Electrical & Electric

Electric Log Splitters

Buying an Electric Log Splitter

 Introduction:

For many years I have had a Fisher Papa Bear wood stove in the basement for burning wood during the winter months. The Papa Bear is a great wood stove but unfortunately it is very inefficient. At best it is approximately 35% efficient which means that most of the heat energy in the wood passes right up the chimney. 

On the plus side it can hold a lot of wood and burn for 10 to 12 hours without needing to replenish it. I typically cut the wood to 18 to 24 inches in length and split it to about five inches. The Papa Bear stove could be loaded with five or six of the logs.

I replaced the Papa Bear wood stove with a Lopi Liberty wood stove. It is one fantastic stove with an efficiency rating of approximately 76% which means rather than 65% of the available energy in the wood going up the chimney only 24% goes up the chimney. This result is a much cleaner chimney that only has to be cleaned once a year.

Unfortunately the seven cord of wood I have in the basement is too large for the new Lopi wood stove. The Lopi wood stove can take wood up to 24 inches in length but ideally only four inches in thickness. It can accommodate five or six inches in thickness but it can only handle a couple of logs this size. Consequently I have seven cord of wood in the basement that has to be re-split to a smaller size.

I began splitting it with a regular splitting maul. Seven cord of wood to split with a splitting maul is a big undertaking therefore I started looking for an electric log splitter to do the job. There are many electric wood splitters on the market that range in size from 3 to 7 tons of splitting force. Most of them will handle wood up to 12 inches in diameter and 21 inches long. A 3 ton splitter has a difficult time splitting 12 inch diameter logs especially if the wood has knots in it.

I located a five ton electric wood splitter at the Home Depot that does a fantastic job. I split approximately a half cord of wood in forty five minutes and had no difficulty at all. It is easy to operate and is very quiet. I bought the 5 ton Homelite log splitter rather than the Roybi 4 ton model.

The Homelite electric log splitter is mobile with two wheels on one end and two legs on the other end that are used as handles for moving the unit around. The electric motor is rated at 1.75 HP and run on a standard 120 volt 15 amp circuit. The motor powers a hydraulic pump that operates the splitting slide. Although it will run a standard 15 amp circuit I recommend that it be run on a 20 amp circuit to avoid tripping any weak circuit breakers. It has built- in safety feature whereby it takes two hands to operate, one to hold the power switch on and the other to engage the hydraulic splitter.

It is a fantastic unit and does a great job. If you are in the market for an electric log splitter I recommend the Homelite 5 ton splitter because I believe it is the best log splitter on the market for the price. It can be purchased for under $300. It can save you a lot of brutal work splitting wood the old fashion way with a maul.         

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