From a rookie for a newb

[Andy S.]

IT IS THE WOOD! If you found your way here researching a new purchase (like me) don't pull the trigger unless you have dry wood. By dry I mean 2+ years C/S/S. I was better off than most newbs this year because I had a couple of cords in the 20% range and I STILL dealt with many frustrating evenings anchored to the stove waiting to be able to shut the door without the fire going out. The moisture meter will help, but nothing short of a multi-year calendar will tell you for sure.

I know this for sure because I came into some 2+ year C/S/S wood that someone wanted to get rid of. The same insert that would not allow me to close the door for 15 or more minutes with splits that measured 20% ran with no more effort than opening the air, opening the door, reloading, closing the door and then coming back in 5 minutes or so to start closing down the air. It ran like an absolute champ with DRY WOOD.

I share this to HAMMER home the point and save a new wood burner some frustration. DON'T BUY THE STOVE IF YOU DON'T HAVE THE WOOD. Wait a year, scrounge like a hoarder (it can be fun), get it split and stacked and THEN get the stove.

 

[KindredSpiritzz]

i don't get it tho, in the past month i have seen plenty of threads and comments about people going out and cutting down standing dead and whatever to burn right away cause they ran out of wood already. I can see how that could work with an OWB but not a stove. Seems like everyone preaches dry wood til they run out , then any thing goes.

 

[gzecc]

Some people have dead standing assorted trees available to them. There are some dead standing that are ready to burn. They've been dead for 10 yrs and the tops are ready to burn. These areas tend to be in the country not suburbs.

 

[Andy S.]

I was speaking to the new guys with the benefit of a burning season under my belt. Even with my marginal wood for much of the year I am glad I burned, but it was not a slam dunk. I had a lot of frustration and was questioning the stove several times even though I ***KNEW*** from all I saw here that it was the wood. It takes a long time to undo personal experience from the smoke dragon you grew up with and the apparent gospel that 20% is a magic "ready to burn" number. I'll be better off next year and may even have enough to be 100% ready if we don't have weekly polar vortex events. The insert almost runs itself with dry wood.

 

[logger]

20% reading should burn great in any stove. Are you splitting your wood and taking the reading on a fresh side of the wood? If not its not a true reading. Regardless, glad you're doing better now.

 

[tarzan]

Still, every setup is different. I have no problem burning wood at 20 percent moisture. In fact, I actually prefer wood in the 18 to 22 percent range.

 

[Andy S.]

Much of my early wood was from Bradford Pear rounds I'd had stacked for a couple of years. Split it and checked it and it was all 20 or under. It burned very poorly for me. Very hard to light and black glass until it really got rolling. Same with some soft Maple (although not as bad on the glass) that measured right at 20% on a fresh split face. I had some Oak that burned very well at 20% and 20% Ash did pretty well, too. I'll continue to use my MM (I chase my wife around the house with it many Saturday evenings) but for me, two years for splits (other than Oak) and three years for Oak and rounds is the key. The thrust of the OP is to minimize frustration because I know how hard it was for me not to blame the insert and I know how much time I spent tending the door I couldn't close without the fire going out. The score I had the other day measured 15-16% and the insert practically ran itself.

 

[Bobbin]

I think there is a "zone" to burning wood. And the "zone" depends on your wood supply, and your own knowledge of how to operate your stove (without being a slave to it) so that your home is comfy-cozy. And that takes time, at least one heating season. You figure out what works best for your situation through experience and experimentation. Trial and error, baby! I agree that the first season/two can be frustrating and success largely depends on the quality of your wood supply. Absolutely.

For us, there is no need to keep the stove fired 24/7, we use oil to keep the house and shop at a base temperature and the stoves "cozy us up" and defray the oil bills (by a lot). We have found that burning 2 fires/day gets the job done nicely in the house; in the dead of winter in a cold snap we'll keep tuckin' the wood to her. But it takes time to figure those things out and not overheat or shiver trying to regulate the ambient temperature in your space. In my shop, I'd no more waste the firewood to keep the place heated overnight than I'd fly! It's a lot less effort to burn minimal oil and keep a well insulated building at 45 degrees overnight and have the programmed thermostat goose the temp. to 60 for an hour and a half, during which time I light the stove and let it keep the space heated. it took me a year to figure out what worked best in that situation, trial and error.