Newbie would like help re drying wood & when it's OK to use in stove.

[angelahorn]

Hello - this is my first post and I hope I have chosen the right sub-forum - apologies if I haven't. I have a Clearview Vision 500 cleanburning stove, and would appreciate some views on when wood is fit to use. We've been having lots of fun with the stove, using it to supplement our central heating here in London - our house has open fires but it was a lot of work for a little heat so we've fitted a stove in one open-plan area. My questions are:

1. As long as my moisture meter says it's under 15%, does it matter how old the wood is? I've been bringing in all the stuff I've been hoarding outside and leaving it indoors for a couple of days, but can't remember which of it is this year's fallen branches and which is older. Is it just water which dries out of the wood, or is seasoning getting rid of volatile oils etc too?

2. This may be a stupid question, but the answer isn't obvious to me.... is it OK to stack the next few logs on top of the stove to dry out before burning? I suppose there would be a fire hazard if left unattended, but with the stove pottering away at over 200C , my small logs dry out and split nicely on there. And I assume that the moisture released is quite a good thing to have in my room, counteracting the drying-out effects of the stove on the furniture! But... I think I remember reading not to do this, but no explanation was given why. Have Googled away to no avail, and would appreciate your thoughts.

Thank you very much in advance for your time.

Angela

 

[CrawfordCentury]

1. As long as my moisture meter says it's under 15%, does it matter how old the wood is? I've been bringing in all the stuff I've been hoarding outside and leaving it indoors for a couple of days, but can't remember which of it is this year's fallen branches and which is older. Is it just water which dries out of the wood, or is seasoning getting rid of volatile oils etc too?

I leave my piles uncovered to be exposed to the elements before bringing into a barn in the fall. The wind and the rain take care of the moisture, and the rain will help draw out the resins (sap).

2. This may be a stupid question, but the answer isn't obvious to me.... is it OK to stack the next few logs on top of the stove to dry out before burning? I suppose there would be a fire hazard if left unattended, but with the stove pottering away at over 200C , my small logs dry out and split nicely on there. And I assume that the moisture released is quite a good thing to have in my room, counteracting the drying-out effects of the stove on the furniture! But... I think I remember reading not to do this, but no explanation was given why. Have Googled away to no avail, and would appreciate your thoughts.

Please do not do this. The radiant heat from your stove should dry out any incidental moisture. Assuming that your wood is seasoned. Wet moisture dries much more quickly than the green moisture from unseasoned wood.

 

[angelahorn]

2. This may be a stupid question, but the answer isn't obvious to me.... is it OK to stack the next few logs on top of the stove to dry out before burning?

Please do not do this. The radiant heat from your stove should dry out any incidental moisture. Assuming that your wood is seasoned. Wet moisture dries much more quickly than the green moisture from unseasoned wood.

Crawford, thank you for replying. But can you tell me why it's bad to dry wood on top of the stove? Is it purely because of fire hazard, or is there another reason?

Thank you,
Angela

 

[ROBERT F]

Hello - this is my first post and I hope I have chosen the right sub-forum - apologies if I haven't. I have a Clearview Vision 500 cleanburning stove, and would appreciate some views on when wood is fit to use. We've been having lots of fun with the stove, using it to supplement our central heating here in London - our house has open fires but it was a lot of work for a little heat so we've fitted a stove in one open-plan area. My questions are:

1. As long as my moisture meter says it's under 15%, does it matter how old the wood is? I've been bringing in all the stuff I've been hoarding outside and leaving it indoors for a couple of days, but can't remember which of it is this year's fallen branches and which is older. Is it just water which dries out of the wood, or is seasoning getting rid of volatile oils etc too?

2. This may be a stupid question, but the answer isn't obvious to me.... is it OK to stack the next few logs on top of the stove to dry out before burning? I suppose there would be a fire hazard if left unattended, but with the stove pottering away at over 200C , my small logs dry out and split nicely on there. And I assume that the moisture released is quite a good thing to have in my room, counteracting the drying-out effects of the stove on the furniture! But... I think I remember reading not to do this, but no explanation was given why. Have Googled away to no avail, and would appreciate your thoughts.

Thank you very much in advance for your time.

Angela

1: 15% sounds good, but are you spliting the wood open and testing a prior unexposed area? if not, then the readings are not accurate. 2: do not store wood on top of stove, the stove top can exceed the temp needed to start that wood a blazin!

 

[CrawfordCentury]

Crawford, thank you for replying. But can you tell me why it's bad to dry wood on top of the stove? Is it purely because of fire hazard, or is there another reason?

Thank you,
Angela

Yes. Fire hazzard. No other reason. In my experience it is far more prefereble to keep the fires inside the stove.

