Don't understand my new wood

[emt1581]

I was running low on wood and this being the 6th month in our new home, having a cord from last season to ensure proper seasoning just wasn't an option. I called up the last guy I got wood from but he had none ready so I got it from another guy.

I tested the wood and it tested at around 13-17%. I wasn't able to stack it so I left the pile and covered it with a tarp, but not before the snow started. So it had a very light dusting on it by the time I covered it with a tarp.

Now at face value this stuff is different than I had last time. For starters the pieces are HUGE! Longer and weigh a good 5-8lbs each.

Here's the confusing part...

They are higher in moisture content however, three of them have now been burning for a good hour and a half in my fireplace (stove won't be installed until next month). The last cord...I'd go through 8 pieces or so in the same time span.

Is it a good thing that the wood is as big, heavy and long burning as it is?

Thanks!

-Emt1581

 

[trailrated]

What kind of wood is it? Oak, hickory, ash, etc?

 

[emt1581]

What kind of wood is it? Oak, hickory, ash, etc?

Mostly oak as far as I can tell. Definitely some hickory though.

-Emt1581

 

[CTYank]

I was running low on wood and this being the 6th month in our new home, having a cord from last season to ensure proper seasoning just wasn't an option. I called up the last guy I got wood from but he had none ready so I got it from another guy.

I tested the wood and it tested at around 13-17%. I wasn't able to stack it so I left the pile and covered it with a tarp, but not before the snow started. So it had a very light dusting on it by the time I covered it with a tarp.

Now at face value this stuff is different than I had last time. For starters the pieces are HUGE! Longer and weigh a good 5-8lbs each.

Here's the confusing part...

They are higher in moisture content however, three of them have now been burning for a good hour and a half in my fireplace (stove won't be installed until next month). The last cord...I'd go through 8 pieces or so in the same time span.

Is it a good thing that the wood is as big, heavy and long burning as it is?

Thanks!

-Emt1581

Without knowing what the previous wood was, nor precisely how you measured MC, one can only speculate.

Burning any sort of decent wood in a fireplace is participation in some ancient ritual, not an efficient and responsible use of a valuable resource. IOW it's a waste of wood that generates much more pollution than it could be limited to in a proper appliance. Not to be judgmental, but you'd be better served by waiting for that hole to be plugged, via insert.

Just think what it'd do in a proper stove, though it might have to be cut/split.

 

[Wood Duck]

I think heavy, long-burning wood is a good thing. The wood seems quite dry (you measured fresh splits in the part of the wood that was the middle before you re-split, I assume), so the heavy weight ust be due to dense wood fibers. The more wood fiber, the more energy in the wood. More energy is a good thing. Large splits burn slowly, so if you want a hotter fire faster, split them smaller.

 

[Adios Pantalones]

Larger pieces will burn longer/slower than the same weight of wood split smaller- if the moisture content is the same. More moisture, slower burn, more coaling.

Measure moisture content by splitting and measuring at a fresh face of the wood- the inside and outside are very different.