Fire Wood Question

[randy41]

burning softwood (conifers) or poplar means filling the stove often. i like burning locust which is plentiful here.
i heard that the cost of purchased fuels for heat is going way up in price this coming season. especially oil.

 

[scott_vt]

Mornin Charlie,
I dont know if you have any ash trees down in N.Texas but as Jay Brumberg mentions, you can burn them with little seasoning without fear of any real creosote buildup ! The BTU output is quite good also !

 

[dmccarty]

The length of time to season firewood depends on its length. My stove takes a maximum of 18inch cordwood. From what I have read on wood burning sites and what seems to work for me is that 3 months is good enough for the size of wood I burn in the 12-16 inch lengths. Rounds of wood not yet split don't appreciably dry out slower than split wood. Its the length of the wood that effects drying. Long lengths can take years to dry.

I had a big oak brought down by Fran. I think that was 1996. I sawed it into 8-10 foot lengths in 2002ish and put it on rocks to keep it off the ground. Split it in early 2005. That wood was WET. It had been dead for almost 10 years but it was wet.

I cut and store the 12-18 inch rounds covered by tarps until I can split. The rounds and the cord wood are kept on pallets. After splitting, tarps cover the wood. If the rounds have sat a few months, the only wet wood I see when splitting is the wood where water got though the tarp one way or another. Not alot of this though.

The wood in my forest is oak, sweet gum and hickory. I have one cord that is from last year, another batch that has been drying 6-9 months. And about two cords left in rounds that need to be spilt. Some of that has been drying 6 months but most is 3 months old. This won't get burned util next Jan/Feb 2008 though. I don't think I will ever have wood seasoned more than a 12-13 months.

Some of the wood I had to burn the first two years did not have more than a few months drying time. The chimney sweep said there was no creasote build up. I saw more wood than I liked hissing water when burning. Not good but it kept the house warm. Some of the wood was from the tree that fall in Fran.

The number that pops into my head is that firewood should be dried out to something like 20% moisture. There are moisture meters you can buy to tell you the content. Lower moisture levels burn faster. More moisture lessons the BTUs and can lead to creasote buildup.

IF you can use small lengths and you don't burn until December you might have some dryish wood. Get busy splitting.

Later,
Dan

 

[scott_vt]

Afternoon Dan,
I think most of your statements are on the money. Red oak can be a bugger to get properly seasoned ! I like you cut my rounds about 17 to 18" long. The problem with oak is that if its much larger than a 3" triangle on the end crossection after splitting it will take a good year or more to dry properly. Since I like big stove chunks for a bit longer burn time I tend to split bigger than that, and sometimes that oak just takes a bit longer. Most all of the other woods that I burn are not a problem. Maple, birch,ash,cherry hardack etc.... Anyway my 2 cents !

 

[dmccarty]

I could have sworn the information I read was from a Federal wood products research group/lab. I have tried to refind the article over the years but so far I not had any luck. And I just tried again.

Some people say cover the wood. Others say don't. I do and it works for me. I don't fully cover the wood. Just enough to keep water from falling on top of the pile and blow into the upper layers of the stack. There is a house I drive by that has a pole wood shed that looks to be 20x20 with open sides. Very nice.

I also stack on wood pallets so not all of the wood is exposed to the wind/air which is not the best way to dry.

If one does not have a wood meter, and I don't, even though I wanted to buy one until I saw the price. But if the wood has checks, no water is seen/heard when the wood is burned and the fire is not smoking then its likely dried enough. The only time our stove show smoke is at start up. The rest of the time you just see heat waves.

The article I read said that most of the wood drying occurs from the end grain which kinda makes sense. I did find this repeated in a few places in my recent search but not the exact wording I remember.

I split our wood so that its 2 or 3 inches wide. Sometimes bigger but it seems like I can cram more wood into our stove with the smaller pieces. This seems to burn longer than a few larger pieces. The best thing we did was finally get a thermometer that sits on the stovepipe. That helps control the fire so that it burns hot enough to keep down the creosote.

Should'nt burning firewood by easy? But its kinda complicated.

Later,
Dan

 

[Highbeam]

I own a moisture meter purchased from Harbor Freight after I read many good reviews on the forums. It has proven to be a very effective way to measure moisture content. 20% is the accepted high limit for burning and I prefer 15% which is what I have now on several cords of western red cedar. All wood is good wood but the denser woods give more heat per cord. Softwoods, hardwoods, pine, poplar, whatever. 10 lbs is 10 lbs.

If buying firewood and you don't have a moisture meter then your best bet is to have a campfire going when the delivery man shows up. Throw a random piece of his wood on your fire and look for white foam, bubbles, and hissing from wet wood and instant, clean ignition from dry wood. Most of the time the wood that you find advertised as dry is not ready to burn.

I have been burning a soapstone stove since the middle of last month. We love the heat. 10 cords of wood stacked up and covered out back make me feel better about the winter too. That pile is 60 feet long, 5 feet tall and two rows deep. Covered now in plastic which drapes one foot down the sides. It's only half of my stash.

 

[Bird]

My favorite firewood is not on those charts. It is hard to get in many areas but Pecan is about the best firewood and is also perfect for smoking and BBQ.

Yep, it's very good for smoking and barbecue, and usually good for fireplaces, but my experience was that it's one of the worst woods for popping and throwing sparks out of the fireplace. Of course if it were enclosed in a woodburning stove, I don't get that would matter.

The hottest burning wood I ever used was mesquite; so hot I cooked the mortar out from between the fire bricks in our first fireplace.

But I've burned oak, pecan, mesquite, hickory, pine, hackberry, china berry, sycamore, elm, and even willow and cottonwood at one time or another in the fireplace. Of course, our fireplaces were for looks and ambiance; not for heating the house.

 

[elalexander]

Hi Charlie. Having been a fireman for a number of years, make sure the stove & flue are in good repair, and burn only dry-seasoned wood. Please don't put yourself and/or family at risk of a flue fire etc. due to wet wood, esp pine. The guys on this site are awesome and will share their knowledge and info with you...all you need to do is ask.

Follow the NFPA standards, these should be on your stove, for stove placement around combustionibles etc. I'm sure you have a fire department nearby, and these guys will be more then happy to meet and talk to you during daylight hours about your installation/application as opposed to the middle of the night. Also, your homeowners insurance provider can answer any questions you may have.

EL

 

[scesnick]

It all depends on the wood that is available in your area. In my area It is white oak and red oak. But the best wood to burn here in the Wv/Md. mountains is without a doubt locust. It is really hard ( I have seen sparks come off of it from the chainsaw when cutting it ) and you have to have a good fire going already to get it to burn but once it does it burns a long time.

 

[Slacker]

Another vote for locust. I've really been impressed with the btu's it puts out.
It's **** on a chainsaw chain though...