Current best moisture sensors

[rwh63]

don't have one, never used one, may want one. best expensive one, best budget one (for infrequent use).

 

[all night moe]

This was just discussed recently. Somewhere...

 

[thewoodlands]

don't have one, never used one, may want one. best expensive one, best budget one (for infrequent use).

Moisture meter

hey guys and gals, hoping to get a recommendation on a moisture meter to check the wood. I’ve seen some for $30 and some for $450...hoping I don’t need a fancy expensive one like the latter. Any suggestions?

www.hearth.com

 

[rwh63]

2019 is not recent!

 

[johneh]

I have 3 units 2 of the 30 to 40$ type that
work fine for firewood. reasonably accurate
I also have a very expensive unit for furniture making
But it is not plug-and-play and is accurate to two decimal points
eg 10.21%

 

[stoveliker]

I have the MMD4E.
It works well. Is it accurate? No idea as I don't test it against another one.

Variability is more in temperature of the wood, type of wood, depth of the probes in the wood.

But it's consistent that when it reads below 18 pct the wood is behaving fantastic in the stove.

I'm happy with it. I test a few big splits from the batch for that year and don't bother otherwise. Three year rotation makes that possible.

 

[Eman85]

Buy 2, you'll keep yourself busy when they read different.

 

[Wildflush]

I have a harbor freight $13 2nd year using it works great.

Edit: comes with button cell batteries.

 

[johneh]

Amazon has about 7 pages of them all price ranges
most with 4 to 41/2 star ratings They will all do what
you want from a meter. I don't believe one is better
than another until you get into the really expensive ones.

 

[rwh63]

Any made in USA (or Europe)?

 

[Wildflush]

Any made in USA (or Europe)?

I think like most everything, unfortunately you will find made in China.

 

[Ben Stark]

I have a harbor freight $13 2nd year using it works great.

I’ve been using the Harbor Freight moisture meter for the last two years as well. It is small enough to fit in a pocket, works just fine and it’s fairly cheap too.

 

[Wildflush]

I’ve been using the Harbor Freight moisture meter for the last two years as well. It is small enough to fit in a pocket, works just fine and it’s fairly cheap too.

Bought one for my buddy in Maine and he likes it also. Was sick of him telling me his oak was seasoned!

 

[DonTee]

I have a MMD4E and also one of the Harbor Freight moisture meters. They both read fairly close to each other.

The MMD4E is easier to use since it’s bigger. Just easier to handle and stab into the wood.
Another downside of the Harbor Freight meter is it takes coin batteries. I hate those things.

But both meters will do the job.

 

[Wildflush]

I have a MMD4E and also one of the Harbor Freight moisture meters. They both read fairly close to each other.

The MMD4E is easier to use since it’s bigger. Just easier to handle and stab into the wood.
Another downside of the Harbor Freight meter is it takes coin batteries. I hate those things.

2nd year using it same set of batteries. Button cells. No problem using it for two seasons so far. MMD4E is twice the cost.

 

[Caw]

2019 is not recent!

How much do we think moisture meter tech has changed in a few years? 😉

 

[rwh63]

How much do we think moisture meter tech has changed in a few years? 😉

That was before Covid

 

[Caw]

Yeah but it's a pretty simple piece of equipment. I don't see how a 2024 moisture meter could be so much better than a 2015. I've got tons of tools from the 90s and 2000s I prefer to the new stuff. Just saying!

 

[Wood1Dennis]

The I have one that came with my Caddy furnace. I just knocked the dust off of it, found the 9v battery was dead. It works fine when it has a battery ;-)
I have 3 year seasoned firewood, so I never use it. I'm happy about that, not everyone has that luxury.