Having a "fireplace" I have only used it for special occasions. Until this year I noticed a draft while laying hardwood flooring in the den. it traced back to the brass doors of the fireplace... A friend had offered a timberland insert for several years so I took him up on it. My wood supply was limited having not used the fp for heat and have scored about 5 cords of wood only about 2 are seasoned... So how long will it take split and racked wood to get burnable if not all the way seasoned any help would be apprciated . I have about 2 cords gum, 1 maple and about 2 of cherry that are all just cut from live trees. this is in addition to about 2 cords of seasoned oak I already had. thanks
How long to go from "green to burnable???
- Thread starter kennyR
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Conifers - 4-6 months
Hardwoods - 1-1.5 years
This is assuming your wood shed is dry and decently ventilated.
Hardwoods - 1-1.5 years
This is assuming your wood shed is dry and decently ventilated.
OK so I guess I will continue to get the free wood but buy enough to finish out this season... thanks I was thinking of suplementing my supply after a month or so of being racked but don't want any issues with my chimney
I had just split some dead standing white oak, I dropped last week split yesterday and burned last night and great fire and very, very LITTLE sizzle, water or steam from it, I figure a few weeks in the drying rack and we will be good to burn, find some fo that stuff, people dont want dead trees, and let you take them free usually when you ask nicely...kennyR said:
Wood that I pick up in April is ready to burn in October. But that has to do with split size, wind and sun hitting it to dry it out. YMMV.
Matt
Matt
Cool I'm in full wood acquiring mode with a friend we have several acquaintances that have just had some acreage logged and lots of standing hardwoods but that is this spring (for next year) I'm just trying to get bye this yr.... I can tell you with all we have split by hand (16 lb maul) I think if oil price had gone up higher my back wouldn't ache as much LOL
I'm burning wood now that I bucked up around this time last year. It marginal now and will be premium next winter.
Kenny, you might get by with mixing some of that cherry with your seasoned oak. We used to burn green cherry when we went to deer camp and got along just fine, but I wouldn't want to burn only the green cherry for very long or you'd be cleaning that chimney quite often and using much more wood.
Get ahead on your wood pile so you have always an extra year's supply on hand and then you will also find that you use much less wood, plus you'll find that the stove works much, much better.
Get ahead on your wood pile so you have always an extra year's supply on hand and then you will also find that you use much less wood, plus you'll find that the stove works much, much better.
Firewood Ratings and Info
based on data from: U.S. Forest Products Laboratory
Regarding Seasoning of Wood
Freshly cut wood has a very high moisture content. As much as 60% (or more) of the weight of a tree is water. At least some of this water must be removed before trying to use it as a fuel wood. See Amount of Energy in Wood, for a discussion of why that is necessary. Several bad results can occur from burning wood that is not fully dried to below 25% moisture content. (Such wood is referred to as "green" wood). As that discussion mentions, the effective available heat is MUCH less, not just because there is less wood fibers in each pound of wood put in the woodburner, but that a good percentage of that heat must be used to evaporate all that water before those wood fibers can burn. Another VERY important consequence of burning green wood is that the presence of all that moisture tends to keep "putting out" the fire, and therefore making it burn very poorly, which tends to produce a lot of creosote and pollution. Don't Do It!
Generally, the way this drying is accomplished is by "seasoning" it. Firewood is cut to length and then seasoned (dried) in a stack, with air being able to get to it, for at least 9 months before burning. The natural 60%-70% moisture content must be reduced to about 20% to burn well. The wood cells don't lose much moisture through the bark; the moisture is most effectively removed through the cut cells at the ends of each piece.
That's why logs which have lain in the woods for years may still have a lot of moisture and may not burn well (unless cut and dried.) We have heard of people cutting up these downed trees and immediately putting them in a woodburner! And the wood burns poorly! Now you know why!
OK! So, sometimes, it turns out to be NECESSARY to burn some green wood. Which species would be best under those conditions? It turns out that the desirability is NOT the same as for seasoned wood! While they are living, various species of trees have different moisture contents. If you suitably dry them all, that difference rather disappears. But, while still green, it becomes significant.
More good info the rest of the article (this is a good article found by gzecc )
based on data from: U.S. Forest Products Laboratory
Regarding Seasoning of Wood
Freshly cut wood has a very high moisture content. As much as 60% (or more) of the weight of a tree is water. At least some of this water must be removed before trying to use it as a fuel wood. See Amount of Energy in Wood, for a discussion of why that is necessary. Several bad results can occur from burning wood that is not fully dried to below 25% moisture content. (Such wood is referred to as "green" wood). As that discussion mentions, the effective available heat is MUCH less, not just because there is less wood fibers in each pound of wood put in the woodburner, but that a good percentage of that heat must be used to evaporate all that water before those wood fibers can burn. Another VERY important consequence of burning green wood is that the presence of all that moisture tends to keep "putting out" the fire, and therefore making it burn very poorly, which tends to produce a lot of creosote and pollution. Don't Do It!
Generally, the way this drying is accomplished is by "seasoning" it. Firewood is cut to length and then seasoned (dried) in a stack, with air being able to get to it, for at least 9 months before burning. The natural 60%-70% moisture content must be reduced to about 20% to burn well. The wood cells don't lose much moisture through the bark; the moisture is most effectively removed through the cut cells at the ends of each piece.
That's why logs which have lain in the woods for years may still have a lot of moisture and may not burn well (unless cut and dried.) We have heard of people cutting up these downed trees and immediately putting them in a woodburner! And the wood burns poorly! Now you know why!
OK! So, sometimes, it turns out to be NECESSARY to burn some green wood. Which species would be best under those conditions? It turns out that the desirability is NOT the same as for seasoned wood! While they are living, various species of trees have different moisture contents. If you suitably dry them all, that difference rather disappears. But, while still green, it becomes significant.
More good info the rest of the article (this is a good article found by gzecc )
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