 

[fossil]

See this thread:

https://www.hearth.com/econtent/index.php/forums/viewthread/48704/

 

[angelahorn]

Thanks very much Fossil, Pineburner and Crawford; I read that other thread and it's all clear that drying wood on the stove is a fire hazard. I thought that was probably the reason, but wanted to check rather than make assumptions. What I had been doing mostly was stacking wood in crates next to radiators prior to burning, so I'll just stick with that (stove is supplementary to central heating; much more fun, but one 8Kw stove isn't going to manage to heat the whole house!) Sounds like I'll just have to bring in an extra box at a time and train hubby to only use the driest stuff.

I haven't been splitting them open, just testing on all exposed surfaces & nearest the centre, but these are quite small pieces at the moment (mostly only around 2" thick). Thanks for the tip to try that. My 6 year-old has taken charge of the moisture meter and is greatly enjoying going through all the wood in the basket and pronouncing on whether each piece is fit to use or not! London is very wet at the moment, with thawing snow and rain on top of that, but it all seems to be evaporating very quickly whatever I do; if I understood Crawford correctly, if it's only rain then it goes away faster than green wood sap? Thank you,
Angela

 

[wendell]

Yes, the rain is just on the outside and will dry quickly,the moisture on the inside will take 6 months to 2 years to dry, depending on the wood species.

 

[savageactor7]

Hi angelahorn that stove has legs so any wet wood I'd put under the stove to dry...providing you can grab the underside of the stove with a bare hand with your hottest fire burning. Just be mindful that branch wood has a lower kindling temp than logs or larger splits.

Also I'm thinking those branches you've been harvesting are probably dead anyway. Dead stuff will cling in trees for years just waiting for that perfect wind. Point being that it's ready to burn.

 

[firefighterjake]

First off, welcome to the site Angelahorn.

A few items . . .

Yes . . . as long as the wood is under 20% or so you should be good to go . . . but as mentioned this measurement is typically taken in freshly split wood vs. testing the exterior. It is possible to have wood that is punky with very, very low moisture . . . but the only real issue here is that it will burn up very quickly in one quick hot fire.

No, no, no . . . do not place the wood on top of the stove . . . and I would even respectfully disagree with Savage (whom I often agree with on other points) . . . the woodstove has minimum clearance figures to combustibles . . . and firewood is combustible (which is good since if it was non-combustible it would be very hard to burn and get any heat). Placing wood on top of the stove is a most definite fire hazard . . . and I am a bit leery of putting wood under the stove. I would think a better and much safer option would be to stack the wood near the stove (adhering to clearances) as the heat alone would help.

Rain and snow is a non-issue . . . the larger concern is whether the wood's interior is dry enough to burn. Surface moisture will quickly evaporate once the wood is left exposed to the sun, wind for a few hours . . . or if it is brought inside.

I think Savage is right . . . if you're using small branches these tend to often be dead and/or their smaller diameter will speed up the drying process so you may be good to go.

 

[Duetech]

Welcome to the forum Angelahorn. Placing wood over a stove is not a good idea. Fires have started even with some of the "newer" better insulated stoves as radiant heat will store/build in the wood. A safer alternative is a wood rack placed no closer than the minimum distance recommended for flammable materials. A rack that allows individual spacing would be ideal for drying though not really practical because of the sapec it would take. Hhowever a rack that you can position a fan to blow on will serve the purpose quite well. As mentioned above some woods just take longer to dry but there are some species that are more prone to usage sooner because of a lower initial moisture content and a better grain/capillary "flow" (ash for instance). Doing a search in the forum for "burning wet wood" and perusing the comments will give you a broader spectrum of the more readily usable woods.

 

[Backwoods Savage]

Welcome to the forum angelahorn. It is nice having someone from another country join in.


I think you have your answers pretty clear by now concerning the drying on the stovetop. You can put wood there for a while without it burning but sometimes things happen and our attention is drawn elsewhere and you would not want that to happen.

To put it a different way, I can stack newspaper next to our stove and it won't burn. However, it shall not be done in this house! It may not burn right away but it only would take one time. So just because you can do it does not make it right to do it.


On the wet wood. Recently I've run into a big area of wet wood. This is wood that has been stacked about 4 years and covered with old galvanized roofing. There must have been a spot that rusted out because we have a huge area of wet wood that now is frozen into a big ball. I took a maul and slapped it a few times and we thought we'd see if it would burn even though it is quite wet indeed. It burns fine, but we bring in 3 or 4 pieces to a time every time we load the stove. By the time the stove is hungry again, we throw that in and all is well.

Good luck.

 

[dave11]

Also, if you're going to use a moisture meter, which is a good idea for new folks, you need to make sure you split each piece you test, and check the reading in the deepest and most central part of the piece, with the two probes stuck in parallel to the grain, embedded deeply in the wood. Any variation from this will give you a false reading, which will say your wood is drier than it really is.