Mixing dry and wet to burn?

[awfarmington]

Here's our deal. We have mostly un-seasoned wood (between 25% to 35%) maple, oak, and some wood I have no clue.

Our house is very old and drafty, with gas bills being as high as $750 once month (no, not a typo!) and electric as high as $250 since we were also running space heaters. If the winter will be just as nasty, as they are saying, we gotta change our heat source.

I am thinking about using the lowest moisture wood first, throwing in cut up wood pallets. Also, thinking about stacking the higher moisture wood on pallets in the basement where the stove will be, to dry is quicker? Kinda like a kiln??

Does my plan seem feasible? We will be better prepared for next season of course, but this year is what I'm most worried about.

 

[pen]

One does what one has to. To be honest, what you describe is probably the majority of wood burners situations, and they think they are doing well just because they have enough wood on hand to get through the season!

In all, you are ahead of the game, not in fuel, but in the knowledge that there is room to improve. Since you are of that state of mind, you will also be more cognizant of the issues involved with burning wood that isn't as seasoned as one would wish it to be.

Are you cleaning your own chimney? I hope you are able to, and if so, do it often and keep us posted with any questions (monthly is a decent schedule until you can prove to yourself that things are consistent enough / good enough that it can be extended)... Keep us posted, and we can help with that.

Is your chimney lined with a stainless liner? Or do you have a class A chimney? Is everything up to snuff with an install?

If all these things come together in regards to safety, you can make the best out of the wood you have safely, it'll just take some extra work on your part this year. Most all of us started out in the same boat. Some made it through by luck, others solidified the deal with cautious measures. Since you are here, it sounds like you'll fall towards the cautious-safe side.

Good luck,

pen

 

[awfarmington]

One does what one has to. To be honest, what you describe is probably the majority of wood burners situations, and they think they are doing well just because they have enough wood on hand to get through the season!

In all, you are ahead of the game, not in fuel, but in the knowledge that there is room to improve. Since you are of that state of mind, you will also be more cognizant of the issues involved with burning wood that isn't as seasoned as one would wish it to be.

Are you cleaning your own chimney? I hope you are able to, and if so, do it often and keep us posted with any questions (monthly is a decent schedule until you can prove to yourself that things are consistent enough / good enough that it can be extended)... Keep us posted, and we can help with that.

Is your chimney lined with a stainless liner? Or do you have a class A chimney? Is everything up to snuff with an install?

If all these things come together in regards to safety, you can make the best out of the wood you have safely, it'll just take some extra work on your part this year. Most all of us started out in the same boat. Some made it through by luck, others solidified the deal with cautious measures. Since you are here, it sounds like you'll fall towards the cautious-safe side.

Good luck,

pen

It has a flexible liner, that up until this year, was used for the gas furnace.

I grew up on wood heat, but as a child didn't pay attention to the 411 on burning. I'm JUST recently learning that's it's like a science/art.

 

[prezes13]

My opinion is that you would be better off burning compressed wood fuel bricks. The wet wood will give you a lot of fight and less heat. Let it season for another year. That's what I did last year. In February all I had left was a cord and a half of wet maple. I bought one ton of Eco bricks and left the maple for this year.

 

[awfarmington]

I was just reading up on the eco bricks. They claim to burn longer than cord wood, true or false?

 

[prezes13]

I think it's true. You have to think about them as a super dry wood. I loved them so much that I am planing on buying another ton or two for this year. Have to be carefully with them because they do burn hot. In a shoulder season when it was about 45 degrees outside I started my stove cold with 10 Eco Bricks at 5:30 pm and at 6:30 am when I was leaving for work fan on my stove was still running.

 

[awfarmington]

So what would be the difference between burning wood pallets and bricks, since both get quite hot? I have access to thicker wood pallets, and standard thin wood as well.

 

[prezes13]

I think the bricks will burn longer. A lot of pallets are pine or poplar very seldom it would be oak. I cut some beefy skids at work which we get fire hydrants sent on. I will use them to start fires or in shoulder season for quick hot fire.

 

[pen]

Mix the pallet wood in, and just don't load the stove up with the thin stuff alone. That all by itself could send things into stratosphere!

You said this used to have a gas appliance hooked to it. Are you certain the liner is approved for solid fuel burning?

 

[awfarmington]

Mix the pallet wood in, and just don't load the stove up with the thin stuff alone. That all by itself could send things into stratosphere!

You said this used to have a gas appliance hooked to it. Are you certain the liner is approved for solid fuel burning?

No, I'm really not. I will need a chimney guy to come out and let me know I suppose. Or just not connect it to the liner. There was a wood burner near the chimney and a patched up hole in the chimney where it hooked up. They were just burning that way, no liner.

 

[pen]

My concern is that many gas appliances are hooked to a liner that is not approved for wood stove use (like one made of aluminum).

