Best wood to burn

[carm317]

This is our second year with a wood burning furnace, max caddy. Last year was a nightmare and this year isn't any better. I'm 7k in on this system and want to really give it another try before getting rid of it. We are trying to make a lot of changes that I have read here from other people's posts. We are getting a 6 inch liner installed, putting in a barometric damper and I'm going to pick up a moisture meter. We added insulation which I don't think was a big problem before but just to be safe. Now I need to figure what's the best wood to buy. What do I look for? I know it needs to be seasoned properly which I think the wood we used in the past wasn't which is why we are having to load the furnace every 3 hours and going thru about a cord a week. How about kiln? I'm not sure what it is but I know it's about 3 times the cost of regular seasoned wood. We are planning on cutting down some trees for the future but I will need to buy for this year. Also, does the wood we just cut down need to be covered? If someone can help me get educated on wood types and moisture or direct me to a thread that has already answered these questions.

 

[TheBigIron]

Carm317,

IMO you should stick with the Caddy since you are into it for 7k. There are a lot of people on here that will help you with advice and suggestions. You need to start cutting and splitting and stacking for 2016 and beyond. I try and get out as much as I can just to stay ahead of the drying process. A tree that is cut down this year will not be ready for 2-3 years depending on how it is split stacked and if it was dead when felled. I have 3 Oaks on my property that are standing dead, and I know will take years to dry to 15-18% moisture. In my situation I have an EPA insert and also purchased a Drolet Tundra that I am in the process of installing. My insert requires dry wood, and so does the Tundra. Also I think that if you went and bought wood for this year it more than likely will not be dry enough to burn this year. Just my advice. Good luck.

 

[Firefighter938]

You should look into some of the compressed sawdust wood blocks. There are many different brands and I don't know much about them. There are several threads in this forum. Envi blocks was the latest I read.

I buy GrEn blocks from Rural King. I only use them for cold start ups, but last year I used them to help me with some less than seasoned wood I was burning. You can mix them with wood to bring the moisture content of the entire load down.

Start looking for trees that will be burnable by next winter and collecting, cutting, splitting, stacking now. Look for standing dead ash or elm. See if you can scrounge Silver or Red Maple. It seasons quickly and could be ready by next winter. Some of the softwoods season quickly. Or you can buy your wood now and plan on using it next year.

There is also a thread here about solar kilns for drying wood quickly. It may be worth looking into this.

 

[Chimney Smoke]

How does that furnace work, forced hot air ducts or forced hot water baseboard? I don't have any knowledge about them but it looks different from other wood furnaces that are designed to smolder all the time. I can't even begin to imagine burning one cord/week through a single stove. I burn 7 days a week and use ~3-4 small wheelbarrow loads per week. To burn one cord I would assume the unit is running wide open all the time. In a furnace I believe this would completely go against it's design.

 

[Typ0]

Are you burning balsa wood?

 

[FaithfulWoodsman]

I can relate to the frustration. I wasn't new to wood burning when I got back into it last year. My previous years of experience were with far more forgiving stoves than my Englander furnace. Other stoves can take wetter wood, these furnaces cannot. Anything over 22% and its as you said a "nightmare". Last year was super problematic, tons of wood, little heat. Most of my problems went away with the simple change of burning wood that is 20% or below. It's night and day. I didn't have drafting issues, but did have some issues with duct routing, which also helped. Sounds like your on the right track with the baro and liner. Those will ensure your drafting system is efficient and safe. Truly dry wood is hard to come by. No one around me has wood that's ready to burn by my standards. Kiln dried is usually really dry outside, but not on the inside or "cellular dry". Buying ash or silver maple may be your best bet this year. A dead elm tree with no bark is almost always ready to burn. No matter the wood type or whether you cut it or buy it, testing with a meter is a must. In order to do this you must stick the prongs into the side a fresh split, not the end. In other words, take a split or round, split it again and test the fresh split side. For me anything over 22% is c/s/s for following years. Ash, soft maple, dead elm and black cherry can all be dried in 1 year, stacked with space between the rows and in the sun. Oak, hickory, hard maple, beech, hedge, and other really dense wood need 2-3 years to dry. I cover everything all the time, others only cover in winter or a month or two before burning. IMO I don't want any moisture on wood I'm trying to dry. My best suggestion for you after the liner install is to try and find some "dryer" wood (20-25%) and supplement with one of the compressed bricks (I have no experience with these, but others on here have lots). I would also find a local friend with general burning experience who can provide some hands on insight, as well as ask some stove specific questions on the "Boiler/Furnace" forum, those guys are awesome (as is everybody on this forum!). If all else fails, oil for the rest of this season and prepping for next year is a safe alternative. Sorry for the thesis, just tried to answer all you asked about. Hang in there, many of us have been there and are now dialed in, so can you!

