I was this close

[Woody Stover]

No I don't have a supply of wood yet, I plan on getting a few cords of "seasoned" wood now for next year, I also talked to a big wood dealer close buy who sells truly seasoned wood for a huge price. He told me to bring a moisture meter and allow me to pick a few pieces out of the pile and he will split them and prove that they are seasoned. Regardless I have the money now for stove, and I plan on buying one. If I have to wait till next year to burn I'm ok with that.

Most "seasoned" (wet) wood, if split and stacked now in single rows, should dry pretty well by next winter, except Oak. Everyone's different but if I had a stove installed I would be itching to burn it immediately, and would buy a bit of the dry stuff if I could swing the cash. What is this guy's "huge price" for the dry stuff? Your house doesn't look huge; You might be able to get through this season on a couple of cords. You might get just a cord of the dry stuff for now, and try to rustle up the other cord elsewhere. If you or friends have access to any trees, dead standing trees with the bark falling off can have branches that are pretty dry...trunks probably need to be split and stacked, though. Barring that, you could test some other dealers' wood and maybe find some passable stuff for the regular price to mix in with the dry cord.
Welcome to the hearth forums, and happy burning!

 

[Sprinter]

What I always did was ask for a price quote on the stove and materials that was firm, plus an estimate for installation after a site inspection. They will likely want to put something in the estimates to allow for unforseen problems. Every shop did this for me no problem.

It may be worth the extra cost of the truly dry wood. I would go look at it with the meter and get your first season's supply from him if it's satisfactory. You can't underestimate (overestimate?) the value of the wood being dry. It's worth extra bucks. Just depends on how many bucks you're talking and what the species is. Then get the next two or three year's worth to start drying.