Starting from scratch, dry pine vs wet oak

[kyguylal]

Hello all,

We're replacing our pellet stove with a wood stove.

I have the new wood stove sitting out in my driveway right now still in the shipping crate. It should be getting installed later this month or so.

The first issue I have is that I have no wood. Wont be an issue for the rest of this year because I've traded a ton of pellets for a cord of two year old oak. Friend of mine is coming by with it next week. I also still have the pellet stove and plenty to finish out this season.

The pellet stove will be removed in the spring and I am already behind for next year's wood burning.

I have a couple options from what I can see.

1. I can buy some green wood now, get it stacked and hope for the best come September. Looking like the going rate here is $275/cord of green hardwood.

2. There is a local guy selling cords of white pine for $75 which has been split and stacked for a year.

I'm hearing that pine isn't the best choice of wood to burn, but also that it should dry quicker than hardwoods.

I was thinking about buying three cords of the pine and five cords of oak. I figure that I can make a good coal bed with the pine and throw some semi-seasoned oak on top?

What would you guys do to start up from scratch?

 

[lsucet]

What kind of stove did you get?
Regardless which one you will need dry wood. I will go with plenty of the pine for sure in case the oak is not ready for next season. Wet wood is wet wood, it helps to mix it with dry staff but still not getting good performance out of it. The only way to know when you get the oak is bringing a few pieces inside to room temperature for 1 to 2 days, then split it and take the measurements on a fresh split.
The pine should be ready for next season, that is your best bet if the oak is not ready. Do you know how much wood you are going to need for next season?

 

[kyguylal]

Thank you,

The stove is the larger Englander Madison. I was skeptical at first due to the known door issues, but I got it for pretty much nothing brand new.

I'm not sure yet how much wood I'll burn in a season. I have a large heating area of just under 3,000 SF, well insulated house, but the ceilings are 14' and we have an entire wall made out of glass.

I don't have a huge lot, only about 30,000 SF, but I measured out a few areas and I can comfortably fit up to eight cords back behind my garage, plus I have an extra garage bay opening up once we burn through the rest of the pellets.

We get some good sun penetration and have a good wind flow as we live across the street from a sizable lake. We're in southern NH, so we'll likely burn from late September through April. I asked my neighbor and he burns five cords a year, but his house is about 1,000 SF less.

 

[lsucet]

Well, it is a good stove. I actually have both the Madison and the large model also.
I like better the Madison. They are not on hearth at this time but I want to install the Madison in the shop when done this summer, possibly I will sale the big one.
Start with small loads till you get the hang out of it. I will not recommend to fill it up to the grill till you see how it works. @begreen created a thread about how to burn a non cat efficiently and in control all the time. It is an excellent guide. Will recommend to go over and read. Good tips there.

 

[lsucet]

Pine is my main firewood here. I did burn pine on the Madison and the larger one as well with no problems. I am so used to burn pine that feels weird the way hard wood burn when I burn hardwood, but of course and with no doutb, hardwood has its advantages, just to expensive here on this part of the country.

 

[RandyBoBandy]

You can speed up the drying process by building a solar kiln. @Poindexter has documented his experiments with solar kilns pretty extensively. If you have really good sun exposure as well as wind exposure, this might be the way to go in efforts of getting ahead on your wood supply. I would also start stocking the pine in your one garage bay. This is what I would burn while waiting on the oak.

 

[EbS-P]

I would burn pine all day long at 75$ a cord. Probably cheaper to let your heat kick on even if it’s oil during the really cold spells. I am stacking pine to burn. New stoves, with insulated liners and dry wood those are the big factors reducing creosote. I just read a post that the don’t burn pine myth only exists in the north east where other more profitable choices exist. It would be nice not to need to stack 3 years of wood. Realistically at 275 a cord for oak I would be really tempted to go all pine and supplement with saw dust bricks. Thoughts there are it burns longer than oak only a bit more expensive takes up less room (a cord equivalent fits on a single pallet) no need to season, but it has to be stored inside. Any way those are my thoughts.

Evan

 

[SpaceBus]

One year seasoned pine for $75? Sounds like a steal. You will load the stove twice as often, but a pound of wood carries the same BTU regardless of species. Oak just tends to be more dense and therefore can burn for longer periods of time at the same BTU output.

