First all night burn!

[nu2wood]

Well, last week I told everyone about my frustration with my green wood. I went and cut some downed ash trees up and gathered some pallets. Some of the ash was still reading over 30% even though the tree has been down for over 5 years, but I managed to get some smaller limbs that measured 23-27%. Not ideal but better than what I had.
Last night I had a pretty good fire going and the low temps were going to be in the low 30s so I loaded up the box with my best wood (no pallet pieces), let it catch, turned down the dial and went to bed praying for the best.
This morning when I awoke I felt like a kid at Christmas rushing out to see how the Jotul was doing. Our great room was toasty, the electric baseboard was cold to the touch and I still had some glowing coals in the stove!
Only problem was that the glass was black as night. I realize I probably had put some greener wood in early on last night but now that I have put on some additional wood for a morning burn, which, by the way, caught immediately with last night's coals (too much excitement for words) how hot must the stove get before I can expect some of that black to burn off?

 

[westkywood]

I share in your glee brotha. I got a PE Super 27 this year and I felt the same way the next morning. I was giddy when I saw the large bed of coals the next morning and the room was almost 80 degrees.
Sounds like you may have to try to find some seasoned wood for sale this year to get you through. We had a huge ice storm here last year so I got all my friends Oak and Hickory and all my Maple.

 

[Fsappo]

Nice job...it's quite a feeling waking up to a warm house knowing your heat never came on.

 

[bambam]

Welcome to the brotherhood.

 

[Backwoods Savage]

Well, last week I told everyone about my frustration with my green wood. I went and cut some downed ash trees up and gathered some pallets. Some of the ash was still reading over 30% even though the tree has been down for over 5 years, but I managed to get some smaller limbs that measured 23-27%. Not ideal but better than what I had.
Last night I had a pretty good fire going and the low temps were going to be in the low 30s so I loaded up the box with my best wood (no pallet pieces), let it catch, turned down the dial and went to bed praying for the best.
This morning when I awoke I felt like a kid at Christmas rushing out to see how the Jotul was doing. Our great room was toasty, the electric baseboard was cold to the touch and I still had some glowing coals in the stove!
Only problem was that the glass was black as night. I realize I probably had put some greener wood in early on last night but now that I have put on some additional wood for a morning burn, which, by the way, caught immediately with last night's coals (too much excitement for words) how hot must the stove get before I can expect some of that black to burn off?

If that ash tree was touching the ground, that is the reason for the wet wood. If a dead tree falls so that the trunk is kept up off the ground, most trees will be good for years. Touch the ground and they rot pretty fast. Fortunately, ash rots a bit slower than some wood does. If you can find some standing dead ash, that would be great. Still not the ideal, but great.

This is why it is preached over and over to be 2-3 years ahead in your wood supply. Get it cut, split and stacked where wind hits the side of the pile and hopefully some sun too and in a couple years you will be amazed at how much better the fire is and how much more heat you get from the wood.

Good luck.

btw, a wet newspaper and just touch some ashes and it will clean the black from the glass extremely easy.

 

[nu2wood]

Thanks for the advice. The ash tree was pinned against another, so it was standing off the ground dead for a few years. Its the best wood I have for now. I really want to do this right, we just moved into the house in July so we did not have much time to prepare for this winter but I figured this year would be a learning year. It's funny, but the more I learn the more I realize how little most people really know. Some guy selling wood said that his wood was seasoned, he said it was cut from a tree that was down for two years. I split a piece and took a moisture reading, it read 35%! Turns out it was just recently split and never stacked. He said he sells 300+ cords per year. And another guy that sold me some "seasoned" wood three weeks ago which turned out to be mostly green, said he sells 500+ cords per year! There must be a lot of people around here with some filthy chimneys or some busy chimney sweeps!
Anyway that is all part of the journey, learning from your mistakes. The green wood I just bought has been stacked outside for next year. I just hope I can find someone with some quality seasoned wood.

 

[Backwoods Savage]

It is really sad, but I highly doubt you'll find any dry wood for this year from any seller. If you can find more ash, that is probably your best bet. For what it is worth, one year, due to some bad circumstances we were forced to burn green wood all winter. We burned white ash and kept warm. We did have to clean the chimney a few extra times. lol But the point is, we got through the winter and wood heat is our only heat; we have no backup. So if you must, get some white ash and do the best you can. If you can get some dry pallets and cut them up to mix in it will help. Or some bio-bricks to help.

Good luck.