Newb!! Moisture meter

[Camben]

Hello, first time poster. I've been burning wood for about a year now. I have an open fireplace and I'm burning wood that was cut and split this spring. It's all I have available and it's not burning like I would like. We have enough spilt and stacked that will be ready for next year but I am wondering if I should just hang it up for the rest of this season or invest in a moisture meter and still use my fireplace. I just burn wood for the heck of it not really to heat my house. Love the smell and sound of it!! Is a moisture meter worth it or just let the wood sit for a year or two and forget about. Thanks

 

[gzecc]

If some of the wood was dead prior to being split, you may be able to cull the driest pieces out, for the rest of this year. A moisture meter will tell you which of your wood is the driest With an open fp, moisture content is not as critical as with an insert or stove.

 

[WiscWoody]

Your burning season is nearly over anyways. Try to have your wood split, racked and covered on the top only with a tarp. You should have good dry wood next fall a less it's Oak which can take a few years or more to season properly. If you do get a moisture meter, test on a freshly cut of wood, meaning cut the split in half and then test it. 20% or less is good to go. Welcome to the sight!

 

[smokedragon]

Is a moisture meter worth it or just let the wood sit for a year or two and forget about

I picked one up for the local home improvement store (lowe's), best $25 I ever spent. I had some wood that was cracked and checked, and really looked and felt dry. Took a decent sized split and re-split it, inserted the pins into the freshly cut face......29%. I had been trying to burn that wood and it just wouldn't do right.

Some wood dries faster than others, so you can check each section of your woodpile and know what will be ready to burn.

I will never be without mine again.

 

[Rebelduckman]

Got one from harbor freight for around 12 bucks. Very small and fits in my pocket. It seems to do as it should. When this one bites the dirt I'll probably spend a little more next time but it's been good as a starter. It's helped me a lot from burning stuff i thought might be ready and wasn't.

 

[Paulywalnut]

Hang it up for the year. You're wasting wood, but you said you don't heat with wood so just for looks I guess it's ok to burn it up. To me I like seasoned wood. Test a few pieces and I'm sure you will see they are still not ready. Welcome to the forum and keep reading on here about how great wood heat can be. Maybe you'll become a Stove convert.

 

[Camben]

Thanks for your input guys. I'm still learning about all the do's and dont's of burning. Right now I'm just trying to find the lightest and darkest pieces I can find. I've read that seasoned wood should be " checkered" on the ends too. The bad thing is that about a 1/3 of our wood for next year is red oak. We have it split and stacked but from what I'm reading here, it might not be ready for two years. Oh well, I think I'll get one and mess around with a see how it works. Oh, and another thing I learned on here was about you guys have no problem burning pine as long as it's dry. Would I be ok burning it in my fireplace?

 

[Jon1270]

I've read that seasoned wood should be " checkered"

Yeah, this is one of those misleading ideas that gets spread around a lot. "Checks" are cracks that open in wood due to uneven drying rates. Wood shrinks as it dries, so when one part of a piece of wood dries and shrinks faster than an adjacent part, cracks open up to relieve the resulting stress. End checks can appear on firewood within a few days of cutting if it's in a dry, sunny and breezy location, and it only means that the very ends have lost a fair bit of moisture while the wood behind it is still much wetter. In fact, those checks will partially close up again as the middle part catches up and gets as dry as the outside.

 

[KD0AXS]

I also have the $25 one from Lowes. Works great.

http://www.lowes.com/pd_78059-56005...l=1&currentURL=?Ntt=moisture+meter&facetInfo=

Funny thing is I was at Fleet Farm and noticed they have the exact same meter, but the yellow parts are red and it has an SBI logo on it, and they want $50 for it.

 

[WiscWoody]

When I saw the first picture I thought it sure looked a lot like my SBI MM! But I got my meter on eBay for $35 shipped.

 

[red oak]

The pine will be okay to burn. You're burning in a fireplace, not for heat, so seasoning wood for years may not be necessary. Main thing is to check the chimney and clean as necessary.

 

[Ski-Patroller]

I just bought one of the Harbor Freight moisture meters, to check the firewood at our Ski Cabin. I compared it with my Lignomat Meter that I use for woodworking, and they were very close. $12 is a pretty good deal.

 

[Camben]

I just bought one of the Harbor Freight moisture meters, to check the firewood at our Ski Cabin. I compared it with my Lignomat Meter that I use for woodworking, and they were very close. $12 is a pretty good deal.

Thanks, I will check them out.

 

[Rebelduckman]

I just bought one of the Harbor Freight moisture meters, to check the firewood at our Ski Cabin. I compared it with my Lignomat Meter that I use for woodworking, and they were very close. $12 is a pretty good deal.

Yep mine is still going

 

[bobdog2o02]

Another thing to think about is the health of your chimney. Wet wood will make more creosote and raises the risk of a chimney fire. A chimney fire in an open fireplace can be hard to stop with the wide open draft. Very dangerous to me to burn wet wood in a FP.