 

[Kristen]

what's the best wood to buy

3x as much as you need for this year. Stack 2/3rd of it for next year, and the year after. The wood you buy now to use 2 years from now can be green / fresh felled. It would help if next year's wood is a bit seasoned (but, in reality, buying green wood now and stacking it for a year may well be give you better firewood than anything you can buy, affordably, right now)

I, and I expect 99% of everybody!, bought wood my first year, and had an almighty fight with it to get enough heat, and not to ruin the boiler and chimney with the tar deposits and steam that came out of the wood. I could not find anyone lcoally who sold properly seasoned, dry, firewood. Ideally you would have started buying wood two years before you bought the boiler ...

After you have got two years wood stacked then just buy a year's worth each year. You can buy it green, as cheap as you can find, but personally I only burn hardwood. It costs a bit more to buy, than softwood, and perhaps a bit more in haulage (its a bit heavier), but I use a lot less (which probably makes the price balance) BUT ... I Cut, Split, Carry, and Boiler-Load that much less too, and that is a saving of my tine

I recommend getting a moisture meter and telling any supplier that tells you that their wood is "properly seasoned" that you require it to be no more than X% and that you will test the delivery on arrival and reject it if is it too wet. The figure you set for X% may have to be higher, in your first year, than is ideal for maximum heat output from your fire. (You have to split a log, and test that newly split face, you can;t just test the outside of a log)

 

[Wood Duck]

I wouldn't worry about the type of wood. Get your wood split and stacked outside for two years and it will be fine. Covering the wood is good but not critical.

Is a barometric damper compatible with a furnace and, I assume, forced air?

 

[Kristen]

One other thought, for this year, based on a conversation in another thread:

It seems that selling a house, with a stack of fire wood, is seen as a big turn-off for would-be buyers. If you can find a house for sale, with a wood stack that is not wanted, buying that at the same price, or less , as you are paying for "wet wood" might be a good deal. Take your moisture meter with you, and a splitting axe, to test a sample, and make sure the wood pile isn't rotten in the middle (or only pay for what you take, and leave behind anything not suitable)

 

[TedyOH]

I was at TSC Tuesday and saw these, TSC promotes a different brand on-line so bought 4 six packs for $12 to try them out - wow was I impressed, I only put 4 in at a time as I wasn't sure how the stove would react (on a hot coal bed), I'd agree with everything on their web page other than it "burns hotter than well seasoned cord wood". I did not see this but again I only burned 4 at a time, 6 would fit easily. Some brand of these sawdust blocks are probably your best bet with no dry wood, I'm 99% positive no one will bring you wood with 18% or lower MC. If I became unable to CSS I would switch to these without thinking twice.

http://www.envirobrick.net

 

[maple1]

I suspect you won't have any better results in changing to a different wood burner. You are only buying this years wood right now? That is likely the biggest mistake to be made. Wood needs a couple of years drying time for good burning - especially with a clean burner such as a Caddy. (Max Caddy BTW is one of the best furances on the market). You could try to find some kiln dried stuff. Maybe bricks as mentioned but they work the best when mixed with real wood - worth a shot though.

Type of wood doesn't really matter - it needs to be dried. Lighter woods just mean you would need a larger volume of wood for the winter - they will still heat. You should actually have next years wood all cut split & stacked right now, and ideally the next one after that too. Unless you can find a really good wood supplier that can get you truly dry wood right now. But that would be rare. And you would be paying a premium for it.

Also, on the barometric damper - you should also have a manometer to measure your draft with, to make sure the baro is set right and the Caddy is getting draft at manufacturer spec. Dwyer Mark II Model 25 is a popular one. If you have further questions on the furnace itself, be sure to visit the boiler room section with those.

 

[CentralVAWoodHeat]

Low moisture wood is the key. However, I'm going to say something here that really contradicts a lot of what you hear on these forums.

It seems very common to hear folks talk about hard woods, like oak, needing at least 2-3 years to fully season and dry. I have found this to be absolutely dependent on conditions. I can get hardwoods to fully season and dry to below 20% moisture, if cut from standing in January, by the time the following October rolls around. Splits are of reasonable size and 17-20 inches in length. I stack them about four feet high, off the ground, in single rows in a field that is in direct sun and wind pretty much all year. I realize these are essentially ideal conditions but it really discourages a lot of folks when they think there is no way around 2-3 year hard wood seasoning.

My advice is to either buy or cut your wood in early to mid winter, single stack it as I have described above, uncovered, and then move it under cover for storage after nice dry windy week in September for the upcoming burning season. It has never failed me. That being said, if your conditions are not ideal, it very well may take several years to get your hard woods in the ideal range.

 

[Oldman47]

Welcome to the forum Carm.
It is way too late to buy any wood for this year. Figure on burning oil, gas or whatever else you have and get lots of wood stacked up for next year and beyond. Some of the faster seasoning woods are maple, ash, walnut, cherry and any of the "soft woods" like pine, spruce or fir. Any of those stacked now should be ready for next year. Oak will take at least 2 years to be ready after you buy it so I would avoid it completely for now. Whoever sold you a stove without telling you that you need to dry your own wood did not do you a service at all.
If you build a DIY kiln you might be able to get oak ready in a single season but right now that is not your problem. Even what is sold as kiln dried is just heated enough to kill off bugs so that it can legally be shipped interstate, it is not ready to burn at all. Avoid paying any extra for it since it will not help your situation. If you can get sawdust blocks cheaper per BTU than gas or oil they might be worth buying but right now the oil glut has cut the cost of that fuel an awful lot so I would be very cautious about buying anything but dead dinosaurs for this year.

