Bio Bricks & Wet Wood

[wooduser]

On this foreum I have often seen suggestions that those with wet wood can get some use out of it by burning it in combination with "bio bricks."

My experience is that if you start a fire with wet wood, it takes forever to get the flue gas temperature up to a respectable level.

However, get a hot fire started with dry wood and you can add some wet wood from time to time without causing the stove temperature to plummet,.It takes some judgement and experience to do this well, if you need to do it at all.

Is this the "bio brick" method that I see suggested fairly often to help out those with a new stove and a load of wet wood?

Get that fire hot enough and it can take a modest amount of wet wood without choking on it. But the aim has to be to keep that flue gas/stove temperature UP.

 

[jatoxico]

get a hot fire started with dry wood and you can add some wet wood from time to time

If they had dry wood...

 

[Rich L]

I put the wet wood to the left side of my stove and ball up some newspaper and place it on the right side of the stove.Lite the paper to get the wet wood to dry out some.Once that burns down I place bio-bricks where the paper was light them.They burn so hot the wood dries out and ignites.Place other wet wood around the stove on racks.The heat from the stove dries that out and your good to go.

 

[SpaceBus]

I put the wet wood to the left side of my stove and ball up some newspaper and place it on the right side of the stove.Lite the paper to get the wet wood to dry out some.Once that burns down I place bio-bricks where the paper was light them.They burn so hot the wood dries out and ignites.Place other wet wood around the stove on racks.The heat from the stove dries that out and your good to go.

I have a small stove, so I usually put the bricks on top of a load and do sort of a top down fire. I have three cribbed stacks of wood, maybe 4' x 18" x 18" near my stove drying out my marginal wood. Hopefully I don't have to deal with this nonsense next winter. I prefer to only have a day or two of firewood in the house and the rest outside covered or in a shed.

 

[weatherguy]

I put the bio bricks (or other processed wood) in the middle. Layer of wood, the bios in the middle and wood in front and back.

 

[Gunfixr]

I have exactly 2 packages (6 bricks) of bio fuel. However, I do have a small stack of dry wood, but it is split small, so it burns fast.
The rest is larger, wet, but not wet to touch wood, split larger.
My stove has a smaller firebox.
I start the fire with a couple pieces of dry wood, and add a couple more once they are burning well. I'll add more like this until i've somewhere from 1" to 2" of red hot coals covering the stove floor, and add the wetter wood while the last pieces of dry wood are still actively burning well. I'll use smaller pieces, and set them a bit angled, so they don't tightly pack in. Once those are actively burning, i'll add a couple larger pieces. I add as needed, but without waiting for the last pieces to completely stop burning, with the size of the pieces being added determined by overall heat coming off, and flame activity. If I screw this up, i'll stick in a couple pieces of dry to get it back going and hot.
I've taken to having small piles of wet in the house. I have one on each side of the stove, just off the hearth area. Stove warms them, but doesn't make them hot. I'll burn one side, refill that side and burn the other, alternating so they don't stay too long. If they sit a week, they burn noticeably better, two weeks better still. Sometimes, if I have it really hot, i'll go ahead and stick a smaller piece of wetter in there. I also have a pile on the deck in back, several feet off the ground, in the wind, which blows here a lot. The stove is not my only heat, the house has a heat pump, and i'm mostly using the stove to keep the auxiliary heat from coming on. The temps so far have not required me to run the stove daily, so my method works for now.

Next winter will be better. We just moved here last summer, and a stove is new to me. This is what i've got figured out so far.

 

[wooduser]

I've taken to having small piles of wet in the house. I have one on each side of the stove, just off the hearth area.

You'll notice that some of the people who have plenty of dry wood actually have to buy and operate humidifiers to get some moisture in the house, something that those with wet wood can do without!

 

[SpaceBus]

You'll notice that some of the people who have plenty of dry wood actually have to buy and operate humidifiers to get some moisture in the house, something that those with wet wood can do without!

I too am drying wood inside, it helps a little bit, but not much. Between the stove top humidifiers and an electric one, I can keep the humidity where I want it. Otherwise it will just keep going down, even with stacks of wet/unseasoned firewood.

 

[Gunfixr]

Well, don't have a humidifier, just put a pot of water on the stove when running it.
Wife has potpourri in it.

 

[SpaceBus]

Well, don't have a humidifier, just put a pot of water on the stove when running it.
Wife has potpourri in it.

That's a humidifier. I would suggest scented oils as they don't make as much of a mess. I have a fancy enameled cast iron diffuser/humidifier, but just about any high heat container would work.

 

[Gunfixr]

I too am drying wood inside, it helps a little bit, but not much. Between the stove top humidifiers and an electric one, I can keep the humidity where I want it. Otherwise it will just keep going down, even with stacks of wet/unseasoned firewood.

The wood on the floor doesn't burn as well as the 2-3yr seasoned dry wood I have, but way better than when I got it, and tried to burn it. The outside stuff is mostly in an old shed. Out of the rain, but out of the sun and wind also.

 

[Gunfixr]

That's a humidifier. I would suggest scented oils as they don't make as much of a mess. I have a fancy enameled cast iron diffuser/humidifier, but just about any high heat container would work.

