Moisture Meters - Useful?

[WarmGuy]

How accurate and how useful are those $20 moisture meters?

for example:
http://www.harborfreight.com/cpi/ctaf/displayitem.taf?Itemnumber=2757

 

[bruce56bb]

i don't know how accurate they are but they are useful in determining which wood in your stack is driest.
i take a split and re-split it, them take readings from different spots and roughly average them. it seems that any reading over 20% will still hiss and spit somewhat.

 

[BurningIsLove]

I was debating getting a meter this year. The plan is to get a grapple load delivered, but to build additional racks for that much wood is more space than I have/want to allocate. So I was planning on filling up the 6 racks I use now and then building a pair of holz-hausens for the rest, then having a bake-off to determine which one dries better (if either) in my area. The moisture meter would hopefully give a rough estimate as long as I mark splits from the same round in both setups.

I would presume the HH will take longer, but it's much more space-efficient. 6 racks gets me through a season, so even if the HH takes an extra season, that's simply next years supply.

 

[Rhone]

My vote is not useful. I know that my wood that's been drying 1+ years is dry, that the one of two piles that gets the most sun is the driest, that the bigger splits have more moisture than my smaller ones, and no matter what the moisture meter says I'm burning it, if I think it's a little on the wet side (or a moisture meter says so) I'm not holding off for a couple months and use oil while I wait for the wood to dry a little more I'm burning it regardless. I also know, the lighter the wood the faster it dries. Maple, & birch dry real fast oak takes a while. I burn the maple & birch before starting on the oak to give it a little more time. Moisture meter or not, I don't think it will affect anything besides tell me if this year's wood is more or less dry than other years and money better spent elsewhere.

 

[BrotherBart]

I don't ever plan to be without one again. I have to cut it pretty close since I am only able to cut for the next season. Since the trees I am using now have been down for a while the meter lets me determine the driest ones to cut up first. The result this year has been that out of the approx. six cords cut and split last spring I haven't heard one hiss all winter.

Never able to do that before the meter took over.

 

[zzr7ky]

I admit I was thinking of getting one. It's my first year buring a modern EPA stove and I had a lot of odd wood on the place. Different lengths, species, diameters, sun/shade, covered and not... But now after the cold Jan/Feb I've pretty well desided that I'll have enough wood for 2 years burning layed up. No doubt then. Heck even the kids just give the heavier splits a whack with a smaller dry round. If it don't ring like a Bell It'll give you Hell! I really can't see myself changing batteries in one more gizzy...

If one wasn't familiar with wood identification, and or had limited storage, or was scrounging often it could be useful to decide which stuff to load first before other scroungers cleaned the site out.

ATB,
Mike P

 

[burntime]

The meter is just another toy. Yes it works. No, by the time you get acclimated to burning you probably don't need it. It is interesting to see how slow the oak or thicker pieces dry vs the smaller and less dense woods. I am trying also to get ahead 2 years so I do not have to worry about it.

 

[BurningIsLove]

Yeah, i wasn't intending on using it to determine 'this split is too moist to burn' or anything like that. I just wanted to settle the 'age-old' question of how fast does a HH dry/season wood in comparison to a standard rack under identical conditions. Heard lots of opinions/theories, just curious as to the reality.

 

[PA. Woodsman]

I split my wood well in advance, and store it in my garage, so there's never a question as to if it's seasoned or not. But just for "kicks and giggles" I bought that moisture meter for $25 last year, and I got about $25 worth out of it before one of the tips of the pins broke off and then it died completely! It was a "toy" like someone earlier had said; but it was interesting to check how fast/slow certain woods dry out. If you're seriously interested in them, invest in a good one; one that has a "hammer" slide pin so that you can really plunge the pins into the wood. They're not cheap-you're talking several hundred dollars; but they are more accurate.

 

[BrotherBart]

I split my wood well in advance, and store it in my garage, so there's never a question as to if it's seasoned or not. But just for "kicks and giggles" I bought that moisture meter for $25 last year, and I got about $25 worth out of it before one of the tips of the pins broke off and then it died completely! It was a "toy" like someone earlier had said; but it was interesting to check how fast/slow certain woods dry out. If you're seriously interested in them, invest in a good one; one that has a "hammer" slide pin so that you can really plunge the pins into the wood. They're not cheap-you're talking several hundred dollars; but they are more accurate.

Or just drill two small holes in the split before you insert the meter. Cordless drills are wonderful tools.

 

[babalu87]

If it makes you feel better about the wood, use the technology.

I had some wood out of a pile that was acting alot different than the rest of said pile, time for the meter.

Low and behold, for some odd reason that wood that burned fine all season was 5% "wetter" than the balance of the pile.

 

[PA. Woodsman]

I split my wood well in advance, and store it in my garage, so there's never a question as to if it's seasoned or not. But just for "kicks and giggles" I bought that moisture meter for $25 last year, and I got about $25 worth out of it before one of the tips of the pins broke off and then it died completely! It was a "toy" like someone earlier had said; but it was interesting to check how fast/slow certain woods dry out. If you're seriously interested in them, invest in a good one; one that has a "hammer" slide pin so that you can really plunge the pins into the wood. They're not cheap-you're talking several hundred dollars; but they are more accurate.

Or just drill two small holes in the split before you insert the meter. Cordless drills are wonderful tools.

Yes, good point. I guess the point that I was trying to make was that there is a huge difference between the pins on a "good" unit and the ones on this Harbor Freight one. Drilling holes works for either one, though!

 

[BurningIsLove]

Thx, all. It's not a task I plan on doing often, moreso just a test of racks vs. HH, and after that just to play with a toy. So not worth it (for me) to buy a really expensive one. Got a pair of cordless drills to drill test holes, so I'll be careful w/ the pins.