Holz Hausen-Dry Wood In Three Months?

[Fiziksgeek]

Does stacking green wood in a shed slow down the drying a lot?

Depends on what you mean by "a lot", but in general, yes, putting the wood inside a shed will significantly slow (perhaps by several months) the drying process simply because of the lack of air flow. When you look at most wood sheds, they do not have sides, or have sides with wide gaps to allow air in.

Wrapping the stack with a tarp does the same thing, stops air flow. I dry my wood in single rows, about chest height tall, 15' or so long, uncovered, with at least one log length between rows. I leave it uncovered until a few weeks before I plan to start. Rain doesn't really affect the drying process, it's mostly surface moisture, which make handling the wood more difficult.

I just happen to have my chimney cleaned this afternoon. After burning ~3 cord last year, all that came out was a couple handfuls of ash/creosote. Whatever I am doing seems to be working!

 

[tcreeley]

Does stacking green wood in a shed slow down the drying a lot? I have cleaned out an old shed that is on my property. It's 14' deep and open on the front. I have it about 1/3 full. I have about 5 cords stacked outside and tarped for this year and next.

When you stack wood inside a good shelter does it keep indefinitely. I spray my wood stack in the spring and summer to keep down on bugs and ants. I kinda think if you keep it dry it would last like furniture.

Bugs generally don't do damage to firewood - unless it is carpenter ants. When stacking, keep an eye out for them and separate the pieces. If you spray the wood with some toxin- when you burn it- you are releasing it into the air for everyone to breathe. I wouldn't spray the wood.
- Like your comparison to furniture, wood lasts if treated well!

 

[dave1949]

Bugs generally don't do damage to firewood - unless it is carpenter ants. When stacking, keep an eye out for them and separate the pieces. If you spray the wood with some toxin- when you burn it- you are releasing it into the air for everyone to breathe. I wouldn't spray the wood.
- Like your comparison to furniture, wood lasts if treated well!

Last year I saw some powderpost beetle dust in my firewood. Carpenter ants are fairly easy to detect and avoid, I don't know how to look for the beetle larva/grubs. I didn't see signs of them in the wood I split, but I also use 3"-4" rounds un-split.

Powderpost Beetles | University of Kentucky Entomology

 

[clemsonfor]

unless it was like elm or red maple i doubt it was dry in three months. If it was oak i would bet you all the cash on me right not it was not dry. Put a moisture meter to it. Dry for EPA stoves is less than 20% and better is really colse to 15% Even here in SC with top covered single stacks it can take 2 summers or 18-24 months for a standing dead oak to be colse to 20% and this is in direct sun.

 

[lockhaven]

I think drying time depends on the relative humidity where the wood is stacked. an interesting read
FOR-55: Drying Wood

 

[clemsonfor]

Bugs generally don't do damage to firewood - unless it is carpenter ants. When stacking, keep an eye out for them and separate the pieces. If you spray the wood with some toxin- when you burn it- you are releasing it into the air for everyone to breathe. I wouldn't spray the wood.
- Like your comparison to furniture, wood lasts if treated well!

I agree with this, i would not spray my wood!! you would have to use a lot!!

 

[XMS]

Good timing for these posts. We got wood - we've been gathering logs all year and a local tree service company is dropping stuff off for free, because they have to pay to get rid of it otherwise. They even cut lots of it to length - we just need to split. Nice guys. So today the wife and I have a few hours without toddlers around, to split and stack. It's a little late, but it'll be dry enough to burn decent in the boiler. Just not as efficient. We'll try one of these wood house stacks and see if we speed up a little. But honestly at this point if it wasn't stacked in the spring, then we're already too late.

We have an new-ish EPA outside boiler and having little kids, we have not been able to get one year ahead of wood. We burned through just about everything last winter (our first full winter with the boiler), and started in spring to cut what we could. Unfortunately we were gone over the summer, so we didn't cut. Too bad, because summer is nice and warm here. Wood dries real fast in our summers.


I find mixing dry and not-quite-dry in the boiler works pretty good. On low-demand days (warmer days in the fall and spring), it seems to last even longer than dry wood. And if I add kinda-wet wood to the top of the burn stack in the morning, the low demand during the day causes it to dry nicely by night, when the real demand comes (our house does well on sunny days, even in cold weather).