True, it is. It's an old original enameled steel pot we've had forever, and my wife already had the potpourri in it. It's in a small cloth bag, inside the pot. She would put it on the electric stove in our previous house. I just brought it with us, and added more water, called it good.

 

[SpaceBus]

True, it is. It's an old original enameled steel pot we've had forever, and my wife already had the potpourri in it. It's in a small cloth bag, inside the pot. She would put it on the electric stove in our previous house. I just brought it with us, and added more water, called it good.

That's cool. I think classic cook ware is neat. My wife has an old 50's bundt pan she got from one of her patients.

 

[Gunfixr]

That's cool. I think classic cook ware is neat. My wife has an old 50's bundt pan she got from one of her patients.

It's actually the top pot from a double boiler. I think the bottom pot is still floating around somewhere. My mom let me have it some 30+ yrs ago, as she was no longer using it. I used the bottom to melt lead in sometimes, or put water in the bottom, to melt wax in the top.
Of course, had to make sure the bottom was dry to melt lead. Have a real lead pot now.
Kind of a pea green color. Has the lid, too.

 

[Rich L]

I have a small stove, so I usually put the bricks on top of a load and do sort of a top down fire. I have three cribbed stacks of wood, maybe 4' x 18" x 18" near my stove drying out my marginal wood. Hopefully I don't have to deal with this nonsense next winter. I prefer to only have a day or two of firewood in the house and the rest outside covered or in a shed.

Mother nature sometimes plays a dirty trick on me.She brings in a terrific wind which dislodges my coverings on my wood pile then brings in a good raining that soaks my wood.The compressed bricks bail me out every time.However I have to do a better job of covering my wood.

 

[KJamesJR]

The method works. Worked great for me after drenching rains and wind in December followed by a cold snap. My wood thought wasn’t extremely “wet”. Inside moisture was still around 22% - 23%. Don’t know how the eco bricks would fair with truly unseasoned wood.

 

[bholler]

You'll notice that some of the people who have plenty of dry wood actually have to buy and operate humidifiers to get some moisture in the house, something that those with wet wood can do without!

No the moisture in the wood will not end up in the house regardless. The two are completely unrelated.

 

[SpaceBus]

No the moisture in the wood will not end up in the house regardless. The two are completely unrelated.

Where does it go if it dries out inside? I'm not trying to be obstinate, I just really want to know. I probably have 250 lbs of wood drying in my house at any time.

 

[bholler]

Where does it go if it dries out inside? I'm not trying to be obstinate, I just really want to know. I probably have 250 lbs of wood drying in my house at any time.

Well yes if you are drying wood inside that would contribute. But even if you get it to drop 10% which would be allot that would only be 25 lbs of water from your 250lbs of wood spread out over weeks. Not enough to make much of any difference.

 

[Marshy]

No the moisture in the wood will not end up in the house regardless. The two are completely unrelated.

Untrue to en extent. If the wood has a higher moisture content than the ambient air inside the house then the wood will tend to add moisture to the surroundings as its stacked and waiting to be burned. For those that bring their entire winter supply of wood into their basement moisture control for the first month or two can be an issue. My neighbor does it like that and he runs 2 dehumidifiers round the clock for 2 months. Granted, the bulk of the moisture is likely from the surface of the wood and not actually from the fibers but over time the wood will continue to dry and give off moisture to the surrounding environment.

 

[jatoxico]

I thought he was talking about the burning of wet wood not storing of wet wood in the house. Sure 2 cords of wood in the basement in the summer or early fall does add a ton of moisture. Running 2 dehumidifiers must take a lot of electric. In my area with elec prices being what they are, that would cost some bucks.

 

[bholler]

I thought he was talking about the burning of wet wood not storing of wet wood in the house. Sure 2 cords of wood in the basement in the summer or early fall does add a ton of moisture. Running 2 dehumidifiers must take a lot of electric. In my area with elec prices being what they are, that would cost some bucks.

That is how I took it as well.

 

[bholler]

Untrue to en extent. If the wood has a higher moisture content than the ambient air inside the house then the wood will tend to add moisture to the surroundings as its stacked and waiting to be burned. For those that bring their entire winter supply of wood into their basement moisture control for the first month or two can be an issue. My neighbor does it like that and he runs 2 dehumidifiers round the clock for 2 months. Granted, the bulk of the moisture is likely from the surface of the wood and not actually from the fibers but over time the wood will continue to dry and give off moisture to the surrounding environment.

Well yes if you are trying to dry a year's worth of wood in the house that is one thing. But most people don't do that because it leads to lots of issues. And generally doesn't work very well

 

[wooduser]

I was trying to offer a little suggestion of practical sympathy to those of us experiencing wet wood syndrome.

 

[SpaceBus]

Well yes if you are drying wood inside that would contribute. But even if you get it to drop 10% which would be allot that would only be 25 lbs of water from your 250lbs of wood spread out over weeks. Not enough to make much of any difference.

Good point. That's like 3 gallons of water over a week, hardly anything compared to the gallons of water I put through our humidifiers every day.