New Batch of Wood

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jlow

Feeling the Heat
Hearth Supporter
Jan 19, 2009
260
Sterling Heights, Michigan
I had a facecord of red oak, cherry, ash and apple delivered last week. I have been burning it, as it is nicely seasoned. I have been wondering about the wood I was burning prior being too wet and not giving me long burn times. I have had my stove three weeks.

I am wondering why I have a much harder time getting this wood to ignite faster and give me a big burn. I find myself constantly adjusting the air intake to get it going.

Help would be appreciated
 
My guess is this new wood is either not a seasoned as you think, or it's significantly denser than the wood you were previously burning. Resplit one of the pieces and check it with a meter, it's probably more moist than you realize. Getting truly seasoned wood delivered is a rare thing. ;)
 
The wood is really dense. Don't have a meter, but, wood dosw not hiss.
 
I'm pretty surprised to hear you got wood delivered and it doesn't hiss. It's probably not fully seasoned, but it's about 3/4 of the way there if it doesn't hiss at all.
 
I think some wood hisses more than others - and of course, this is dependent on how much moisture is in the wood.
 
CTwoodburner said:
I think some wood hisses more than others - and of course, this is dependent on how much moisture is in the wood...

. . . and if there are many snakes hiding in the woodpile. ;) :)
 
Wet1 said:
Getting truly seasoned wood delivered is a rare thing. ;)

boy is that a sad fact ..unless you find a good lead on ash wood you might as well figure its never going to be as seasoned as the seller claims,goes back to the age old saying : if you want something done right ,you must do it yourself .
 
You aren't gonna get ripe tomatoes from the supermarket, you aren't gonna get a car with synthetic oil & performance upgrades from the dealership, you aren't gonna buy a well seasoned cast iron frying pan from the store, you aren't gonna get a house decorated to your particular style from a builder.

There are just some things that as a consumer/homeowner you need to make the finishing touches on if you want them perfect. In the case of the tomatoes and the wood, if the supplier took care of these steps, the product would be rotten before it gets to the consumer(or the price would be astronomical for the splitting/stacking/storage as far as the wood goes). In the case of the other things, this is just the way industry works, because one size fits all is just never the case.
 
jlow, do yourself a huge favor and buy all the wood you intend to burn next year as soon as you possibly can. If you can buy it all now that will be great. However, realize that all wood is not equal and it takes some wood longer to season than it does other. Especially when it comes to the oaks. Around here, if the oak isn't seasoned a minimum of two years, it simply will not burn worth a hoot. Three years and it is the best wood you can find.

Get your wood now and stack it where both sun and wind will hit the pile. Do not cover that pile until next fall or winter. This will allow for maximum evaporation. When you cover the wood next fall (late fall or early winter) then cover the top of the pile only. Leave the sides and ends open to the air. Do this and enjoy that wood stove next winter as it will perform as it should.
 
If your delivery was honest and the price was right, order more for next year...it's like money in the bank and means a "no hassle" for next year.

WB
 
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