I want to make certain that isn't the case for you before advising you to fire things up. As you mentioned, getting a local CSIA certified (Chimney Safety Institute of America) guy out to the place to check things out would be the first step before ever striking a match.

Sharing pics and measurements to combustibles / etc, of the install may help us let you know if you are in the safe zone or not, but unless you know what that liner is made of, you may be making a big gamble firing things up.

Also, make certain things are fair and square and then also don't forget to let the insurance company know you are planning on using a wood stove (many people forget). Nothing worse than having a tragedy strike and them not wanting to cover based upon a lack of a phone call / installation not up to standards.

I'm not saying this to rain on a parade, as I said before, you are doing the right thing in doing the homework and getting prepared, I'm just trying to make sure you saw the cliffs notes version!

Best of luck,

pen

 

[Chimney Smoke]

Last year was my first year in a new house. One of the first things I did after moving in was buy my woodstove and order wood. I got 2 cord mixed maple,beech,oak that was seasoned pretty well and I also ordered one cord green. I stacked them in 3 separate rows and when I brought wood in I worked from the end and kept all three rows even so I was burning 2/3 dry and 1/3 green. I made sure to mix in one or two splits of green with every full reload and kept my temps high. That worked very well for me last year - I cleaned my chimney a few days ago and there was approximately a gallon or slightly more fine brown black creosote from a 30 foot masonry chimney. If you're careful and you know you don't have perfect firewood you can still have decent results if you pay attention. Luckily I have plenty of nice dry wood for this year.

 

[Newschool]

I had a similar situation starting out. One issue (based on your current plan) is that you will burn through your best(driest) wood by the time the 'real' cold weather starts. That's what I did too and I regretted it... I would try and mix better so that some of your best wood is still around by Jan/Feb.

Re-split as much of your wetter wood as possible. That will greatly aid in drying. Save some pallet wood for your cold starts. Wet wood is most noticeable (IMHO) when starting with a cold stove...

 

[Poindexter]

You can finish seasoning wood indoors in whatever your furnace room. My boiler is out in my heated garage, sounds like yours is in your basement.

Kinda like a kiln, yes, but not very fast. At all. I have about a cord of brich at 16% that I am planning to bring into my garage/furnace room as soon as we have a hard enough freeze to kill all the bugs in it. I am allowing a month at 55dF and zilcho humidity to get it from 16% down to 13%, but it will get dryer. The wetter the wood is when you bring it into the furnace room, the faster it will drop the first few points of MC.

So you got some challenges ths year, but as pen pointed out you are on the right track.

From reading about it (I got no oak growing up here) oaks in general and especially red oak takes two years to season. All I would do with your oak right now is pile it somewhere out of the way and by spring thaw have it stacked neatly off the ground where full sunlight is going to to hit it for as long as possible every day. Shck the moisture content of your oak again next august.

From reading about it here, two kinds of maple. If you got soft rather than hard maple and its down around 25% MC already, say hallelujah and get that stuff piled up in your furnace room to finish drying out. If you stack it real loose and your furnace room is real dry you might get it from 25% down to 20% in a month or so...

 

[ihookem]

I would go and find some dead elms with the bark off and burn what ya can. The trunks will be a bit damp but the branches will be nice and dry.

 

[red oak]

Welcome to the forum! Years ago I was in your situation, I bought a house with a woodstove and moved in during October, then tried to find whatever wood I could even though I knew it wasn't really ready. I think your idea with pallets is a good one, especially to get the fire going and when your reload. You can burn the oak this winter but you may find it smolders a bit and may be hard to get going. I heated my home the first couple of years with wood that was probably much greener than you have. I actually didn't have much creosote in the chimney but that's because, I think, I kept the fire hot most of the time. I agree with the others who say you should get an expert to check your flue to make sure everything is safe. Good luck!

 

[Wood Duck]

I'd make sure you have an approved, safe flue for the stove. I'd learn how to clean it yourself, which really isn't too hard. Then I'd burn what you have. If you can get pallets, that will give you dry wood to get things hot. Once you have a hot stove, you should be able to burn wood at 35% without too much trouble. You'll get somewhat less heat because of the moisture in the wood, and you'll get more soot in the chimney, but it will work. Just keep an eye on the chimney and clean it frequently, and you'll be fine. As someone else pointed out, most wood burners burn wood that is at least as wet as the wood you have, so you are at least average already.

 

[weatherguy]

I was just reading up on the eco bricks. They claim to burn longer than cord wood, true or false?