Anyway, maybe next year we'll work to get a year or so ahead. But it's hard with little kids, jobs, hogs, birds and "life". Your wood piles seem smart and will probably be the norm on our property from here on out. Thanks.

 

[lockhaven]

watch a video or read about the stacking if doing a round pile, keep the outer ring sloping in and the walls either vertical or a little tapered in. I stand the wood on end in the center because thrown in sometimes will fall on you when you break into the pile.

 

[clemsonfor]

Good timing for these posts. We got wood - we've been gathering logs all year and a local tree service company is dropping stuff off for free, because they have to pay to get rid of it otherwise. They even cut lots of it to length - we just need to split. Nice guys. So today the wife and I have a few hours without toddlers around, to split and stack. It's a little late, but it'll be dry enough to burn decent in the boiler. Just not as efficient. We'll try one of these wood house stacks and see if we speed up a little. But honestly at this point if it wasn't stacked in the spring, then we're already too late.

We have an new-ish EPA outside boiler and having little kids, we have not been able to get one year ahead of wood. We burned through just about everything last winter (our first full winter with the boiler), and started in spring to cut what we could. Unfortunately we were gone over the summer, so we didn't cut. Too bad, because summer is nice and warm here. Wood dries real fast in our summers.


I find mixing dry and not-quite-dry in the boiler works pretty good. On low-demand days (warmer days in the fall and spring), it seems to last even longer than dry wood. And if I add kinda-wet wood to the top of the burn stack in the morning, the low demand during the day causes it to dry nicely by night, when the real demand comes (our house does well on sunny days, even in cold weather).

Anyway, maybe next year we'll work to get a year or so ahead. But it's hard with little kids, jobs, hogs, birds and "life". Your wood piles seem smart and will probably be the norm on our property from here on out. Thanks.

You really want to get 3 years ahead on your wood to know your always burning dry wood. Or if something happens you can miss a year and be ok, think injusry here. Wood does not rot or loose btus unless you let it rot. I live here in the south and unless you stack it on the ground with no air flow it will not rot, you need to top cover it but thats really it. I have plenty of wood that is 2 years old and it is not rotted yet some near three years split and stacked. I will post pics if someone wants to tell me its rotted. This wood will burn for 24-30 hours on a really low burn in my EPA catalytic stove. No i dont have a blaze king king either. This is just a real long slow burn, that really is only good in shoulder season. Burning one year wood is doable but its really rough on My Catalysts as the MC is still in the 30% range!!! Plus the wood sizzles something terrible. This is even wood that is under my open sided wood shed.

Those of you burning green wood you would be surprised at the heat you would get out of seasoned wood, after all you cant burn water!!

 

[XMS]

You really want to get 3 years ahead on your wood to know your always burning dry wood. Or if something happens you can miss a year and be ok, think injusry here. Wood does not rot or loose btus unless you let it rot. I live here in the south and unless you stack it on the ground with no air flow it will not rot, you need to top cover it but thats really it. I have plenty of wood that is 2 years old and it is not rotted yet some near three years split and stacked. I will post pics if someone wants to tell me its rotted. This wood will burn for 24-30 hours on a really low burn in my EPA catalytic stove. No i dont have a blaze king king either. This is just a real long slow burn, that really is only good in shoulder season. Burning one year wood is doable but its really rough on My Catalysts as the MC is still in the 30% range!!! Plus the wood sizzles something terrible. This is even wood that is under my open sided wood shed.

Those of you burning green wood you would be surprised at the heat you would get out of seasoned wood, after all you cant burn water!!

I agree. I have wood that is several years older than that, and it holds up fine. I just don't have a lot of it. It predates my wood boiler, and I hold it in reserve (it's under a wood shed) in the event I need to start the boiler cold, I don't want to use wet wood. It's my "get outta the cold" wood.

The wife and I split maybe 3 full cord this weekend. I already have 2-3 stacked from before summer. I figure 3-4 more and I am good for the coldest winter we'll have. But I'll keep cutting and splitting and stacking when I can, because you are right about getting ahead of things.

Didn't stack the new wood yet. Will try this wood house thing some time this week, I hope.