Some Newby Questions

[traviswalken]

I recently bought a home with a fireplace and plan to purchase a Hampton wood insert asap.

I have owned a wood stove in the past but probably didn't use it properly. I have a few wood related question that I was hoping to help with:

1. Eventually, I will cut my own wood. However, to get me going this season, I plan to purchase wood. Any tips on getting a good deal on wood would be appreciated. How can a make sure my wood is really ready for burning?

2. I plan to store my wood in my garage. Are there any problems with this?

3. A good link to a wood burning 101 type article would be greatly appreciated as well.

Thanks in advance for your help!

 

[Wood Duck]

If you are purchasing wood this fall, I would not expect to find truely seasoned firewood for sale, but hopefully you'll get wood that will burn OK. Really nicely seasoned firewood burns far better than wetter, greener firewood. Wood cut, split, and stacked in the open takes about a year to become well seasoned, and some woods, particualrly oak, take around two years. There are lots of variables that influence seasoning time required, such as how you stack it (open stacks that allows lots of air movement are best), where you stack it (a sunny and especially a windy spot will work better than a shady place or a garage), type of wood (oak seasons slowly, pine seasons fast, most others are in between) and where you live (obviously you can season wood a lot faster in Arizona than in Maine).

When you buy, look for wood that appears sort of grayish, not bright and fresh looking, and look for wood that seems light, because heavy wood is wet wood. Keep in mind that some wood types are far more dense than others even when both types are dry - recognizing seasoned wood takes time. Also, a lot of guys clunk two pieces of wood together and listen for the sound. The closer it sounds to a xylophone the better. There is no consistenly used definition of 'seasoned' so when you buy seasoned wood it is unclear what you will get. You have to look at it to know. I wouldn't ask if the wood is seasoned, I would ask when it was cut and split, and how it was stored. The longer since it was split and the more carefully it was stored (stacked is better than piled, usually) the better the wood should be.

I don't think it would be a great idea to stack wood in the garage. Freshly cut wood gives off a lot of moisture, which can make the garage damp, and the still air in the garage will make it season slowly. I think it will season a lot faster out in the open even if it gets rained on. I think Tacoma has reasonably dry sumers, but wet winters, right? Perhaps stacking outdoors the first summer then moving to the garage would work. Stack it off the ground on logs, pallets, rocks, etc. if possible, because the ground is damp and the bottom wood might rot. Wood also has a lot of bugs in it, which is another reason to keep it out of the garage.

Overall, burning wood isn't all that hard. You should be able to find decent wood this winter, then have even better results next year. Start on next year's wood now.

 

[smokinj]

Buy your wood at the suppler buy the stack you want measuring tape and moisture meter not a bad Idea....Know what your buying....Seems this is a buyer beware market.

 

[muncybob]

+1 to all of the above. We cannot stress enough that you want to know when it was split...not esp when it was cut. My experience in this neck of the woods(pun intended) is sellers want to talk about when it was cut. I bought some "seasoned" wood last year and realized after the fact that it was nowhere near ready to burn....it may not even be ready this year! ...and welcome to the forum, lots of great stuff in here.

 

[Got Wood]

1) buy it ASAP. Still wont be ideal but the longer you wait the worse off you will be.
2) many threads here covering storing would in the house/garage. Some do it w/o issue, others wouldnt think about doing it. Personally, I go for the keeping a few days worth in the garage.
3) this forum(s) is probably as a good a source as you will find for any aspect of wood burning. I'll shorten down the 101 version to "burn properly seasoned wood - meaning moisture content of 20% or lower inside of a fresh split. Different wood seasons at different speeds but if you can get 2-3 years ahead in your supply you dont have to worry too much about seasoning.

 

[onion]

I recently bought a home with a fireplace and plan to purchase a Hampton wood insert asap.

