I consider seasoned and dry to be the same thing. Are you proposing that letting the logs lie in the rain before covering them to dry out helps?
First chimney sweep
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Nealm66
Minister of Fire
With Doug fir yes. Woods like cotton wood, maple, alder etc. absolutely not. They turn into styrofoam. But heavy sap woods that create a lot of creosote, yes. Exception’s would be hemlock or anything that goes to heck once it seasons. Most of the locals in my rural logging area agree with this.
Nealm66
Minister of Fire
I believe any wood that’s seasoned before it’s dried will create less creosote but can significantly decrease the burn times in some species.
I've been burning doug fir for close to a decade. It doesn't create excess creosote. Too cool flue temps are what causes creosote to condensate. Creosote is formed when the flue gases drop below 250º. I keep our (probe) flue temps at about 400-600º during the outgassing phase of the burn. Our flue system typically goes 2 yrs between cleanings and gets about a cup of soot and sote. The burn time on my stove is pretty much the same whether burning doug fir or maple and maybe a bit shorter than when burning madrona or locust. In mild weather, it's 12-14 hrs. In cold weather, I bring that down to 8 hrs.
Well of course wet wood burns slower, you have to burn out the water first. But it gives off much less heat because you spend BTUs boiling water instead of giving off heat. You get more heat out of dry wood and if your not aware of that then you haven't burned dry wood because once you do you will never go back.
Nealm66
Minister of Fire
Ya, I probably have it wrong but it’s what I’ve been taught and follow. Seasoned wood definitely breaks down and burns differently. If you’re not having any problems with dry green wood then all is well
And that excess water cools down the flue gases in the form of steam.
That's a contradiction of terms. Green wood is not dry.
Nealm66
Minister of Fire
Well, ok. But what if the op let his wood season for a year out in the elements and then dried it and stopped having the creosote problem without changing his burning habits. Maybe I have it all wrong but I’m not alone. And I definitely admit I only have experience with local woods but if I have a choice ( which I do) I will take the sound standing snag for firewood before I cut down a green tree. But again, I’ve probably been doing it wrong all along. Just what I’ve been taught and what I’ve determined to be true.
As though the rain washes away the creosote forming elements of Douglas fir?What the heck is dry green wood? How do you get that?
Since building a wood shed I have been loading it with split green wood and waiting over 2 years to burn it. It’s a 12% moisture this way. Is that green dry wood? It’s certainly not grey like driftwood.
Maybe you see value in greyed out wood that is also dry. It gets grey if you leave it exposed to sun and rain but not so much in a shed.
Um?
Either my 5 weeks fishing in the keys have me befuddled. Possible if not completely likely
Or your post makes zero sense.
No offense as I do enjoy your contributions here.
Um?
Either my 5 weeks fishing in the keys have me befuddled. Possible if not completely likely
Or your post makes zero sense.
No offense as I do enjoy your contributions here.
Maybe he is talking about putting salt and pepper on his splits before stacking them. Only way I can think of seasoning wood before drying it!
He is just talking about letting it sit in conditions that do not dry it much, before actually drying the wood.
This is the problem of using terminology (seasoning) without clear definitions.
This is the problem of using terminology (seasoning) without clear definitions.
Two years later and I still am getting these signs of chimney fires. Especially in the shoulder seasons. Is there a chance my 14’ tall chimney with two 45 degree elbows could be the cause of this? My wood is 2.5 year cured Ash and Elm. I don’t seem to get smoke spillage when reloading. I would say my flue temp probe averages 350 to 400 all the time 18” above the stove and my cat still glows, but seems to run cooler than it used to. I stopped at the dealer to buy a 3’ pipe extension but the sales lady said she didn’t think that would help. I’m thinking it’s either that or maybe I damaged my cat the first year with wet wood. I don’t want to just throw money away but the stove dealer wants to have someone inspect it versus just selling me a pipe extension to try. What do you guys think?
It sounds like build-up is happening when burning low and slow. This clears up when the stove is being pushed harder. It could be the cat is suboptimal. How does it look? Has air been gently blown through the cells?
The draft strength can be checked with a manometer (magnehelic). If the dealer can do this, that would be a good test. Offhand, I suspect it will be a bit low due to the shorter flue height and offset.
The draft strength can be checked with a manometer (magnehelic). If the dealer can do this, that would be a good test. Offhand, I suspect it will be a bit low due to the shorter flue height and offset.
The cat looks ok to me and glows. I vacuum the fly ash off the combustor probably once a month if I shut it down and have also blown through it with light compressed air. I will be starting my fourth heating season with this and am just wondering if I hurt my cat the first year with too wet of wood or if my chimney is too short as I have experienced the same creosote popcorn stuff at the top of my chimney every year. I am 3 years ahead now for wood curing.
By season 4, I'd get a new cat and keep the old one as a backup. This should eliminate the question.
So for current BK stoves your flue is too short. Doesn't meet the spec. It's supposed to be 15' if your flue was all vertical and each bend or horizontal length makes it even worse. This will contribute to lower draft strength which is especially problematic at low burn rates. If you can keep flue temperatures and cat temperatures up then I don't think that the short flue is really a problem that would cause accumulation.
350 on the flue probe is too low. Keep it above 400 on the low burns and obviously much higher during the warm up and char cycle or when you need more than the minimum output. During shoulder season I burn smaller hotter fires and flue temps hang around 600. Full loads, long burns, on low through the winter the flue temp hangs at 400 to keep things clean. It is possible to run these stoves cooler but with an active cat but I have found accumulations of creosote when trying to run super low on a regular basis. The reason is that the very low flow of cold flue gasses cools even more as it heads up your chimney and condenses into goo before it can escape to the atmosphere. These stoves are not super clean burners, the GPM of my BK is quite high compared to a noncat. When condensation happens in the flue you will get icky accumulations. I recommend you run your stove hotter to reduce your creosote accumulation problem.
I don't know what 2.5 year "cured" firewood looks like. Could still be very wet if left in logs or not properly stored. Get a moisture meter.
My cats only last 2-3 years until they fail hard and leave goo dropping out of the chimney. At higher burn rates even a mostly dead cat can glow, they lose the low end abilities first. They're pretty cheap and definitely a wear item. I would recommend a ceramic replacement when you decide to replace it.
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