Heat or wind for drying?

1.What's best for wood to season faster, heat from the stove or wind from a fan?

2. Also, should I expose the split side, or the end to which ever is best (stove or fan)?

I had no choice but to buy some wood, and as always...it seems a little green to me, only since the bark isn't coming off very easy. The ends are checked and grey though.

Thanks all :D

if you're using heat, you want to maximize exposure to the heat source - so expose the split side. i.e. stand it on end around your stove.

If you're using wind, point the fan at the ends & stack it loosely, to maximize air flow over the wood.

I'm thinking heat will do the job faster than a fan. If the splits are large, splitting them again will help.

And split it as small as possible.

But just because the bark isn't coming off does not mean it is not seasoned. It depends upon what type of wood it is. We have some that is about 6 years since cutting and the bark is still very solid. On the other hand, we have some that is only a year and the bark is quite loose. It just depends on what type of wood it is.

Thanks guys, guess I'll stick em near the stove. The wood is Ash wood, seller claims it's 2 years since cut. But the bark isn't coming off very well.

If its ash it should burn fine.

Don't worry about bark falling off of ash. I have some out here that has been cut and split for 4 years and there is not much bark falling off of it. The reason for this is because ash doesn't have a lot of moisture to begin with so there is very little shrinkage; hence, the bark isn't loose like it would be on a maple.

If it's truly two-year old ash it should be plenty dry . . . try tossing a stick or two into the fire and see how it burns.

Nothing beats kept off the ground + under cover + good ventilation + time.

Heat..it's not even close.
If you are home stack it on end close to the stove and rotate it occasionally to expose all sides of it to the heat (you'll actually see moisute on the down side if it's not quite seasoned).
You can always go by the bark falling off. I've been burning some ash that was split one year ago and most of it won't give up the bark and it's real dry stuff. Some oak is that way too.

I slopped a bunch of water on my khaki's this morning while I was getting the dog his water. Unfortunately, I didn't have anything to change into and I had to leave in about 5 minutes and didn't really want to go looking like I wet myself. I went downstairs and stood about a foot away from the front of my wood furnace and my pants were dry to the touch in a matter of maybe two minutes. My vote is for heat also.