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With winter here and fuel oil and natural gas prices still high, many more consumers may be heating with wood as a primary fuel or to augment heat supplied by a conventional furnace or boiler.
Consumers should be aware of certain regulations regarding the sale of firewood. First of all, in Massachusetts, firewood can only be advertised and sold only in terms of "cubic feet" or "cubic meters", meaning the closely stacked cubic foot or cubic meter content of wood delivered to the purchaser. The terms "cord", "face cord", "pile" or "truckload" cannot be used in the advertising or sale of firewood. A "cord" of firewood is 128 cubic feet of closely stacked wood. This would be a stack either: 4 feet wide, 4 feet high, and 8 feet long (4 x 4 x 8 = 128); or 2 feet wide, 4 feet high, and 16 feet long (2 x 4 x 16 = 128); or any closely stacked pile as long as the width times the height times the length (all in feet) equals 128 cubic feet. The term "cordwood"
can only be used for advertising or sale of wood that is cut to four feet lengths.
When you buy firewood, the seller, by law, must provide you with a sales invoice, which includes the name and address of the seller and the purchaser, the quantity of wood delivered in terms of cubic feet or cubic meters, the date delivered, and the price of the quantity of wood delivered. Basically, it will contain the same type of information that is on the delivery ticket when fuel oil is purchased.
What You Can Do
Try to make sure that the firewood you are buying is a hardwood variety and is dry (moisture content of less than 20%). Ask the seller to stack the wood (you may have to pay extra for this service) or stack the wood yourself. Make sure you get the sales invoice or receipt as described above. Ask the seller to also include what kind of wood it is (ash, oak, maple, etc.). Measure the width, height and length of the stack before using any of the wood. If you think there is less wood than there should be: Don't use any of the wood. Take a picture of the stack of wood. Contact the seller. If the problem cannot be resolved, contact your weights and measures office before you burn any of the wood. The number for the weights and measures office in Greenfield is: (413) 772-1566. There is one more thing you should do before you fire up. To protect
yourself, your family and your neighbors, make sure your chimney is clean and safe and have your wood-burning stove inspected by your building inspector. The building inspector in Greenfield can be reached at: (413) 772-150
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