I'm on my third fire with my new stove and I'm starting to question the wood I just bought. I can't seem to get the stovetop temps above 450 after engaging the cat @250. Tonight I had a hard time getting the fire to take off when starting, and I noticed a loud hissing sound from the wood so I opened the door to take a look and I could see bubbles on the ends of the wood. This was after 30 minutes since I lit the stove, took over an hour to engage the cat. I know it's normal for the wood to have some moisture but this seems excessive. The wood is stored in my regular shed so it is completely sheltered from the rain. The wood was advertised as being below 20% moisture content but I'm thinking I should buy myself a moisture meter this weekend and check for myself.
Here's a quick video for you, you can't see the water too well but you can hear the moisture steaming out and this was @30+ minutes of burning.......
EDIT: 10 minutes after I posted this the stove hit 525 degrees with the air control @2, I dialed it down because it's getting pretty warm in here. Looks like I can get the stove hot but it's going to take some air and that's going to eat a lot of wood. I will know more when the actual cold weather hits and I can dial in the stove.
Here's a quick video for you, you can't see the water too well but you can hear the moisture steaming out and this was @30+ minutes of burning.......
EDIT: 10 minutes after I posted this the stove hit 525 degrees with the air control @2, I dialed it down because it's getting pretty warm in here. Looks like I can get the stove hot but it's going to take some air and that's going to eat a lot of wood. I will know more when the actual cold weather hits and I can dial in the stove.