I have owned a wood stove in the past but probably didn't use it properly. I have a few wood related question that I was hoping to help with:

1. Eventually, I will cut my own wood. However, to get me going this season, I plan to purchase wood. Any tips on getting a good deal on wood would be appreciated. How can a make sure my wood is really ready for burning?

As others have said, finding truly seasoned wood at this point in the year is very tough. Troll craigslist for folks wanting to sell their supply because they are moving etc. Get it ASAP and stack it in the sunniest, windiest spot you can. You'll want to look for something other than oak (unless it is truly seasoned oak), look for ash or locust if possible. You can supplement less than ideal wood with kiln dried lumber (bust up some skids or check for scraps if you can find someone actually building something) but don't build fires completely out of lumber because it burns too hot too fast.. I would also suggest that you try and at least get a start on next years wood now. If you see a good deal on unseasoned wood you may want to buy a cord or two to get started drying it for next year.

2. I plan to store my wood in my garage. Are there any problems with this?

I wouldn't simply because I don't want the bugs and I want to minimize the hiding places for rodents. If I had a detached garage close to the house I would likely put my seasoned wood in it.

3. A good link to a wood burning 101 type article would be greatly appreciated as well.

You won't find a better source than searching these forums. I would suggest just going through the posts until you see thread started dates around Oct. or Nov. of last year and start looking at titles. Thats when all the 1st year noobs like me started asking questions and the vets here straightened us out

Thanks in advance for your help!

 

[firefighterjake]

Random thoughts . . .

It's a wicked good idea to get your own wood when you can . . . then you know when the wood was cut, split and stacked.

Good deals . . . hmmm . . . if you're talking about a good deal in terms of price and buying wood then most folks would say buying it tree-length . . . but doing so now would certainly mean not burning it this Fall and Winter since there is virtually no way that wood would be ready for burning. If you're talking abou a good deal in terms of getting seasoned wood . . . after awhile you can kind of, sort of get a handle on what wood is fresh cut, semi-seasoned or not seasoned at all . . . if I was not cutting my own wood I would probably buy a moisture meter and take it with me to prospective dealers . . . split a piece and test it . . . if it was close to being good I would buy . . . while money is an issue I wouldn't squabble over a few dollars if you can find a dealer with good, seasoned or mostly seasoned wood . . . providing that they also sell it at a fair price and sell a true cord (128 cubic feet) . . . the two issues most folks who buy wood complain about here are a) dealers thinking they are selling seasoned wood when it is far from being seasoned and b) dealers selling a cord of wood when it is nowhere near a cord of wood.

Garage . . . me . . . I would not keep the wood in my garage. Instead I would do as I did my first year of burning . . . get some free pallets, stack the wood on the pallets and then cover the top only with a tarp once wet/snow weather set in . . . keeping it outside as long as possible allows the wind to continue to season the wood . . . plus you don't have to worry about the mess, bugs, moisture, etc. from keeping it inside the garage. That said, I have a buddy who keeps wood inside his garage and he doesn't report any issues with moisture, bugs (well a few) and the mess is mostly contained to the one corner of the garage. In fairness I should add that I now have a woodshed . . . and move a week's worth of wood to my covered porch during the winter.

Links to burning . . . hmmm . . . can't think of any . . . have a specific question and we can offer a specific answer. For now, for me it boils down to these three simple rules: 1) Only burn seasoned wood. 2) Burn at the proper temps (hint: a thermometer on the stove and stove pipe helps -- or in your case one on the insert) and 3) Check and clean (when necessary) your chimney frequently. Following these rules should result in happy, clean and efficient burning. Oh yeah . . . almost forgot . . . there is a 4th rule -- enjoy the heat, the view and the sound of the crackling fire.

 

[firefighterjake]

I knew there was something I wanted to add . . . and reading Onion's post reminded me . . . pallets are your friend . . . if you have marginal wood that is difficult to ignite or wood that is just not quite seasoned enough to give a nice, hot fire in your stove broken or cut up pallets can help a lot -- they're usually free and while a pain in the butt to process the wood is often very dry and it will help you start the fire and bring the stove temp high enough to drive the excess moisture in any wood that is only semi-seasoned . . . that said . . . if you are using marginal wood you will want to check your chimney more frequently.

