gibson
New Member
I cover the wood piles on the top somewhere about Labor day. It is uncovered all spring and summer, I think that exposure to all of the elements, when you aren't going to burn, helps with the "seasoning".
covering a wood pile
- Thread starter szumbrun
- Start date
-
Active since 1995, Hearth.com is THE place on the internet for free information and advice about wood stoves, pellet stoves and other energy saving equipment.
We strive to provide opinions, articles, discussions and history related to Hearth Products and in a more general sense, energy issues.
We promote the EFFICIENT, RESPONSIBLE, CLEAN and SAFE use of all fuels, whether renewable or fossil.
- Status
It seems to depend on the climate you're in - if you have 90% humidity then wet is a lot different than 15-20%. Covering wood for me would be a serious waste of time IMO, but I'm living in a 15-25 inch precip zone so mine will dry faster in the wind and doesn't receive 150 inches of rain per year. I just cut, split the rounds once, and throw them in a pile so the wind and sun can get to it. But if I lived in NE or the PNW, I'de definitely cover the tops to keep from trapping moisture and bugs, fungus, etc. in the pile. Everything is relative, even humidity...
gyrfalcon
Minister of Fire
moosetrek said:
Probably depends on what kind of stacks you have. If you have mutiple rows stacked right up against each other, covering them would lessen the amount of rain water that pools down in between. If you stack in single rows well away from each other, like I do, all that covering the top will do for you is keep the tops of the top row of splits maybe drier (or maybe not, given the moisture-trapping effect of any kind of covering). The rain comes right in through the stacks through the sides anyway. But so does the wind.
But I'm a little mystified by the idea that covering any kind of stacks would prevent, or even reduce, bugs, moisture and fungus from being trapped in the stack or pile. Seems to me it should work the opposite way. The bugs are going to get into outdoor stacks anyway, as is whatever moisture is in the air, and any kind of covering is going to increase the humidity of the thing it covers because it lessens evaporation.
The NE isn't all that humid, btw, except in comparison to a place like Wyoming. The folks with the real humidity problems are in the NW and the SE. Vt gets average annual rainfall of something like 35 inches, so not that wildly much more than you do. Average humidity here is 60 percent in the summer, 20 percent in the winter. 150 inches of rain and 90 percent humidity sounds more like a tropical rainforest.
clearblue16 said:
How long do you have to season the wood for in Seattle climate ? Is a year OK or does it take longer ?
I don't have my stove yet but I want to start preparing for it now and get it in the summer to use for '11/'12 winter.
cover top only Oct.1 to keep leaf drop off pile and winter snows and ice. Take cover off any remaining wood in late March.
Got Wood
Minister of Fire
gyrfalcon said:
To me I think this is a key point. My opinion is there is more value to top covering when you are not single row widths as the moisture that runs down in the middle of the stacks will take a lot longer to evaporate.
Another pro to top covering is if you have some wood that has punk - those splits seem to take forever to dry out once wet.
Hey Dennis/Backwoods - once you top cover as you described do you leave it that way until its time to burn or move into your new wood shed? I would assume yes....
- Status
