craigslist is the way to go out here. tons of pallets, tons of free wood (especially in broomfield area). I burned for the first time last year, and managed to make it through the season with a bit of green wood and a lot of scrounged stuff. What i learned was that you won't get optimal efficiency, but you will be able to stay warm. I found that for the first half of last season, I was not able to turn the damper down on my stove much more than 1/2 way. When i cleaned my chimney this summer, I had quite a bit of creosote (like 2 handfuls). Collect as much as you can and get it stacked, split, etc. It stays nice and warm here for a while, so i found that my wood was still drying into january (when it was 65º) so it was ready for spring!
I have no seasoned wood to start
- Thread starter Handsonautotech
- Start date
-
Active since 1995, Hearth.com is THE place on the internet for free information and advice about wood stoves, pellet stoves and other energy saving equipment.
We strive to provide opinions, articles, discussions and history related to Hearth Products and in a more general sense, energy issues.
We promote the EFFICIENT, RESPONSIBLE, CLEAN and SAFE use of all fuels, whether renewable or fossil.
- Status
Have a HF moisture meter for many years ( as well as a fany cabinet grade type) just keep a decent battery in it it is as good as any of the rest under about $60. Moisture meters have one little catch which you find if you bother to read the whole manual and that is what they are calibrated for. The fancy ones can be re-calibrated on the fly others will give a conversion or reference chart for various species of wood. For us and our usage this doesn't matter close counts like a hand grenades or horse shoe toss. I have a nylon jig that hold a pair of nails ( at the proper spacing) -this allows for driving the nails into the material to be checked deeper than trying to force the pins in then just touch pins to nail heads to get reading. ( sometimes I get too anal on what I am doing, I made the jig for use with a DVM and cross checked against the HF unit- surprisingly close agreement between the 2 methods)
brenndatomu
Minister of Fire
They're calibrated for warm wood too, not stuff that has been sittin out in the snow
Seanm
Minister of Fire
Moisture meters are by and large calibrated to doug fir at 70f. If checking a round that has been out in the cold simply bring it in and warm it by the stove and then check it the next day after splitting it. If measuring lodgepole pine you may be off by as much as 5% but my pine that I burn in the stove that is around 19% burns great so I dont over analyze it. I just wanted to mention it in case a fellow wants to push it and gets readings of 22+% or thereabouts. Ive tried three times to get ahold of a calibration chart from the manufacturer of my moisture meter and they dont care to get back to me so when mine dies Ill buy something different. Great little toy/tool though.
I picked up a moisture meter from Lowes tonight. Every piece on my current wood pile I shoved it into was less then 10%. I stuck it into a couple of pieces that were not chopped yet and got readings about 20% or just over. Those were pieces that were cut a while ago but not chopped yet. I stuck it into a piece I knew to be wet and it yelled at me over 40%. It does look like all of my pile that I chopped a few months ago is ready to go. This is great news. I just wish I had stayed religious about chopping every night. I have a lot of work ahead of me and it seems to burn faster then I expected. It is 40 F outside now but nice and toasty in here. Last night I loaded the fire box to the top (Hearthstone Heritage) right before bed about 10pm. Cranked the air down low as I can without it going out. Woke up 5am as I do, box coals were not hot enough to start the morning fire, had to go outside and scoop up pine needles. Maybe need a chimney damper? Maybe pine will not give me a true overnight burn? Maybe I need to drink more before bed so I can fill it about 2 am...
drz1050
Minister of Fire
Pine will certainly burn faster than hardwoods... no birch in your area? Birch still won't burn super long, but should give you another couple hours.
https://chimneysweeponline.com/howood.htm
https://chimneysweeponline.com/howood.htm
Seanm
Minister of Fire
And as draft changes it will last less. Fall burning is like ego burning. You can turn poplar into a super star but once winter comes draft increases and burn times will be less.
Ctwoodtick
Minister of Fire
brenndatomu
Minister of Fire
I loaded the stove twice throughout the night last night, had a very active dream night. Good news is the basement stayed warm with the heating system set to circulate. 32F outside right now, feels like 55 to 60 F in basement. I will have to hunt my property for some birch but I don't think i have any deciduous trees at all.
red oak
Minister of Fire
And here's what good and bad about pine - dries fast, burns hot, but not for very long. Pretty hard to get overnight burns with it.
brenndatomu
Minister of Fire
Might be able to get an overnight burn with a cat stove set on low...big ole BK with a belly full of Pine would probably go overnight and more...assuming pine works OK in a cat stove? Not that it would apply here...
redyute
Feeling the Heat
I'm in the same boat with you OP, so this is what I'm burning this winter
http://libertybricks.yolasite.com/ may throw in a piece or two of half seasoned oak with it. Gonna be an interesting winter lol new stove insert half seasoned wood lol
http://libertybricks.yolasite.com/ may throw in a piece or two of half seasoned oak with it. Gonna be an interesting winter lol new stove insert half seasoned wood lol
firefighterjake
Minister of Fire
My thought as well . . . a lot of folks make that mistake . . . just sticking the probes on to a split without splitting first and then testing.
I got home too late to do any chopping these last two days. I will do this soon. also going to tear into some new rounds and down a few more dead trees hopefully this week so I will try this out. I have some Aspen round waiting for my chopping maul I am curious to see how they read.
I had a chance to split some of my stored logs and check the fresh split with the moisture meter. All of them were under 12%. I split a round I had on the ground for a few months and got around 22% on both splits. The round was from the live cedar I downed behind my house back in May. I hope to down some more of the dead pines I have next weekend so I will update with those njmbers if I get a chance. I am very glad I have the meter now as I was planning on buying more wood but now I will save the money
I had a friend over the other night and he was talking about how he got no heat from his stove and clogged his chimney several times last year. He says he hates his stove. I will have to try to steer him here. I showed him my moisture meter and he said yeah that could be a big part of it. I think he was upset with his stove salesman. It was this forum that helped me pick my stove and learn how to use it.
I had a friend over the other night and he was talking about how he got no heat from his stove and clogged his chimney several times last year. He says he hates his stove. I will have to try to steer him here. I showed him my moisture meter and he said yeah that could be a big part of it. I think he was upset with his stove salesman. It was this forum that helped me pick my stove and learn how to use it.
brenndatomu
Minister of Fire
Yup, wet wood will make the best stove in the world into something you want to make into a boat anchor.
Feed it dry wood and it will turn from zero to hero.
If I were you, I'd do a few burns for ambience etc on cold nights.
Otherwise, channel your energy into next years supply
Otherwise, channel your energy into next years supply
It is getting cold here fast, we have no choice but to burn wood or propane. Luckily the wood is testing ready to burn and my fires seem clean and hot. My chimney is not getting any significant build up after a couple weeks of burning.
I have a friend coming next week to help me knock out more wood. It does seem pretty easy to chop a decent amount of wood when I get into the swing of things. I might have been able to get another 1/2 cord done saturday if it was not for this darn flue I have caught.
Oldman47
Minister of Fire
I think that is where I got my General brand MM. It is really meant to let you match new laminate wood flooring to subfloor moisture so the actual value doesn't matter much for that application. A match is a match. For that application you are usually looking for something in the 10 to 15% range.
- Status