 

[Kenster]

How is it possible for one stove to burn a cord a week? It would be even harder to burn that much when the wood is wet and green. Perhaps you are not familiar with exactly what a cord is.
Don't give up. Many of us went through the same thing during our first couple of years of burning. I scrounged for my first few years until I built up my bank of wood that could sit there at least a couple of years before I needed it.
Buy three years of good wood NOW but don't plan on burning any of it for at least two years. Then, every year you bur, replace it with an equal amount that will be burned three years later. Always stay ahead. If you have the space and the money, get four or five years ahead. Well stacked oak will be fine for that long.
Since I do my own processing, I try to stay well ahead because I might not be able to do work on my wood some year, like when I broke my ankle a few years ago.
Good luck.

 

[Pennsyltucky Chris]

You want wood for next season? Accumulate Ash, cherry, soft maples and pine NOW. Split and stack NOW, preferably in the sun, and in single rows. If you come across oaks, hickories, beech or any other high BTU stuff, set it aside for another year. Burning wood is cheap, if not free, but you have to put the work in.

 

[Kristen]

I'm going to say something here that really contradicts a lot of what you hear on these forums.

Actually I think that is excellent advice for a newbie - whatever you do, stack your next-year's-wood in the most advantageous position for drying, irrespective of The Wife Factor etc.! thereafter you can stack it somewhere more out-of-the-way

The aim being to get the first wood pile dry in one year. If there is a choice of wood type available then the fastest drying would also be good for Year One, even if that is not the right one longer term.

 

[yooper08]

Ultimately, the best wood is whatever is local IMO. With diseases and insects taking out swaths of forests these days, it's best to go with whatever grows locally to prevent the spread of these problems. From a BTU per load perspective, hardwoods like beech, oak, hickory, ash, and maple are on the higher end whereas pine, spruce, and cedar are on the lower end. The further north you go, the less hardwood becomes available and those people heat just fine with pine.

Like everyone said, the key is it needs to be dry - 20% or less. Wood that has too much moisture in it is almost always at least part of the problem. Wood suppliers will say their wood is seasoned and ready to burn...take that with a grain of salt as it hardly ever is. Suppliers typically (at least around here) don't have the acreage to actually season their wood, they just split it and sell it as quickly as they can.

I buy my wood, so I always ask three questions: when was it cut, when was it split, and how is it being transported. Typically the responses to cutting and splitting are that it was cut 1-6 months ago (depending on the supplier) and was split within the last month. I ask about the transport because I've had people try to sell me a full cord while only delivering with the bed of a Ford Ranger. That tells me right away that I'm not getting what they're actually advertising.

 

[heavy hammer]

Not to be a broken record but any wood cut split and stacked for at least a year will help two to three years even better.

 

[Round Stove Guy]

For now, I would not get the engineered saw dust logs. For a quick and very dependable dry firewood, get pallets and cut them apart. They will be free and you can mix with your green firewood to get by. Even if you have to cut the pallets apart before loading them in your vehicle to take home(just be prepared for nails in your ashes). People are right by saying January cut trees dry by October, that is because the leaves are off the trees and they are in dormancy and moisture is minimal (if the trees had a lot of water in them, they would expand, split and crack - like an engine block with water in it only). You need to at the very least cover the tops of your wood pile. Air circulation is important, so do not wrap the whole pile, at least leave the ends and the side not towards the wind side(cover north side, leave part of south side open).

 

[weatherguy]

Ash dries the quickest, I've cut and split in April and it's below 20% by burning season, same with soft maple, oak I season 24-36 months, this year I'm burning sugar maple that was cut dead standing in March and is under 20% and burning great. The birches are fairly fast drying too and not to bad in the btu department.
Sounds like you came here for advice on how to get firewood quickly, cut blow downs and dead standing and test them with a meter, stuff you buy now will probably need a year or two depending on species. The easiest way is to buy three years worth, stack and top cover and start using in 3 years but with some work and knowledge you can do better if need be.

 

[CentralVAWoodHeat]

For now, I would not get the engineered saw dust logs. For a quick and very dependable dry firewood, get pallets and cut them apart. They will be free and you can mix with your green firewood to get by. Even if you have to cut the pallets apart before loading them in your vehicle to take home(just be prepared for nails in your ashes). People are right by saying January cut trees dry by October, that is because the leaves are off the trees and they are in dormancy and moisture is minimal (if the trees had a lot of water in them, they would expand, split and crack - like an engine block with water in it only). You need to at the very least cover the tops of your wood pile. Air circulation is important, so do not wrap the whole pile, at least leave the ends and the side not towards the wind side(cover north side, leave part of south side open).

Make sure the pallets are not treated though. Do not burn treated wood in your wood burner.

 

[Round Stove Guy]

Make sure the pallets are not treated though. Do not burn treated wood in your wood burner.

Right! Do not burn treated or painted wood in any stove or trash or garbage. Stoves are designed and tested for dry wood.