Made a rookie mistake last summer and didn't set myself up for winter with properly seasoned wood unless I sort it. I have plenty of wood but find some of it to be a little over 20% so I've been setting it aside and only using the stuff that's well under 20%. I've got two winters worth stacked for drying this coming summer along with about 12 cord in log decks so lesson learned. I decided that rather than spending time moisture testing and sorting I'd just buy a cord of kiln dried wood which would get me by until spring.
Ordered the wood a couple months ago and today my order was ready. Went and picked it up and was told that it was around 7% with a few pieces he stabbed being around 11%. It had recently came out of the kiln. When I got home and packed a stove load into the house it felt a little heavy so I took a couple larger pieces out to the shop for testing. On the outside it's around 7% but a few inches in after splitting it's over 27%. If this is considered dry then the wood that I have been sorting out is very well seasoned but I know this can't be right. I called them and they say they will get back to me tomorrow so we will see. My current question is does the moisture stabilize a few days after coming out of the kiln? I've got some in the shop and some in the house so we will see what it reads tomorrow. Under a air quality alert until 11 tomorrow so I can't see how it burns but I'm guessing not good. I know some sellers around here have been struggling because the government made it illegal to sell unseasoned firewood after kiln dried became available but now I find that kiln dried isn't dried.
Ordered the wood a couple months ago and today my order was ready. Went and picked it up and was told that it was around 7% with a few pieces he stabbed being around 11%. It had recently came out of the kiln. When I got home and packed a stove load into the house it felt a little heavy so I took a couple larger pieces out to the shop for testing. On the outside it's around 7% but a few inches in after splitting it's over 27%. If this is considered dry then the wood that I have been sorting out is very well seasoned but I know this can't be right. I called them and they say they will get back to me tomorrow so we will see. My current question is does the moisture stabilize a few days after coming out of the kiln? I've got some in the shop and some in the house so we will see what it reads tomorrow. Under a air quality alert until 11 tomorrow so I can't see how it burns but I'm guessing not good. I know some sellers around here have been struggling because the government made it illegal to sell unseasoned firewood after kiln dried became available but now I find that kiln dried isn't dried.
