Another new guy with wet firewood

[jldunn]

So the temperature is dropping, Heating bill is rising, and my smokey old open fireplace is sucking dollar bills up the chimney. Then I stumble upon the world of EPA certified efficient wood burning inserts at my local hearth store while looking at some glass doors to seal up the hole. So now I've got my QuadraFire 4100i installed along with the stainless steel chimney liner and everything is going great.

Unfortunately, I've only got half a face cord of wood (who'd want any more with an open fireplace). So I turn to the local retailer with "seasoned guaranteed to burn" firewood. I got it delivered, and it burns, kind of, but it seems like all the energy is going into drying the wood. So I headed down to the local harbor freight and picked up their $19.99 moisture meter to check out my predicament.

The half face cord I have left over is a beautiful 10% moisture content. Burns like a dream. I'm starting to think of it like candy in the world of firewood.

The new stuff, however, around 25% moisture content on average.

What I'm wondering, is 25% wet enough to complain about, or demand a partial refund?

Am I just being picky and 25% is fine for burning?

How low should I let the moisture content get before I start burning it? (20%?)

How long (ballpark) you think that might take in the North East?

Are there actually places that'll sell wood under 20%? (And if anyone knows any in Central New York that'd be great)

I'll appreciate any experience you can share with me.

 

[elkimmeg]

get the wood cross stacked on pallets southern exposure and only cover the top when it will rain. Compaining about 5%?

BTW Avatar is the same as another menber into Linux Hot Flame

Speaking of which I got to get him to post his nsurface energy transfere and then wiki it

Welcome to hearth.com

 

[Todd]

How did you take your reading? From the end? Cut a piece in half take another reading, and I bet your meter pegs to the max. Tell your firewood dealer your results and demand your money back or exchange for dry wood.

 

[jldunn]

I split and then measured the middle, usually around 25%, never under 22%, sometimes up to 30%. The outside edge is often wetter, 30+%, like they kept it outside in the rain for a day or something.

 

[suematteva]

Get it cross stacked like elk said, preferably in the open with good wind and sun, on pallets, cover top before the rain..When starting your fire maybe split a few extra pieces to get good bed of coals before you start lobbing in full splits during the SU game!

EDIT: In a couple weeks if you can stack like above, you should be in good shape..Making the call about 5% difference on the moisture meter? I don't use one but I am leaning against it. I think you will be ok.

 

[Sandor]

Get it cross stacked like elk said, preferably in the open with good wind and sun, cover top before the rain..When starting your fire maybe split a few extra pieces to get good bed of coals before you start lobbing in full splits during the SU game!

Good Advice!

 

[NWfuel]

20-25% is considered dry wood in Washington State.
Thomas

 

[wahoowad]

Get your stove good and hot using your candy wood as the first load. Then use the 25% wood for succesive loads.

 

[begreen]

The coast can get soggy. Odd, though. Seattle's average annual rainfall is less than NY city. And this summer we had less than 1/2" between June and Sept. Ideal wood drying conditions if you plan for them.

 

[BrotherBart]

The coast can get soggy. Odd, though. Seattle's average annual rainfall is less than NY city. And this summer we had less than 1/2" between June and Sept. Ideal wood drying conditions if you plan for them.

Then why do they sell t-shirts at the airport with all of the rain jokes and why did it rain for seven consecutive days the only time I was in Seattle? Of course I got rained on in Manhattan every time I was there too.

I had a great time in Seattle. But she had a dry apartment! And a fireplace.

 

[BobTheTomato]

I burned wet wood for about half of last year and learned my lesson for this year and now have plenty of seasoned wood You might try splitting it into smaller pieces. I had a hard time since I first tried burning big chunks and they would only smoulder. Once it was split to a smaller size it buned well once the stove temp went up. As others have suggested use they dry stuff to get things good and hot first.

 

[begreen]

The coast can get soggy. Odd, though. Seattle's average annual rainfall is less than NY city. And this summer we had less than 1/2" between June and Sept. Ideal wood drying conditions if you plan for them.

Then why do they sell t-shirts at the airport with all of the rain jokes and why did it rain for seven consecutive days the only time I was in Seattle?

Yeah, that's not a tan you see on us, it's rust. Best way to keep it to ourselves is to keep others thinking it's too soggy .

 

[jldunn]

Just out of curiosity, what's the advantage of criss-cross stacking?

I've got all my wood in your standard single rows now along a chainlink fence. It's been raining too much here for me to restack it so far (raised up on stands made from 2x4s). I was under the impression moisture leaves through the ends, but not much at all through the sides. I've got all my ends exposed, is it going to make a noticeable difference if I criss-cross it and let air get at the sides too?

 

[tradergordo]

More air gaps = drier. Doesn't neccesarily have to be criss-crossed though, in fact if you are stacking in an area that gets nice prevailing winds, its probably better NOT to criss-cross it, let the prevailing wind blow against and parrallel to the splits. If it isn't in a spot that gets predictable prevailing wind its better to criss-cross it.

Just out of curiosity, what's the advantage of criss-cross stacking?

I've got all my wood in your standard single rows now along a chainlink fence. It's been raining too much here for me to restack it so far (raised up on stands made from 2x4s). I was under the impression moisture leaves through the ends, but not much at all through the sides. I've got all my ends exposed, is it going to make a noticeable difference if I criss-cross it and let air get at the sides too?