It's raining its pouring...

[AndyD1480]

So, lesson learned. It's been raining pretty hard for the past 4-5 days here in the CT. I thought I had my wood covered up well, and the stuff does appear to be dry, but man its not burning well at all. Lots of smoke, not much flame, and much lower heat. I think the wood pile has soaked up some of the moisture from the air. Either that or the wind pushed some of the rain into the sides of the pile. Whatever it is, its soaked. Got any ideas?

 

[tw40x81]

Bring some inside and stack it loosely next to the nice warm stove for a day. I like standing them up in front of the stove, lining them up like soldiers so they can witness their ultimate fate. Be careful not to get them too close as to create combustion external to the stove.

 

[moondoggy]

how big a hair dryer you got? ah, then the folks inthe neighborhood start alienating you, nevermind.
beautiful sunny+ dry today... start spreading out onthe deck in piles north south/ secodn level east west. rain water will dry fast.

 

[WarmGuy]

Related to this, I've been splitting some rounds that have been exposed to a lot of rain this winter. Even though they've been off the ground, these puppies are wet. Some of them have gone wet/mushy on the ends. They are mostly OK inside, but on some it seems that the moisture has penetrated.

There have been a lot of "better to not cover the wood -- let it breathe" posts, but I'm going to move towards more covering and less breathing.

 

[marky_mark896]

So, lesson learned. It's been raining pretty hard for the past 4-5 days here in the CT. I thought I had my wood covered up well, and the stuff does appear to be dry, but man its not burning well at all. Lots of smoke, not much flame, and much lower heat. I think the wood pile has soaked up some of the moisture from the air. Either that or the wind pushed some of the rain into the sides of the pile. Whatever it is, its soaked. Got any ideas?

Here too. We're in flood conditions here, and my wood is wet and now frozen. I brought a bunch into the garage to let it thaw some, and stood a bunch on end on the hearth to dry out. It's working good, I've finally got a good, hot fire going.

 

[AndyD1480]

Thanks for the advice guys...

I actually grabbed one of those metal rings that you can stack wood in. I'm going to set it up in my enclosed porch and stack wood in it. Hopefully it will dry out before it gets any colder!

If anyone's interested, it was 50% off at Lowes.

 

[moondoggy]

hells yea- i wanted one of those, but my loews said they had nothing left/moved all out last week.
how much was it?

 

[chad3]

I think there may be 2 other factors working here. One, the density of the air is high meaning it sits lower to the ground and is harder to push up (if that makes sense) and two, the temperature change between outside air and inside are is closer and therefor makes it harder for the chimney to push the air up (or pull).
I'm sure someone else will chime in, but my wood is dry and still hard to get to temp with warmer heavier air.

 

[AndyD1480]

True, I did wonder if it was just drafting poorly too. Since it so damp and warmer outside.

 

[kevin85]

I bought one of those "just add 2x4's" adjustable firewood racks at Lowe's for 12 bucks. There were 6 when I picked up 2 for myself and only 2 left when I was leaving the store. Good deal.

 

[firegal]

Hi Andy -

I'm in NW CT and I've been having the same problem, lots of smoke, very, very difficult to get the stove to 300 or higher (practically impossible). Most of the time, the stove looks like there's a black hole living inside it. I've never seen it burn so dark. Obviously, not burning clean, and I'm afraid of how much creosote I'm collecting ....

My wood's a bit damp from the weather (piles are covered on top with tarps), and I stand my splits up along the hearth to dry out, but it's still a struggle.

I was gonna post here about this, but I see you beat me to it.

I was thinking it had something to do with barometric pressure more than anything ... but that's just a wild guess not based on any kind of scientific reasoning.

firegal

 

[woodzilla]

I had always been taught that wood dries from the ends. Not sure how true this is , but I always stack it in the horizontal position inside. Just figured that way both ends have air. Oh and I use a floor fan 24/7 aimed at pile inside.

 

[marky_mark896]

I stand one up and then lay another across it to for a T standing up in front of the stove. That way the one on top dries from both ends, and the wettest side facing the fire.

 

[cmonSTART]

It's also probably a draft issue caused by the low barometric pressure and crummy weather. In my experience thus far, my stove burns much more poorly on those days and nights.

 

[Girl]

I thought I was the only one dealing with this!
My draft is fine it's the wood. I can't seem to get a clean burn, I am also worried about my chimney too.
Everything is damp, my dry stuff is damp & my wood that got wet is wet yet again(even with a new tarp!)
I can get my stove top temp a little over 400 & it just stays there, hanging, mocking me.
It takes me close to an hour an half to get it to 500, which normally takes me 20 minutes.
What is left of my kindling is damp. I bought some inner core shingles & split those up they seem to be helping some, I know I have to be careful with those.
The kids are with their dad this week so I am not using my driest wood or kindling until they get here.
I got the fan on the loosely stacked wet wood & I am bringing out the dehumidifier now.
Honestly I have never experienced it this damp & wet before!

