New Jotul Oslo...fire wood problems, please help!

[cozyhome]

Hi everyone,
So I finally installed my new beautiful wood stove. I had it installed by our chimney sweeper. He started my first fire and said my wood had too much moisture in it. I was told by the seller that the the wood was a mix of 1 1/2 to 2 1/2 year seasoned wood. hmmm....it was hissing when it was lit. My chimney sweeper said he was going to try to find me better wood. So the question is... where to store it? I have 1 cord of the supposedly seasoned wood on my covered front porch. If I manage to get some "good" seasoned wood, would it be ok to put in my basement, or would that asking for other problems ( bugs and such)?

 

[begreen]

I'd start moving the current load to the basement. Knock the splits together to shake out bugs. Then put the new load on the porch. Be sure this new load is really seasoned. It's very hard at this time of year to get good dry wood. If you have an ax or maul, split open a couple fresh splits and press them against your cheek. If they are cool and damp, the wood is not fully seasoned.

 

[Wade A.]

Ditto that. You might also want to re-split some of it too. Stack it with lots of air space between each split, and the stacks themselves. "Log cabin" stack is optimum. If your porch is completely covered,and rain won't blow onto your stacks, you might have ambient lower humidity than in your basement. Again, spread it out and give it air, wherever it winds up.

A moisture meter can be found for about $50, and it will pay for itself the first time you have to reject a wood delivery. On the one occasion when I've had to purchase wood (hate doing that, absolutely hate it..) I brought mine. These guys stake out the roads leading into town with PU's full, and they had never heard of such. I'm betting that now every one of them owns one and makes it a selling point...or maybe not, now that I think of it! Of course, if you ask, everyone's wood is "seasoned." The MM don't lie though, although some wood sellers do.

 

[DanCorcoran]

Harbor Freight has a moisture meter for $12.99 (less with a coupon). Also, if you stack a lot of wet wood in the basement, your humidity down there will go up. Could cause mold/mildew problems, depending on how well ventilated it is.

 

[logger]

I keep my stacks outside on pallets and use tarps on about a cord or two at a time and leave the rest uncovered to season even more.. Its worked fine for years. Make sure you are splitting and stacking wood now for next year so it seasons well. If you have to buy your wood, then spend the money now and let it sit in the yard for a year. There is nothing worse or more wasteful then trying to burn unseasoned wood. You'll get lower temps, more creosote, and have to leave the air intake open to burn it, allowing most of the heat to escape up your pipe. Most firewood sellers I've ran into lie about the seasoning. For that reason, I recommend seasoning yourself. It's a whole new ball game with good wood. Good luck.

 

[delp]

This is my first year burning. After i knew the liner/stove was a go last February, I started getting stuff cheap off craigslist so that I now have about a cord of what is now good, seasoned wood- splitting and checking with MM. However, I have no idea how much wood I'll actually need to get through this first year, and suspect it'll be more than what I got last February. I found a reputable dealer that sells kiln dried wood to restaurants so, even though it's expensive, I'll be able to get seasoned wood as the winter lingers. In the meantime, I've been warehousing for next year and maybe/hopefully beyond.

upshot: see if you can find some kiln dried for this first year.


Good luck!

 

[jotul8e2]

My oak firewood is full of wood borers. My house here in southern Missouri is made largely of wood. I do not store firewood in any part of my house.

I have mix of white oak, red oak, and hickory. Two years cut, split, and stacked is the absolute minimum for the proper operation of my Oslo. After one year it will burn, sort of, but it is a lot more fussy.

 

[remkel]

I usually have two rows of wood in my basement- one is the working stack I am using to load the stove, the second is one that I am just allowing to stay in the heat to dry. I rotate the stacks- I am mostly drying out exterior moisture (my wood is seasoned) but perhaps it might help a little.

Also, you may want to mix loads using the dry wood and some of the less seasoned wood.

 

[logger]

My oak firewood is full of wood borers. My house here in southern Missouri is made largely of wood. I do not store firewood in any part of my house.

I have mix of white oak, red oak, and hickory. Two years cut, split, and stacked is the absolute minimum for the proper operation of my Oslo. After one year it will burn, sort of, but it is a lot more fussy.

Same. I got a log cabin and have seen way too many bugs in all types of wood to bring it into the house to store. I'd rather burn my log walls in the stove than have bugs eat them away.

 

[firefighterjake]

Hi everyone,
So I finally installed my new beautiful wood stove. I had it installed by our chimney sweeper. He started my first fire and said my wood had too much moisture in it. I was told by the seller that the the wood was a mix of 1 1/2 to 2 1/2 year seasoned wood. hmmm....it was hissing when it was lit. My chimney sweeper said he was going to try to find me better wood. So the question is... where to store it? I have 1 cord of the supposedly seasoned wood on my covered front porch. If I manage to get some "good" seasoned wood, would it be ok to put in my basement, or would that asking for other problems ( bugs and such)?

Random thoughts . . .

First . . . welcome to the forum . . . not sure if you have been welcomed or not.

Second . . . welcome to the fold . . . the Order of the Oddfellows with Oslos . . . a stove that heats as good as it looks.

Third . . . be aware that many folks don't have a great definition of what seasoned wood is . . . what I mean by this is the seller could say the wood was 2 year old wood (and it probably is), but he may be saying the wood was cut and left in tree length or just bucked up 2 years ago . . . when in reality the bulk of the seasoning will happen once the wood is cut, split and stacked . . . which brings up another point . . . oftentimes this wood is not stacked to allow the wind and sun to work its magic . . . lots of time I see this wood just in one big pile which means there is a good chance only the pieces on the outside will get much seasoning.

Now . . . I should say . . . all may not be lost with your wood . . . if the spitting and hissing doesn't last a particularly long time . . . you can use kindling -- lumber or busted up pallets -- to get the fire going and oftentimes this will get up the temp enough so that you can drive the moisture out of the wood . . . it's not especially efficient, but sometimes you've got to do what you've got to do . . . and this time of year it may be tough finding wood that is actually, truly seasoned and ready to go in an EPA stove.

So to answer your actual question . . . you could move this wood to your basement . . . I have a buddy who does so . . . and other members here have done so as well . . . but I'm not a real big fan of this . . . I would guess that a better choice would be to stack it outside on pallets (or at least off the ground) . . . stack it loose . . . and cover the top only with a tarp, sheet metal, etc. . . . if possible place in an area so this wood will be exposed to wind and any sun. In a few months it is entirely possible that if this wood is only semi-seasoned it may be ready to go . . . and if you do luck out and find a source of truly seasoned wood and don't need the current wood . . . well you'll just be ahead of the game for next year. I think putting this in your basement could potentially be a problem with moisture and bugs . . . there are ways around it (bug killers, dehumidifiers) . . . but I also suspect the wood may not season as quickly as it would if you were to leave it semi-exposed outside with the wind.

 

[Battenkiller]

Order of the Oddfellows with Oslos

Welcome!

OOO. Kinda like AAA only it offers stove side assistance. ;-P

The basement air will always be drier than the outside air as long as the temperature in there is higher. Knock the wood together and give it a good spray with bug killer if you are worried about critters. Stack it loose and blow a fan on it and it will help a lot. In the meantime, try to find better wood. Whatever you do, start with a small hot fire and build up. A hot stove works better at all moisture contents.

 

[logger]

Order of the Oddfellows with Oslos

Welcome!

Knock the wood together and give it a good spray with bug killer if you are worried about critters.

Not sure thats such a good idea. Im not burning anything with bug killer on it in my house. Just my 2 cents.