Better than the eco blocks is the NEILs (Northeast Idaho Logs) and Presto Logs, they both burn a long time, a lot longer than eco bricks and they're great to mix in with soso wood.
Pallets are good too but are a pain to break up, if you go the pallet route I would get something like this

http://www.toolfetch.com/vestil-skb...4b422d444c58&gclid=CParrYe8_b0CFYc7OgodSx4ArA

 

[JayD]

Well lets see your in Ohio, I'm in MI, You should be able to find lots of dead Ash tree's They have a Lots of BTU content,The emerald ash borer killed most all of them. Ash trees have low moisture content even when green, Learn what they look like their easy to spot when driving the back roads the bark will be splitting and falling off and have few branches left on them . I was cutting the dead one's out of the county ditch's here my first year burning, I was cutting 4-8 inch one's easy to handle and throw into a truck bed,Or trailer if you have one. Never had anyone stop and ask what I was doing, Had a few police just drive right by, Heck I was doing the county a favor keeping the ditch's clear and getting rid of them. I still burn ash it's my go to wood I have lots of good Oak Locust but it takes soo loong to season I still grab as much ash as I can. Let me ask you this, You don't list you location in Ohio. BUT You Have Coal in Ohio. Do you have a wood stove yet? If not you may want to look on craigslist for a coal stove,{You will need a coal stove to burn coal} {a wood stove will not work} And a coal source, You very well may have a coal yard close by? I know around vandalia there's quite a bit of it you can buy bulk or by the bag, You will burn a lot less coal then you will wood, With alot less work And it burns alot longer and hotter. I see a coal stove in my future as I get older, My arthritis is getting worse, It won't be long and I won't be able to buck and split wood. Pellet stoves and pellet price's are just CRAZY, I have found a local coal source here finally! At my local landscape stone supply co, They received enough phone calls for coal that it was a no brainer .And I hear my farm mill supply store will start carrying it soon also, Both have Train rail spurs to service them that helps keep the cost down.The government is pushing and stopping the Big electrical companies to stop burning coal. Well coal is not going to go away so your going to to see more coal on the market for sure. I'm not trying to push coal on anyone, Just don't over look it as an option. Mich and Ohio's economy is still pretty much in the crapper! I heard the other day Mich created 1 million jobs! To bad they only pay about $8.00 to $9.00 an hour! We have to do what we have to do to survive. Here is the Ohio coal burning forum http://nepacrossroads.com/forum-139.html Stay Safe and be Warm whatever you choose. Jay

 

[Frank625]

Store as much processed wood in the same room with your stove. It will dry faster there even if the moisture content is not optimal it will be the best you can do. Ash would be great to have a bunch of. Good Luck, stay Warm & Safe.

 

[paredown]

We had a similar panic start to wood burning when we got our first winter utility bill that was over $2000. Next year it was a stove, but because I have been renovating too, I have not had time to get ahead on the wood.

Every year it has been a mix of decent wood, recently split, construction scavenged scraps and bricks. We have been buying the 'Wood Brick Fuel' (similar to the Eco Bricks) because I can get pallets delivered at a reasonable price. They are a bit harder to start (I use the Forum approved Cedar Starters)--but once up to temperature, I can then start putting in some wood that is not optimal. We also stack a bunch of splits inside behind the stove, so it is drying out while we are burning the bricks.

I'm not sure about the claim to burn longer though--the best overnight burns I have had have been with nice oak splits, loaded up. I have not had the same success with the wood bricks.

Not the cheapest, but you do what you have to.

 

[OhioBurner©]

Where does one find those eco brick things? For the first time since I started burning wood I have none for this winter. And as such I am replacing one of my wood burners with pellet. But leaving the other one there, so could use it if I were to get some eco bricks (or pallets, kiln dried wood, some of the drier stuff I'm cutting now, etc). As long as its still cheaper than propane or electric space heaters I'd be interested in trying them.

 

[JayD]

Menards in ohio has them you have lots of stores there, Looks like all the menards stores in ohio has them in stock, search {wood fuel blocks} that how they list the on there web site . It looks like they have their 11% sale going on right now also. Just be awere they do not deliver, At lease in mich they don't, I picked some up few months ago for emgency situations and made 2 trips using a {old small pick-up with bad rear springs} and voyager van to get a ton, their easy to handle, Just spread the weight out some in the front seat area passeger floor and seats and the trunk if ya have a car. Jay

 

[OhioBurner©]

Thanks Jay I'll check out Menards soon. Hauling is no prob I can haul 2T in the truck bed plus another ton on my 6x10 trailer (do they sell them in 1-ton pallets like wood pellets?). Don't believe I have ever been to the Menards thats closest to here before, been meaning to check it out sometime.

 

[JayD]

OB, Ya they had them on a pallets like pellets, Our menards is a {Super menards} with groceries ? I really don't care for the place, It's to Big!! And go only for sale items or things like that. You can't just run in and grab an item unless you plan on being their for a while. I can run in to Home depot or Lowes and be in and out in 15-20 min's tops but they don't sell the Eco or GreenHeat bricks, only pellets. Menards have your name brands But they also have brands I never heard of? a lot of the tools seem that way, Chinese? But they have every thing under the sun that's for sure. I should have plenty of good seasoned wood to last the winter, But if it end's up like last year and I have to dig into my future stash I wanted some bricks to mix in. So far I heard a bit milder but wetter for our area. Jay