Hi All, I have about 3.5 cords of split white birch at approximately 30% moisture according to my meter. Some pieces 25%, some pieces 35%...most at 30%. . I live in Alaska and will start burning around Early October. It was delivered in a giant pile by a few dump trucks, so I'm working on stacking over the next few days (unfortunately it's raining on the pile right now before I can get a chance to stack it). I use a Jotul f45 Greenville stove. Question is, I must have 20% or lower moisture to burn efficiently in that stove. Can I get this wood dried out enough by October 1? Can I get it to 20%? Thoughts? Suggestions? I will be tarping the tops of the stacks so they dont get rained on. and it will all be off the ground. I know it'll be close, but I think it'll dry to 20% by October 1st. Am I wrong?
Birch Moisture
- Thread starter Jfior1983
- Start date
-
Active since 1995, Hearth.com is THE place on the internet for free information and advice about wood stoves, pellet stoves and other energy saving equipment.
We strive to provide opinions, articles, discussions and history related to Hearth Products and in a more general sense, energy issues.
We promote the EFFICIENT, RESPONSIBLE, CLEAN and SAFE use of all fuels, whether renewable or fossil.
I doubt you are going to make it - especially getting to 20% through the center of the pieces (most moisture meters are measuring the surface, or close to it.)
Short of a kiln, the best way I know to accelerate the drying process is to stack in single rows exposed to the sun and wind. I generally leave the stacks uncovered until I get close to the burning season for best moisture evaporation and so as not to impede the wind carrying moisture away from the stacks. However, that depends on your local climate (I’m in Vermont.)
If you are going to cover right away, having the a cover spaced up off the top of the stack improves air flow. If that won’t work for you, a sheet of metal roofing or plywood as a cover allowed better air flow than a tarp.
Short of a kiln, the best way I know to accelerate the drying process is to stack in single rows exposed to the sun and wind. I generally leave the stacks uncovered until I get close to the burning season for best moisture evaporation and so as not to impede the wind carrying moisture away from the stacks. However, that depends on your local climate (I’m in Vermont.)
If you are going to cover right away, having the a cover spaced up off the top of the stack improves air flow. If that won’t work for you, a sheet of metal roofing or plywood as a cover allowed better air flow than a tarp.
I've stacked a bunch in my garage with a dehumidifier...thats should get at least those pieces somewhat dry. Thanks for the advice everyone, I'm going to wait and see what happens. I have a cord dry from last year so hopefully by the time I use that up, the rest will be close.
Grok claims I could make it with good wind and stacked....but I don't trust ai. He did give me a bunch of neat calculations though. Supposedly I could lose about 1% MC per week. And actually since I had it delivered about 10 days ago, many pieces went from 30% to 28.5%. So thats a great sign.
Wood dries relatively quickly until it reaches it's fiber saturation point (usually SOMEWHERE around 30%, but it varies depending on species). Below that, drying proceeds much more slowly. In addition to the stacking recommendations I made in a previous post, cutting shorter and splitting smaller will also speed up the drying process.
I'd ammend my earlier statement. With good stacking practices and adequate ventilation, you might just make it. I was able to get a couple of cords of firewood dry here in the Champlain Valley of Vermont from forewood harvested, cut, split, and stacked in July and have it ready for our heating season in November. It was just barely ready. Another month or two would have been nice. (The Red Oak was not even close to ready, but most other species were in decent shape.) I'm not sure what your drying conditions are like in your part of Alaska as compared to Vermont.
Heat and air flow are the keys. You do not want to pin plastic down to the ground covering the stack unless you also have a good source of forced ventilation (and a good source of heat, unless the sun is doing a good enough job. Covering with plastic will generally hold too much moisture in near the wood, increasing the relative humidity right inside the enclosure. The higher the relative humidity, the slower it dries. I have seen a design for a passive solar kiln which relied on natural convection rather than forced air ventilation. I can;t find that now. Googling something like "passive solar kiln" might turn up some ideas. I'd want to make sure it was a proven design before relying on it for my sole source of dry firewood.
Remember you are talking many gallons of water to be removed from this wood. If your dehumidifier allows you to rig up a hose for continuous drain somewhere out of the building, make use of that. If you are relying on manually emptying a small tank on the dehumidifier, that will get old very quickly. Leave room between your rows when stacking, and running a fan to circulate are around the stacks might help. Good air flow is a key to quick drying. My wood shed is open on 3 sides for that reason.
I'd ammend my earlier statement. With good stacking practices and adequate ventilation, you might just make it. I was able to get a couple of cords of firewood dry here in the Champlain Valley of Vermont from forewood harvested, cut, split, and stacked in July and have it ready for our heating season in November. It was just barely ready. Another month or two would have been nice. (The Red Oak was not even close to ready, but most other species were in decent shape.) I'm not sure what your drying conditions are like in your part of Alaska as compared to Vermont.
Last edited:
I dump 6 quarts of water from my basement dehumidifier every day. No big deal. Give the wood 8 weeks of that action, 84 gallons of water removed, crank up the stove!
Wind often dries the wood faster than sun. Place a box fan or large table fan blowing at the stack of wood in addition to dehumidifier.
I think it’s like 6 pints. Emptying it multiple times a day when it’s partially full though. Always fills up overnight. Unfortunately it’s been raining here nonstop.