It will cost you $1,100 per winter if you buy those cords of wet oak for future winters. The pine is $600 per winter and you could use it now. Granted, you have to store twice as many cords if you heat exclusively with the pine. I suggest you buy one or two cord of the oak and six cords of the pine per winter. Use the pine when someone is home to load the stove all day and the oak when sleeping or nobody will be home. Keep a few hundred pounds of the oak inside of your house or basement, just a place that is warmer and dryer than outside, and it should be ready by next winter to supplement your pine.

 

[Easy Livin’ 3000]

Hello all,

We're replacing our pellet stove with a wood stove.

I have the new wood stove sitting out in my driveway right now still in the shipping crate. It should be getting installed later this month or so.

The first issue I have is that I have no wood. Wont be an issue for the rest of this year because I've traded a ton of pellets for a cord of two year old oak. Friend of mine is coming by with it next week. I also still have the pellet stove and plenty to finish out this season.

The pellet stove will be removed in the spring and I am already behind for next year's wood burning.

I have a couple options from what I can see.

1. I can buy some green wood now, get it stacked and hope for the best come September. Looking like the going rate here is $275/cord of green hardwood.

2. There is a local guy selling cords of white pine for $75 which has been split and stacked for a year.

I'm hearing that pine isn't the best choice of wood to burn, but also that it should dry quicker than hardwoods.

I was thinking about buying three cords of the pine and five cords of oak. I figure that I can make a good coal bed with the pine and throw some semi-seasoned oak on top?

What would you guys do to start up from scratch?

Pine is fine! Just make sure it really is dry, 20% or less, or whatever the manual calls for. A little more loading, but that's ok for the price and readiness factors.

I like to mix 2/3 low density stuff (pine, tulip poplar, etc), 1/3 high density stuff. Both dry. You get longer burn times, just the right amount of coals at reload, and great economy.

 

[kyguylal]

Thank you everyone. Luckily, we typically have someone home, my wife or myself most days of the week, so adding wood shouldn't be a problem.

I actually just found a half pallet of wood bricks on Facebook marketplace for cheap, so I bought them.

Our firebox is 3.2cf, so I can really fit some wood in there. I decided to get a couple cords of the pine and it'll be delivered this week. I picked up a moisture meter as well, so I'll check it out The seller is saying it's <20%, so we'll see.

 

[SpaceBus]

I would get as much as that pine as you have room for at $75/cord. I've never heard of any firewood going that cheap, much less having any amount of seasoning. Definitely use the moisture meter, but I wouldn't refuse the wood unless it's rotten or punky.

 

[gerry100]

$75 for a full cord of dry pine sounds good, go for it.

Save the Oak for next year. Semi dry oak will burn but its a waste of good wood

 

[kyguylal]

The pine ended up being about 22% MC. Definitly closer to a cord and a half. Pretty good stuff though. All 18" and split well.

I stacked half of it in my garage which is heated and has a fan going. I'm hoping it'll drop a couple percentage points within the next few weeks. For $75, I can't complain. If it burns well, I'll stock up

 

[maple1]

$75 for a cord and a half, I think I would be stocking up regardless.

 

[Woodsplitter67]

Hello all,

We're replacing our pellet stove with a wood stove.

I have the new wood stove sitting out in my driveway right now still in the shipping crate. It should be getting installed later this month or so.

The first issue I have is that I have no wood. Wont be an issue for the rest of this year because I've traded a ton of pellets for a cord of two year old oak. Friend of mine is coming by with it next week. I also still have the pellet stove and plenty to finish out this season.

The pellet stove will be removed in the spring and I am already behind for next year's wood burning.

I have a couple options from what I can see.

1. I can buy some green wood now, get it stacked and hope for the best come September. Looking like the going rate here is $275/cord of green hardwood.

2. There is a local guy selling cords of white pine for $75 which has been split and stacked for a year.

I'm hearing that pine isn't the best choice of wood to burn, but also that it should dry quicker than hardwoods.

I was thinking about buying three cords of the pine and five cords of oak. I figure that I can make a good coal bed with the pine and throw some semi-seasoned oak on top?

What would you guys do to start up from scratch?

