Kiln dried wood reading 30+% moisture

[nhcwb]

Just a question to see what others would do here. I ordered a cord of kiln dried wood because I'm in my first winter burning and low on dry wood. The day it got delivered I went right out with my moisture meter like a kid on Christmas, split a big chunk and tested the fresh face, only to get a reading of 37%. I though maybe it was a fluke so I checked a few more pieces and found more readings in the mid thirties and a few that were in the teens and twenties.

I called the seller and asked him if this sounded right to him and he stated it sounded fine to him and that the reason his wood burns well is that it's bone dry on the outside but still wet on the inside which makes it burn longer. This made my b.s. flag start to raise but being new to all of this I didn't say much in response. He said he wanted me to try burning some and see what I thought after so I did, and I found it burned just like the other stack of 20-30% wood does. It does take off pretty well at first but then I still have whole logs that never even make it to coals.

I am having a sweep come by Monday to inspect my stove and make sure it's not just my set up causing this, if my set up checks out fine, would it be wrong to ask for a refund and have the wood taken back?

I paid quite a premium for this load this time of year and I would rather spend that money on bio bricks if this is the quality of local "kiln dried" wood.

 

[Rickb]

kiln dried should be 22% or under inside. I would use this as a lesson cause your never going to get this guy to give your money back. always test "dry" wood before you pay anyone.

 

[TedyOH]

Yeah you can ask but probably not going to happen, which sucks if money is tight, the positive side to this story is you should have excellent firewood for next year. Come next year order another load or two from the guy if it's quality wood so your set for the following season, always need to stay at the very minimum 2 to 3 years ahead. You could do a bio brick / green wood mix to get by this year.
I have never ever heard of a wood seller binging in / selling truly seasoned wood....the state of Ohio considers seasoned wood = 50% MC or lower so why would they?.......I live by the old saying "if you want something done right do it yourself" (especially with firewood)

 

[bholler]

Actually most kiln dried firewood is not actually kiln dried it is just put in a kiln long enough to bring the internal temp up to a point that it kills any bugs in that wood. That is what is required to ship over state lines. Most of the time it is still pretty wet.

 

[Kristen]

because I'm in my first winter

I had that problem too; bought logs from whoever seemed to be most reliable; at the time I had no moisture metre, and no knowledge . The 3rd or 4th load from the most reliable supplier, up to that point, was kiln dried Oak which the supplier told me would be "amazing" ... it turned out to be so wet I could barely get it to burn and was utterly useless (I stacked it until the following year). That supplier has lost my business for ever, and from folk around here who have asked me for recommendations ...

 

[Kristen]

P.S. My solution would be to buy wood 2 years before buying the boiler. Of course that's an utterly impossible scenario for 99.99% of all people converting from oil/gas to a log boiler ...

 

[nhcwb]

Yea that's what I figured, lesson learned for this year. I'm already stacking for the next year with green wood, this kiln dried load was just to get through this winter.

Thanks for everyone's input! I love this website, you folks are some of the most helpful on the Internet.

 

[Wood Duck]

You have logs that you can't ever burn up? That sounds like a problem with draft or something besides just wet wood. I have burned some unseasoned wood and it doesn't start well, but eventually it all burns if I give it enough air.

The wood you bought is far from ideal, but I'd think you should be able to burn it and produce some useful heat.

 

[Paulywalnut]

That guy is way out there. Kiln dried shouldn't have moisture in the inside. Live and learn I guess. Maybe once you get a fire going you can feed it with kiln dried.

 

[heavy hammer]

See if you can find someone around you that burns and maybe try trading some of your wood for stuff a little more seasoned. That should help.

 

[jatoxico]

I called the seller and asked him if this sounded right to him and he stated it sounded fine to him and that the reason his wood burns well is that it's bone dry on the outside but still wet on the inside which makes it burn longer.

This could describe any wood as it dries. Acting like it's some kind of grand plan is frankly idiotic. If he represented a certain moisture content then you may be able to hold him to it, if not I guess there's not much you can do but it is BS. I bought kiln dried one year. It was dry through and through as advertised.

 

[Jay106n]

This guy doesn't know what hes talking about. 37% is WET and wont burn in your stove. You will need to find another option for this winter because this wood is not going to be ready. Try to get your money back, trade with somebody, or just stock up this load for next year.

 

[weatherguy]

The best thing to do is ask questions S before he delivers the wood. Ask what moisture content the wood is after being given in the kiln and how he measured. His wood will burn fine in an older stove and that's probably the majority of his customer base.
I saw an ad for seasoned wood when I first started burning and I asked him when he split it, his answer was he hadn't yet he cuts and splits to order but the trees have been seasoned for a year, didn't buy from that guy.

 

[Kristen]

I'm sure this is obvious to you ... but it wasn't to me in my first season!!

1. Buy yourself a decent moisture meter (so no argument over it being cheep-Chinese-cr@p )
2a. Ask supplier what "dry" / "seasoned" means to them in terms of moisture content %age ...
2b. ... on delivery split a piece, test it, reject the whole load if it is too wet

 

[blades]

Seasoned and Kiln dried have become buzz words in the sellers language- in reality they do not mean squat any more- always ask for a split to be respilt and checked with a meter "across the internal grain" before purchase- you'd be surprised at how much flack you will receive from these so called upstanding sellers. Kilned dried in the furniture industry means 6-8% moisture content - that is too dry for our stoves- 12-18 is a nice area, up to 20% is OK, anything over that is stack and wait. Nature of the way the stoves are now days with the EPA rules. By the way pallets are kiln "treated" not dried as bholler stated above in slightly different terms- this also applies to most of those bundles at various stop and rob shops around town as well.

 

[DeathMetal71]

Since this is my/our 1st year burning ever,we had to buy wood or get free wood,which we found our wood for free. We have a little bit of seasoned Hickory that I was using for kindling but didn't want to use it all up just for kindling. Bought two kiln dried kinds at Lowes and the 1st was really dry,under 5% and the second we just got last weekend was almost 12%. There are lots of people selling wood around here,so when we order some at least I know now what to look for,having a moisture reader is a must.

 

[Oldman47]

Welcome to the forum.
If you want to use wood from Lowes as kindling, take a walk to the other end of the store and look at the price of studs. Heck, ask the guys at the contractor desk if they will give you a price break if you take some of the worst of the twisted ones.

 

[DeathMetal71]

Welcome to the forum.
If you want to use wood from Lowes as kindling, take a walk to the other end of the store and look at the price of studs. Heck, ask the guys at the contractor desk if they will give you a price break if you take some of the worst of the twisted ones.

Never crossed my mind..thanks! I do know that TSC will let you take wood that was used for shipping stuff,like Log Splitters.

 

[TedyOH]

ask the guys at the contractor desk if they will give you a price break if you take some of the worst of the twisted ones

Yes - I received 70% off for really bad warped ones once.

 

[DeathMetal71]

Yes - I received 70% off for really bad warped ones once.

Thanks nice to know..we shop there a lot.

 

[TedyOH]

This was at HD though, they had a cart full, they were marked purple on the end grain

 

[DeathMetal71]

we go there too but its up north from us...still will check it out though. Never hurts to ask right?