 

[JeffRey30747]

Although you don't have this year's wood supply taken care of yet, now is the time to be preparing for next year (and the year after that ...).

 

[Backwoods Savage]

I recently bought a home with a fireplace and plan to purchase a Hampton wood insert asap.

I have owned a wood stove in the past but probably didn't use it properly. I have a few wood related question that I was hoping to help with:

1. Eventually, I will cut my own wood. However, to get me going this season, I plan to purchase wood. Any tips on getting a good deal on wood would be appreciated. How can a make sure my wood is really ready for burning?

2. I plan to store my wood in my garage. Are there any problems with this?

3. A good link to a wood burning 101 type article would be greatly appreciated as well.

Thanks in advance for your help!

Welcome to the forum Travis. Please do not hesitate to continue with questions as they come to you as there is much knowledge here on hearth.com.


The number one problem with people when they start to burn wood is that they usually put in much time and effort into the planning of the stove, hearth, chimney, etc. and then, only then, do they begin to think about the fuel supply. This will work if you are burning oil or gas as you can just call the supplier and have some delivered and it will be ready to burn. However, do not think for a moment that can be done when heating with wood.

The number two problem with new wood burners is that they will believe a wood seller when he says the wood is seasoned. I used to say 99% of the wood sellers do not know what seasoned wood is; now I believe it is closer to 99.9%! Many just say it is seasoned because it sounds good and makes a sale for them. Many honestly do not know. One of the problems is that today's stoves burn a bit different from the stoves that were used 50 years ago. Another problem is that wood sellers just usually do not have room to store wood until it is dry and that would also mean handling the wood an extra time which would bite into the profits.

So, how can this be overcome? Not easily but hopefully you can get through the first year with minimal problems. The worst problems arise when the chimney starts to get a narrow opening because creosote is clogging it. Then the draft for the stove diminishes and suddenly that stove just won't heat worth a hoot. Or you may even begin to smell smoke and/or creosote and you wonder why. Another problems is simply getting the fire to start at all.

If you buy wood now, do it as soon as you possibly can. Do not store it in your garage. Pick a spot on your place where it will get the most wind. Also pick a sunny spot if at all possible. Wind is more important than sun but both are great. Re-split the wood if possible so you have small splits, which will dry faster. Lay something on the ground like landscape timbers or 4 x 4's or similar. Some even like old pallets. If you use landscape timbers or something similar, lay down two and then stack the wood on that.

When stacking that wood, do not try to stack it tightly to really make it look extremely neat. Remember that the wood needs air so stacking it loosely will help to dry it faster. I would not worry about covering the wood at all unless we have a really wet fall. They you would cover only the top of the wood pile; never cover the ends or sides of the stack. Also remember to stack the wood so the wind will hit the sides of the piles and stack in single rows. After you get 2-3 years ahead in wood then you can stack more rows together and even stack it tighter if you want.

Here is a picture to show how we stack our wood. This wood will stay in the stack for a couple more years.

You will notice we've stacked in rows of three. You can do that when your wood has the necessary time to dry but do not try that in your first year or two.


So what kind of wood should you buy? If the wood seller wants to sell you some oak (which is great fuel), do not buy that in your first year of burning. It simply takes oak too long to season properly. Some great wood for this year would be white ash as it does not have a high moisture content to start with and will dry fairly quickly. We one time had to burn green wood one winter and burned nothing but ash. We did not freeze but did have to clean our chimney 3 or 4 times. I am not familiar with some of the woods you have in your area so will not offer other suggestions on wood types except to say you want a hardwood.


Once again, please do not hesitate to bring all your questions here on hearth.com as many will give good answers. There might be a little difference of opinions on a few things but mostly we agree on the basics. There might even be a bit of ribbing on occasion but all in good fun.

