Does anyone know why moisture content greater than 20% in gassers is such a problem? Are there any brand names out there that seem to allow for burning wetter wood?
Wet Wood
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hobbyheater
Minister of Fire
The old Jetstream boiler would burn wood with a moisture content of 40% safely, but the useful BTUs per pound of wood at that high of moisture content likely would not even yield 40% efficiency.
I recently got to see a new installation of a BIO - Mass 40 that is burning wet wood. There were streaks of creosote running down the outside of the smoke pipe. To me it was very scary.
If you can't get your hands on some dry wood, put up a season's worth of wood, get it drying and then look for your boiler. (16" wood should fit into almost anything)
Fred61
Minister of Fire
Wood with a moisture content of more than 20% is a problem for anything that it is burned in. It's just more obvious when you try to burn it in a gasser.
The biggest reason wet wood doesn't burn well in a gasser is that the water vapor cools down the coals and gasses so they don't burn. You can burn green wood IF you have a very HOT coal bed and don't put in to much at a time. The problem is you are using up a large share of the btu's just to boil the water out.
Some where on this site a member took a 7in x 11in oak round freshly cut and weighed it. he then sat it out in the hot sun for about 3 months and then put it back on the scales with a water bottle. It took almost a quart of water to bring the wt. back. So you are having to boil that much water off before you are getting any heat from the wood. Put a quart of water on your stove and boil it off and just see how much energy you waste.
leaddog
stee6043
Minister of Fire
I loved the note I saw somewhere on this site regarding "sure, I can burn 40% MC wood but I can also dump a gallon of water on the fire every time I load too". I've paraphrased it a few times now.
Why would any normal wood burner want to burn wood that wet on a regular basis? At the end of the day it's a tremendous waste of wood. Wasting wood=wasting time=wasting money.
Why would any normal wood burner want to burn wood that wet on a regular basis? At the end of the day it's a tremendous waste of wood. Wasting wood=wasting time=wasting money.
heaterman
Minister of Fire
A few words of advice.
Walk away from anyone or any salesman who tells you moisture content over 25% is OK to use.
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