25% moisture on hickory yeaay or naey to burn

[Danno77]

OK... Im a little slow..... what are the #s on the top of the chart? 7,8,9,10,12,14,16,18,20,22,24? I dont get it.

That's the actual meter reading. Then you find the wood you are measuring and the number in the correct column will show you what it's really at. For example: you get a reading of 24 on hickory, so you follow down the 24 column until you get to hickory to see that it means you are actually looking at 20.5%MC.

 

[wood-fan-atic]

Thanks Danno....Duh!! Now, I feel like a dummy. I dont see Black Locust on that list. Is this a case of wood-species discrimination?

 

[Battenkiller]

OK... Im a little slow..... what are the #s on the top of the chart? 7,8,9,10,12,14,16,18,20,22,24? I dont get it.

That's the actual meter reading. Then you find the wood you are measuring and the number in the correct column will show you what it's really at. For example: you get a reading of 24 on hickory, so you follow down the 24 column until you get to hickory to see that it means you are actually looking at 20.5%MC.

May I hire you to do the "Cliff Notes" for all my posts? :cheese:


Danno is right, and sorry about the species discrimination. These things were designed to be used by woodworkers, not woodburners, so most of the more common species of lumber are included. The better meters with the species correction programed into them have more choices, but you will always find an oddball wood (maybe like sassafras) that no one will bother figuring out the correction for. Does it really matter for firewood, though?

The EPA is quite happy to let your stove be tested over a MC range of 6 points (19% to 25% MC). In fact, you have no idea what MC your particular stove was tested at, just that it had to be air-dried to a MC between 19% and 25%. Folks are pretty proud of the numbers on their particular stove (i.e. "The BKK only gives off blah, blah, blah grams per hour"). Well, what would you do if you found out your stove (Brand "X") was tested with wood at 19% MC while the next lowest competitor (Brand "Z") had their stove tested at a whopping 25% MC? If a few percentage points really mattered, might not the Brand "Z" stove actually be more efficient when tested with the "better" wood that was burned in the Brand "X" EPA test?

Bottom line is I don't think a few percentage points make any difference in a wood stove. Your manufacturer had to tweak every one of his models so they would not only pass the EPA test, but so it would pass with flying colors. Bragging rights are essential if you want to ask for big dollars on your stoves. Do you really want to pay $3k for a stove that looks pretty but barely passed the EPA test? Of course not! In order to get those super low emission numbers, their stoves have to be able to burn basically the same across the entire MC range of the test procedure because they have no idea ahead of time what MC wood will be used for the test. As long as your wood is within that range, it should burn as cleanly and efficiently as it did during the test.


Cliff Note Version:

A meter is a great learning tool, but maybe not the very best tool for determining when wood is ready to burn. C/S/S loosely in a sunny and breezy location for a minimum of one full year and burn the shi†. If your wood can't pass the EPA fuel standard after that long, you probably live in a swamp.

 

[Danno77]

LoL at your cliff note version. I appreciate it.

 

[tumm21]

so you are saying my hickory is realy like 20 %

 

[Kenster]

If this Hickory is all you have to get you through the winter I would try to put off burning it as long as possible. You need to work on getting ahead and there is no shame in even buying a couple of cord if that's what it takes to get a jump start on next years wood.

That would be great advise if he could actually FIND a couple of cords to buy that is dryer than his 22% hickory. Not likely!

 

[oldspark]

so you are saying my hickory is realy like 20 %

Yep that is what he is saying, try the wood and I think you will be satisfied with it, just remember it is a very dense wood so it does not start easily so you need a good bed of coals for it to get it going.

 

[DBoon]

so you are saying my hickory is realy like 20 %

Right now, more like 22%. In January, if you keep it covered and in the wind, you should be down to 20%.