Good luck to you.

 

[Backwoods Savage]

Whoops. Right away I misled you. That picture of the wood pile is what we will be burning mostly this coming winter. I thought I had a picture of a different wood pile. Dang, we have so many it is hard to keep track. lol

 

[firefighterjake]

Whoops. Right away I misled you. That picture of the wood pile is what we will be burning mostly this coming winter. I thought I had a picture of a different wood pile. Dang, we have so many it is hard to keep track. lol

You need to start bar coding your woodstacks Dennis.

Either that or start stamping a "Burn By _____" date like the "Best used by ___)" seen on milk cartons.

 

[Backwoods Savage]

You got me there Jake. lol

 

[cptoneleg]

I thought I read somewhere not to burn Kiln dried wood. But in several posts have also read about burning old pallets. Well team whats the advice on that? Reason I ask we have lots of trucks of iron come in stacked on hardwood 4x4s Very very dry. Is this good or bad?

Cpt

 

[cptoneleg]

I knew there was something I wanted to add . . . and reading Onion's post reminded me . . . pallets are your friend . . . if you have marginal wood that is difficult to ignite or wood that is just not quite seasoned enough to give a nice, hot fire in your stove broken or cut up pallets can help a lot -- they're usually free and while a pain in the butt to process the wood is often very dry and it will help you start the fire and bring the stove temp high enough to drive the excess moisture in any wood that is only semi-seasoned . . . that said . . . if you are using marginal wood you will want to check your chimney more frequently.

I will have to look up where I read it but says never burn Kild dried wood. If its ok I will I just havent ben bringing any home because I didnt want to hurt my new stove . I will find article.

 

[vvvv]

I thought I read somewhere not to burn Kiln dried wood. But in several posts have also read about burning old pallets. Well team whats the advice on that? Reason I ask we have lots of trucks of iron come in stacked on hardwood 4x4s Very very dry. Is this good or bad?

Cpt

can be insignificantly bad but gotta watch your chimney.EPA stove is designed to burn 15-20% moisture content wood . too wet aint good , too dry aint as bad

 

[fredarm]

You could also consider buying a manufactured wood product like Bio-Bricks or Envi-blocks. These are already dry and can (must) be stored in the garage. One ton equals a cord of wood. They are a little more expensive than cord wood, but are ready to burn. They are made much the same way as wood pellets from compressed wood scraps--no binders or glues used, just pressure.

 

[traviswalken]

Thanks for all the help.

I will be interested to hear people's thoughts regarding burning lumber. I found a local source on craigslist who sells 16" dimensional lumber end cuts for $150/chord. I was considering buying a chord of this and a chord of regular wood. I figured I could mix the super dry dimensional lumber with the semi-dry regular wood.

 

[firefighterjake]

Cptoneleg . . . and Traviswalken . . . as Blimp mentioned many companies feel that kiln-dried, dimensional lumber may be too dry and burn too hot and intense if someone just takes a bunch of 2 x 4s and stuffs the firebox full and lights 'em off . . . and quite honestly . . . I wouldn't want to do this in my own stove either . . . the combination of very dry wood and smaller sized wood would result in a very intense, hot and short-lived fire.

However, that said you can use both pallets and dimension lumber to help burn marginally seasoned wood . . . many of us did just this to get us through the first year of burning. You don't want to stuff the firebox full of this sort of wood, but you can use pallets/lumber as kindling to help ignite the wood and a few pieces mixed in with the marginally seasoned wood can help "dry" out the moisture that is in the wood and allow the temp in the firebox to get off enough to result in secondary burns . . . it is far from perfect and once you see what truly seasoned wood looks like burning you'll never want to burn marginal wood again . . . but it can be done and pallets/lumber can help.

 

[Backwoods Savage]

Just make sure you DO NOT BURN TREATED WOOD.