End of rant...

 

[chad3]

It's also probably a draft issue caused by the low barometric pressure and crummy weather. In my experience thus far, my stove burns much more poorly on those days and nights.

Thank you START Low Barometric Pressure. That is the more scientific explanation for my above post. However, I think that temp has something to do with it as well because when the storms come in and the weather is cold, the stove works.

 

[cmonSTART]

It's also probably a draft issue caused by the low barometric pressure and crummy weather. In my experience thus far, my stove burns much more poorly on those days and nights.

Thank you START Low Barometric Pressure. That is the more scientific explanation for my above post. However, I think that temp has something to do with it as well because when the storms come in and the weather is cold, the stove works.

As someone stated above, it's all about air density. Warm, moist air is much less dense than cool, dry air, which is why your stove drafts better after the storm passes and that nice arctic cold front pushes through with all that cold Canadian air. I do some work in aviation in addition to my day job so I've had to learn a lot about how it effects us, our weather, how the aircraft flies etc.

Your chimney drafts because of the difference in density between the inside air and outside air. Inside, the air is relatively thin compared to outside because of the temperature and humidity, so to get the greatest draft possible, the air outside needs to be as cold, dry, and high barometric pressure possible.

 

[elmoleaf]

In the winter, I keep my wood pile covered as much as possible.
It's got a roof above it, and I hang tarps down over the open side on the north, where prevailing winds drive rain/snow into the pile.
Haven't had any wet wood problems yet.

 

[gyrfalcon]

Related to this, I've been splitting some rounds that have been exposed to a lot of rain this winter. Even though they've been off the ground, these puppies are wet. Some of them have gone wet/mushy on the ends. They are mostly OK inside, but on some it seems that the moisture has penetrated.

There have been a lot of "better to not cover the wood -- let it breathe" posts, but I'm going to move towards more covering and less breathing.

I'm new to all this, but I think that "better not cover the wood" is meant to apply to summertime seasoning period, not during winter for the stacks you're planning on using in the stove in the next couple months or so. If you haven't got a covered woodshed, I'd put a full cover on your stacks sometime in the fall when there's been a dry spell for a while. My house has an enclosed attached woodshed, so same as outside temperature but well ventilated and completely protected from rain and snow, and stuff dries out pretty well there from water/snow dampness over a week or so loosely stacked.

 

[chad3]

My father is the exact opposite. He seems to burn just about anything that has been seasoned. He won't cover his piles, just brings them in a week or so before burning. It works for him, if you have enough time before putting it in the stove, I think it would be ok. I'm just now bringing in covered wood about 3 days before burning and it is burning much better. This goes for cold wood as well as wet. My garage is cold 99% of the time and that wood is "dry" but won't burn anywhere as well as warm dry wood. I'm thinking it is a combo of both. Anyone have the same thoughts?
Chad

 

[gyrfalcon]

My father is the exact opposite. He seems to burn just about anything that has been seasoned. He won't cover his piles, just brings them in a week or so before burning. It works for him, if you have enough time before putting it in the stove, I think it would be ok. I'm just now bringing in covered wood about 3 days before burning and it is burning much better. This goes for cold wood as well as wet. My garage is cold 99% of the time and that wood is "dry" but won't burn anywhere as well as warm dry wood. I'm thinking it is a combo of both. Anyone have the same thoughts?
Chad

Absolutely! But if it really is dry, it can warm up sitting in boxes in obscure corners for a few days. If it's damp, it's got to be spread out and given lots of air for a while.

 

[AndyD1480]

Ok, so great information given on the subject. Last night and this morning I fired up much better than the last week or so. Here is what I did and what happened:

1. Lined up the wood infront of the stove (like little soldiers, facing what is their ultimate fate...hahaha, that was pretty darn funny!) That wood then ignited faster in teh fire and burned hotter, even if it had just been infront of the fire for 4 hours or so. As I burned wood, I'd bring more in and stack it near the fire.

2. This morning it was colder outside and the air seemed drier. It's snowing a bit here and its certainly a drier feel to the air. The fire drafted a little better and overall seemed to smoke much less.

I was wondering, what do all the people in the Northwest do? Doesnt it rain and stay moist like this most of the winter?? I also thought it might help that they burn soft woods like pine that would probably ignite and burn no matter what the conditions.