Maybe I'm missing some sort of science behind it, but I was under the impression that the purpose for splitting, and stacking wood was so that the moisture could evaporate from it? If I take a fresh split, and use a moisture meter for a reading and get 15%, what difference does it make how long it's been in a stack, pile, shed, etc? To me, it's below the coveted 20% threshold, and therefore fair game for optimum burning. No? The moisture meter COULD be defective, but it's also brand new and seems to work fine. I got a reading of 85% on a stack of poplar that was cut, split, and laying in a pile for only a couple of weeks.
My wife is on break this week and gave me the evening to play with the stove. She (Stove, not wife) wasn't cold as she had been running for 24 hours, but my thermometer was reading 225 when I got home from work. I piled in some of the smaller, thinner splits but didn't leave the door cracked this time. I closed it all up, and opened the draft controls to full. Over the next hour and a half it climbed up to 450 and held steady there for about an hour before it started to slowly drop back as the wood was burning up. So I repeated the process, watched it climb to 450 (only took 30 minutes this time since the stove was hot), then shut the draft controls to full closed. She dropped to 400 and held there for 3 hours. By then it was time to load her up for the overnight. She was still sitting at 300 this morning when I got up after a 7 hour burn on rounds overnight.
I'm happy with the results, and I'm starting to think it isn't the type of wood, or the draft, but the size of the splits that I'm using that are throwing things off in the beginning. It seems to like the 300-400 range, and does that with ease. I'm also of the opinion that it could also be how, when, and at what temperature I'm reloading. I've been stacking the wood in, but not leaving much space between the logs. There are just so many variables, and I have only had about a month to learn what little I have learned.
Don't understand your response? What am I missing? 15% is ideal, somebody doesn't think so. On the other hand 85% I've never seen. I don't see your problem.
