Do you store a stack of wood inside your home?

  • Active since 1995, Hearth.com is THE place on the internet for free information and advice about wood stoves, pellet stoves and other energy saving equipment.

    We strive to provide opinions, articles, discussions and history related to Hearth Products and in a more general sense, energy issues.

    We promote the EFFICIENT, RESPONSIBLE, CLEAN and SAFE use of all fuels, whether renewable or fossil.
  • Hope everyone has a wonderful and warm Thanksgiving!
  • Super Cedar firestarters 30% discount Use code Hearth2024 Click here
We keep about 3 cords under a shelter out the back door, 3 cords in the attached garage, and 3 days worth near the stove. All of this would have been previously stacked elswhere to dry in the sun for several years. I can't say that I've ever seen any bugs crawl out of any of the dried wood by or in the house.
 
  • Like
Reactions: Slocum
We keep a full 5 cord in the basement to feed the wood
furnace . Have done so for 40 years never a bug problem
or anything else. That way no matter what the winter is like I always
have very dry wood to keep the house warm .
John, I'm with you. My third winter with about 5 cord in the basement. Always warm and dry, no matter the weather. I work hard getting it in and piled in the fall but i have it all right there and ready for the wood furnace all winter. When i was a kid my parents heated with wood, same thing for many years. Never had a problem.

I am a little selective, anything that looks 'buggy' stays outside on the firepit pile or gets burned right away. 99% of what goes in is nice clean hardwood, that probably helps.
 
  • Like
Reactions: Slocum
i normally stack about 1.5 cord under the covered patio, and then bring in enough for 2 days or so. This year, due to some construction projects, i lost all of my covered outside area, so I have a 4ft x 4ft single rack in the house. i have been bringing up enough for 5-6 days at a time and stacking it there. We have had a pretty mild winter, so I haven't had to even dust off snow more than a handful of times.
 
  • Like
Reactions: Slocum
I keep 1/2 face cord stacked in the garage which is connected to the room my stove is in. I don't stack inside, just use a log carrier and keep those splits by the stove. Usually bring wood in that way twice a day. A lot of my wood gets powder post beatles (mostly the locust) so it's pretty much a mess with dust once it comes in.
 
  • Like
Reactions: Slocum
I keep 1/2 face cord stacked in the garage which is connected to the room my stove is in. I don't stack inside, just use a log carrier and keep those splits by the stove. Usually bring wood in that way twice a day. A lot of my wood gets powder post beatles (mostly the locust) so it's pretty much a mess with dust once it comes in.

a lot of the stuff i have brought in this season has had beetles. super annoying, but easier than walking all the way down the hill out back for a load full of wood.
 
  • Like
Reactions: Slocum
I like to keep a couple weeks worth in the garage stacked next to the tractor. That way I know it is dry and easy to get to especially for my wife if I'm working. When my mother in law used to watch our little girls during the day I would have three or four, five gallon buckets with wood for her to keep the main floor stove going, she loved it and we never really worried about bugs. Just sweep up the mess that's all.
 
  • Like
Reactions: Slocum and Todd67
I keep a 4' x 8' rack filled in the garage, will stack it higher if inclement weather is heading in. I have had box elder bugs, stink bugs, spiders, hornets, and mosquitoes wake up in my firewood, even while in the garage, So I'll keep it were it is, and yes we are now blessed with the brown recluse spider here in Michigan, so don't get complacent.
 
Split a bit of wood today. This is why I don't store wood anywhere near or in the house.

[Hearth.com] Do you store a stack of wood inside your home?
 
Then today I decided to split some Arbutus(madrone) and it's full of flatheaded borer larvae.
 

Attachments

  • [Hearth.com] Do you store a stack of wood inside your home?
    P_20190102_120208.webp
    69.2 KB · Views: 173
about a 1/4? cord on the porch (2 weeks), and the "wagon" inside (2 or 3 days).
[Hearth.com] Do you store a stack of wood inside your home?
[Hearth.com] Do you store a stack of wood inside your home?
 
Last edited:
here is my current setup. i try and keep the bugs away from the 200year old barn board.
[Hearth.com] Do you store a stack of wood inside your home?
 
1 or 2 days supply next to the stove.

Possibly 3-4 in anticipation of a big snow fall

That’s what we keep in the house. I end up handling our wood so much by time we burn it, its been pretty closely inspected for any and everything. For many years, actually decades, we always had spiders in the house and attributed it to the wood. We just lived with it, although occasionally a big one would emerge. Late last summer we had an outdoor infestation of box elder bugs appear for the first time. After some quick research I sprayed the foundation perimeter with an Ortho product. Have not had a single spider in the house since. All the time we thought we were bringing them in when they were brining themselves in.
 
  • Like
Reactions: mountain man 2
That’s what we keep in the house. I end up handling our wood so much by time we burn it, its been pretty closely inspected for any and everything. For many years, actually decades, we always had spiders in the house and attributed it to the wood. We just lived with it, although occasionally a big one would emerge. Late last summer we had an outdoor infestation of box elder bugs appear for the first time. After some quick research I sprayed the foundation perimeter with an Ortho product. Have not had a single spider in the house since. All the time we thought we were bringing them in when they were brining themselves in.
I spray my foundation twice a year with demon xp and have had very few spiders since, theres always a stray that works it's way through somehow.
 
The entire winters worth of wood is stored in the basement. I have been doing it for 5 years and dad did it in the same house for 30+ years.

I like loading my stove in my slippers all winter long.

As far as bugs go we have gotten a few lady bugs in the spring and a few of the stink bugs but they don’t bother us much.
 
  • Like
Reactions: Knots
As a kid we would put the entire winters worth in the basement. Around 4 cords. I keep a 1/2 cord on the front porch and stove is right inside the front door.
 
  • Like
Reactions: heavy hammer
Yes. I keep a stack near the stove. It's been an extremely wet/warm winter.

I would think you would know if you were bringing wood in infested with pests. Specially if you're the one splitting and stacking it. Heavily infested wood isn't easily ignored. A few termite species, not really an issue so long as the wood framing in your home isn't already suffering from dampness or water damage. Most will dehydrate and die.

Other pests are a different story. I swear the first cord of wood I ever had delivered had packrats. Ever since the guy dumped it in our driveway we've had a little family move in under our porch.
 
I keep about three face cord in the garage and a stack next to the stove.
For two years now I have found a baby snake (only 1 each year) in the garage when temps get in the 50s outside.
Have never seen one in the house or stove. Lol. Really odd I only see one and never any large ones when working up the wood. Happy about that too.
 
I keep 6 full cords in the basement "wood room" about 20 ft from the main floor wood stove, i also keep 3 or 4 arm loads by the stove during the day. I get the occasional spider or web but its a small price to pay for the convenience of having my wood inside and close to the stove. Ash dust is more of a problem in the house than are insects.
 
  • Like
Reactions: Knots