I would purchas all of the wood you stated in your post. I would burn the pine this fall and this summer i would take 2 cords of the oak and put them in a solar kiln. The wood will be plenty dry by october 19. I would build a wood shed for storage as its been wet in the northeast lately and its the best way to keep your wood from getting wet. And then start working on more wood for the following season.. you want to be a minimum of 2yrs ahead

 

[Riddlefiddle]

$275.00 for a cord of hardwood. Holy crap!

 

[SpaceBus]

The pine ended up being about 22% MC. Definitly closer to a cord and a half. Pretty good stuff though. All 18" and split well.

I stacked half of it in my garage which is heated and has a fan going. I'm hoping it'll drop a couple percentage points within the next few weeks. For $75, I can't complain. If it burns well, I'll stock up

I cut a cord and a half of standing dead Balsam fir, pine family, and after sitting stacked near the stove for a week it is under 20% and burns great. It burns much faster than the birch I got from a friend, but I have a limitless supply of fir and spruce.

 

[johneh]

Pine burns fine as long as you have the time to sit
there and feed the stove . Not Me I use sugar maple
red oak and hickory so that I get a long hot burn
Don't have the time to sit and feed the stove

 

[lsucet]

Pine burns fine as long as you have the time to sit
there and feed the stove . Not Me I use sugar maple
red oak and hickory so that I get a long hot burn
Don't have the time to sit and feed the stove

Not everyone has to sit and feed the stove. Biggest percentage of what I burn is pine and believe me, no tending here.

 

[Dima1973]

When I burn pine I need to reload every 3 to 4 hours. When I'm home I don't mind doing it all.

 

[kyguylal]

Any idea what I should expect for a burn time?

I have a 3.2 cf firebox. I figure I'll throw in couple wood bricks as well.

 

[peakbagger]

IMHO there is bias in my area of NH that softwoods in general, spruce,fir, pine, hemlock are all regarded as good for a bonfire but not for a stove. Hardwood is readily available and the amount of effort to split store stack is about the same with shorter burn times due to lower density. At my woodlot I have hundreds of cords of hardwood that are readily reachable and need to be trimmed out for timberstand improvement so when a softwood gets in the way It gets dropped to get it out of the way and left in the woods. On occasion I may usesoftwood for temporary dunnage under woodpiles in the woods but these days I do not stack in the woods I just haul it home, process it and stack it on pallets.

 

[kyguylal]

IMHO there is bias in my area of NH that softwoods in general, spruce,fir, pine, hemlock are all regarded as good for a bonfire but not for a stove. Hardwood is readily available and the amount of effort to split store stack is about the same with shorter burn times due to lower density. At my woodlot I have hundreds of cords of hardwood that are readily reachable and need to be trimmed out for timberstand improvement so when a softwood gets in the way It gets dropped to get it out of the way and left in the woods. On occasion I may usesoftwood for temporary dunnage under woodpiles in the woods but these days I do not stack in the woods I just haul it home, process it and stack it on pallets.

I'm in the southern most part of the state and a lot of people must be burning hardwood and are willing to pay a premium I'm seeing an average price of $300 for a green cord of hardwood. One guy selling for $275+delivery. I can get pine all day for cheap. I'm hoping it burns well enough. I don't mind having to stoke the stove often, but I'm hoping I can get an overnight burn with the pine

 

[Woodsplitter67]

I'm in the southern most part of the state and a lot of people must be burning hardwood and are willing to pay a premium I'm seeing an average price of $300 for a green cord of hardwood. One guy selling for $275+delivery. I can get pine all day for cheap. I'm hoping it burns well enough. I don't mind having to stoke the stove often, but I'm hoping I can get an overnight burn with the pine

I would purchas a mix. Burn the pine during the day and save the oak for your overnight burns.
Can you go out and and start scrounging wood on your own so you dont need to keep paying for wood. Sourcing wood will have alot of benefits insted of purchasing
Did you read post 15

 

[firefighterjake]

My own recommendation . . .

Good advice: Get a bunch of that pine since the price is right and it should be dry by next Fall.

Better advice: But I would also pick up a cord or two (or more) of the hardwood. If it's like most firewood it is most likely a mix of various hardwood species. Stacked and top covered now and you will get 8 or so months of seasoning. Use the pine early in the season and you may squeeze out another month . . . at which time some of that wood may be OK to burn . . especially since you will most likely really want that hardwood sometime in January or February.

Best advice: Buy more wood than what you think you need . . . any left over will be that better seasoned for next year.