Care2. For the record, this year we (my son) cut and stacked all the wood from downed trees on our property. No trees were destroyed in the heating of my home. (You can catch a glimpse of my son sizing up the wood for the heating season here)

Woodpiles entice me. Just viewing images of seasoned, cut and stacked wood make me swoon. When I recently wrote about all that swooning, I came across two DIY projects that I knew I had to whip up to support my workhorse – the woodstove.

Whether it’s a woodstove or a fireplace that warms your hearth, these two projects are sure to make you feel toasty.

DIY Wood Tote

I absolutely love this wood tote from Whipup. Not only is it functional, it’s stylish and the creator of the project says, “I made this firewood tote to help move all the logs to the house site. This firewood tote sews up super fast, and will make carrying wood to your fireplace, or building a house just a bit easier.”

Log Rack From A Vintage Fireplace Cover

This Old House editor, Amy Hughes demonstrates in this video how to build a log rack out of a vintage fireplace cover. You’ll need carpentry skills for this, but the instructional video walks you through the steps and the result is truly inspiring.

Photo Credit: Whipup

Disclaimer: The views expressed above are solely those of the author and may not reflect those of
Care2, Inc., its employees or advertisers.

9:06AM PDT on Oct 17, 2010

Thanks.

send a green star

Barb F.

5:25AM PDT on Oct 13, 2010

The heat from a woodstove is so much more warm than it is from any oil heated furnace, far less expensive as well. I concur that cutting only downed trees for logs is best, to be carried carefully in it not being too much weight or that it's shifted to one side of the body.

Past Member .

5:20PM PDT on Oct 12, 2010

Great Ideas! I love heating with wood in the winter! However, I had already purchased our log rack and tote. They are similar to the ones here and work quite well too.

Dan R.

3:34PM PDT on Oct 12, 2010

For carrying wood, I use a noose of rope, or maybe a belt with a conventional buckle, and carry it over my shoulder. Of course this is mainly for camping, where I don't mind some bark debris.

ruth a.

9:29AM PDT on Oct 12, 2010

We have a very efficient furnace that heats all three floors and the water heater. We, too, only collect down trees. We split and sawed much of it by hand, saving the chain saw for just the last, biggest pieces. When we were done, we had 30 cubic meters stacked to dry and move into wood rooms and the cellar. Not bad for two middle aged women from the city.

Alice D.

7:19AM PDT on Oct 12, 2010

I installed a high efficiency wood furnace in my living room when I built my home in 2001. It is vented to the rest of my home and has outside air supply for combustion...Love it ! : )

Neil A.

1:07AM PDT on Oct 12, 2010

I absolutely depend on woods to heat & have 3 stoves, but luckily with 3 acres & many trees always need to trim & burn I burn even the smallest stuff & 1 stove is good for cooking & heating water, it is potentially dangerous to have fires in the garden for much of the year so I accumulate a lot. I live some distance from neighbours so do not pollute them.

KayL N.

9:33PM PDT on Oct 11, 2010

I enjoyed my wood-burning stove when I lived in a northern village. What I didn't enjoy were the ants, spiders and other buggies that came indoors with every load of wood. I hated chopping wood outdoors in -40 temperatures; but when I put a load of wood in an unfinished basement room, not only did the buggies multiply, but when I missed while chopping, I split my basement floor! Also, constant splinters in the carpets.

So, with my next house, I had my fireplace converted to gas. Way easier to maintain and clean, and absolutely no bugs coming indoors, and no more splinters in the carpet. And just as warm as the wood-burning stove.

On the other hand, I grew up with coal-burning stoves. Wood-burners are way cleaner, but don't seem to put out as much heat.

ana p.

7:43PM PDT on Oct 11, 2010

I DON'T KNOW WHAT TO THINK...

Vicky L.

5:15PM PDT on Oct 11, 2010

Even better is to carry it symmetrically on our back - just look at village people in other countries. Our bodies are designed to carry things on our back, these muscles are naturally stronger, otherwise we developing serious postural and biomechanical problems.